On the efficiency of nuclear explosives in deflecting the orbits of NEOs

Heat transport at very high temperatures is governed by a nonlinear diffusion equation, and in order to estimate the efficiency of nuclear explosions near the surface of a near earth object (NEO) in the orbit deflecting, it is required to solve the non-linear diffusion equation. Here, the solution is obtained by similarity considerations. It is shown that the earlier (approximate) value of the efficiency obtained by Simonenko et al. of the fraction of absorbed energy to the total incident energy is an overestimate by 60%. Other differences are in the propagation velocity of the thermal front and in the time required for hydrodynamical motion to start.A brief comparison is also made with the explosion where neutrons are the major products.