Pathway · p-8200d7ab7e · candidate

Nuclear binding-energy difference → Light

Nuclear binding-energy differenceNuclear fissionHot gasThermal emissionLight

Epistemic state of the route

known constituent relations: 4 / 4 established or replicated · weakest constituent established
constituent maturity floor: K4 · experimentally observed
search for this exact route: Exact composition search: reviewed 2026-09-21 — partial; None found in the runs made (a partial, never a protocol-complete negative): the composite-name form reaches the nuclear light bulb programme — spectral and start-up analyses, RF and DC-arc radiant-environment simulations, transparent-wall tests and designs for in-reactor tests of small models — and none of it is a fissioning gas radiating light as its product; the fission-plus-plasma experiments the second reader knows (the Langley plasma focus; the Walters & Schneider neutron-field discharge) do not establish the fission → radiation handoff either. Whether any in-reactor light-bulb model test was run before the programme ended is the open question. Inconclusive as a route search until the Scholar and Semantic Scholar runs exist.
recorded-pathway overlap: shares relations, in order, with Boiling-water reactor direct-steam plant · 2/4 relations shared
route-level evidence: 0 sources for the complete composition · 6 cited by the constituent steps
boundaries and interfaces: BOUNDARY unknown · no scoped condition requirements recorded

Explorematrix context · physics checks · steps · route evidence · constituent evidence · cite

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.20 × C.27 · Nuclear binding-energy difference × Nuclear heat family: Nuclear heatD.20 × C.07 · Nuclear binding-energy difference × Thermophotovoltaic family: Thermophotovoltaic

Literature search for this exact composition

Reviewed search · 2026-09-21OpenAlexpartial

None found in the runs made (a partial, never a protocol-complete negative): the composite-name form reaches the nuclear light bulb programme — spectral and start-up analyses, RF and DC-arc radiant-environment simulations, transparent-wall tests and designs for in-reactor tests of small models — and none of it is a fissioning gas radiating light as its product; the fission-plus-plasma experiments the second reader knows (the Langley plasma focus; the Walters & Schneider neutron-field discharge) do not establish the fission → radiation handoff either. Whether any in-reactor light-bulb model test was run before the programme ended is the open question. Inconclusive as a route search until the Scholar and Semantic Scholar runs exist.

6 runs · 6 attempts blocked before any result (Semantic Scholar, Google Scholar) — attempted, never counted · 265 unique records · 0 read in full · reviewed by Ava Kim's loop-3 lane · protocol route-search-v1

Analytical study of the spectral radiant flux emitted from the fuel region of a nuclear light bulb engine (1970) · theory only · United Aircraft 1970: the spectral radiant flux of the fuel region computed, by title — analysis.
Theoretical investigation of the radiant emission spectrum from the fuel region of a nuclear light bulb engine (1969) · theory only · United Aircraft 1969: the fuel region's emission spectrum computed, by title — theory.
Initial radio-frequency gas heating experiments to simulate the thermal environment in a nuclear light bulb reactor (1969) · wrong driver · United Aircraft 1969: RF-heated gas standing in for the fissioning fuel — the radiant thermal environment reproduced without fission (the second reader: not a source-variant, since the conversion's driver is absent).
Results of experiments to simulate radiant heating of propellant in a nuclear light bulb engine using a D-C arc radiant energy source (1970) · wrong driver · United Aircraft 1970: a DC-arc radiant source heating propellant in place of the fissioning fuel, by title — the radiant handoff demonstrated with a non-fission source.
Development of a high intensity RF radiant energy source for simulating the thermal environment of the nuclear light bulb reactor (1971) · wrong driver · United Aircraft 1971: an RF radiant source built to simulate the reactor's thermal environment, by title.
Analytical design and performance studies of nuclear furnace tests of small nuclear light bulb models (1972) · insufficient information · United Aircraft 1972: designs for in-reactor (Nuclear Furnace) tests of small light-bulb models — whether any in-reactor test was carried out before the programme ended is the one question that decides this route, unread.
High temperature UF6 RF plasma experiments applicable to uranium plasma core reactors (1979) · wrong driver · NASA-era 1979: UF₆ plasma heated by RF, applicable to plasma-core reactors, by title — the plasma made without fission.
Nuclear characteristics of a fissioning uranium plasma test reactor with light-water cooling (1973) · proposal only · 1973: the nuclear characteristics of a proposed fissioning-uranium-plasma test reactor, by title — a design.
Nuclear light bulb (1991) · review only · 1991: a nuclear light bulb overview, by title.

Limitations: OpenAlex only (21/09, 11:18 am Sydney): driver-mechanism 2,909 works reported, the first 100 by relevance and the first 50 newest screened at title level, the rest unscreened; mechanism-pair 15 — graphite emissivity, gasifier thermometry, TMI-2 thermal interactions and textbook chapters, none a fissioning gas radiating light; whole-chain 0; demonstration-precision 0; Semantic Scholar answers 429 keyless (owner exception e953) and Google Scholar a captcha — both mandatory for a negative, neither run the composite-name form (21/09, 11:34 am Sydney): five terms frozen with verified sources on the second reader's ruling; 222 works reported, the first 100 screened at title level, none read in full; the second reader's corrections recorded — the Langley plasma-focus spectral experiment (Jalufka et al.) is constituent-only (the plasma was made by the focus, no spectral effect of the fissions), the RF and DC-arc simulations are wrong-driver not source-variant, and the Walters & Schneider neutron-field discharge (an effect of fissions on an independently driven plasma's radiation, per a later NASA report) would at most be driver-only-modifies — none of these three was returned by the form and none is recorded as a hit until its primary text is located; Semantic Scholar and Google Scholar owe the form pass 49 (21/09 ~11:29 pm Sydney): every planned Semantic Scholar query was attempted once through the anonymous pool — 5 of 5 answered HTTP 429 at the first request (the runs above, each with its literal query, key and time); Google Scholar served its bot check at the first load of the driver-mechanism form (recorded as an attempt with nothing screened). Both engines are mandatory for a negative under route-search-v1, so the record stays partial and inconclusive: the outstanding obligations are the Semantic Scholar runs for every mandatory key and the Google Scholar runs to the protocol depth; OpenAlex's forms are complete. A blocked request is evidence that an engine was attempted, never that its query returned nothing.

Index query only · 2026-09-21OpenAlex · 6 queriesnot reviewed

6055 indexed works reported across the queries, 265 unique retrieved; nobody has read them for a qualifying demonstration. A person can screen this frozen list and promote it to a reviewed record without re-running the query.

OAcomposite-name222 reported · 100 retrieved
OAdriver-mechanism:12909 reported · 100 retrieved
OAdriver-mechanism:12909 reported · 50 retrieved
OAmechanism-pair:1-215 reported · 15 retrieved
OAwhole-chain0 reported · 0 retrieved
OAdemonstration-precision0 reported · 0 retrieved

Planned runs NOT run in this bundle (engine unavailable): search:2026-09-21-p-8200d7ab7e/s2-cn (semantic-scholar); search:2026-09-21-p-8200d7ab7e/s2-dm1 (semantic-scholar); search:2026-09-21-p-8200d7ab7e/s2-mp12 (semantic-scholar); search:2026-09-21-p-8200d7ab7e/s2-wc (semantic-scholar); search:2026-09-21-p-8200d7ab7e/s2-dp (semantic-scholar).

Protocol route-search-v1: a frozen index run changes only the search state; only a reviewed record can say that a demonstration was or was not found.

Typed bounds on this route

Every limit the atlas holds for this route, as constraint records: reached through bounded_by claims on the route's own entities. Hard bounds (an upper bound or a formula) decide the thermodynamic-bound check above; benchmarks, constitutive relations and resource limits are listed and never decisive. No prose limit exists anywhere (pass 42).

Visible-band fraction of thermal emission · formula-bound · hard, applies to this route
η_vis ≤ ∫₃₈₀ⁿᵐ⁷⁸⁰ⁿᵐ B_λ(λ, T) dλ / σT⁴ — the share of a thermal emitter's radiated power that Planck's distribution places in the visible band at the emitter temperature

Steps

01
Nuclear binding-energy difference —drives→ Nuclear fissionestablishedclaim record
nuclear → kinetic · loss to radiative
- for neutron-induced fission: a fissionable nuclide and an incident neutron in an energy range with non-zero fission cross-section
- critical geometry is required only for a self-sustaining chain reaction; a moderator is reactor-design dependent
About 200 MeV per event, almost all as fragment kinetic energy (Frisch 1939); thermalisation is a separate step.
refs [1] [2]
02
Nuclear fission —produces→ Hot gasestablishedclaim record
kinetic → thermal · loss to radiative
- fission heating produces a vapour or gas working fluid in a DIRECTLY heated, same-circuit configuration: the reactor coolant itself boils in the vessel and its steam goes to the turbine (a boiling-water reactor), or the fissioning or fission-heated gas is the working medium (a gas-core or fissioning-plasma reactor)
- not a pressurised-water reactor: there fission heats a pressurised liquid whose heat crosses a steam generator into a separate secondary circuit — the heat exchanger, not the core, makes the turbine's steam, and that topology belongs to the system layer, never hidden inside this claim (pass 38)
refs [3] [4]
03
Hot gas —drives→ Thermal emissionestablishedclaim record
thermal → radiative
- a flame or a heated emitter radiating
refs [5] [3]
04
Thermal emission —converts into→ Lightestablishedclaim record
radiative → radiative · loss to radiative
- incandescence at > 2000 K
refs [6] [3]

Evidence for the complete composition · 0

No source on record for this exact composition. The sources below support the individual steps, not the route as a whole.

Evidence for the constituent relations · 6

[1]
O. Hahn, F. Strassmann. Über den Nachweis und das Verhalten der bei der Bestrahlung des Urans mittels Neutronen entstehenden Erdalkalimetalle (1939)
Naturwissenschaften 27, 11–15 · doi:10.1007/BF01488241 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
[2]
O. R. Frisch. Physical evidence for the division of heavy nuclei under neutron bombardment (1939)
Nature 143, 276 · doi:10.1038/143276a0 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
[3]
A. Bejan. Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics (4th ed.) (2016)
Wiley · doi:10.1002/9781119245964 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
[4]
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Boiling Water Reactors — how a typical commercial BWR works (2025)
nrc.gov · www.nrc.gov/reactors/power/bwrs · record
[5]
A. LaPotin, et al.. Thermophotovoltaic efficiency of 40% (2022)
Nature 604, 287–291 · doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04473-y · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
[6]
P. T. Landsberg, G. Tonge. Thermodynamic energy conversion efficiencies (1980)
Journal of Applied Physics 51, R1–R20 · doi:10.1063/1.328187 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record

Cite this route

Physical Transformation Atlas (2026). route p-8200d7ab7e: Nuclear binding-energy difference → Nuclear fission → Hot gas → Thermal emission → Light. Dataset revision rbfbfcbb70e57 (hash of the canonical data). https://physical-transformation-atlas.wldud5192.workers.dev/path/8200d7ab7e

Ids and matrix addresses are stable across revisions; the revision hash identifies the exact canonical files the record was compiled from and is meta.data_hash in every /api export. Reuse terms: see the license field in any export.