Monte Carlo Simulations of Cosmic Rays Hadronic Interactions

Navarrete, Estanislao Aguayo; Orrell, J. L.; Kouzes, Richard T.

doi:10.2172/1022429

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The study of cosmogenic activation at sea-level was previously started by simulation of three different particles present in cosmic rays: neutrons, muons and protons (Aguayo-Navarrete et al 2010). This report draws heavily from the conclusions reached in this referenced work.…”

Section: The Europeanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because the incident proton flux is much lower than the incident neutron flux over the energy range of interest the proton component is not expected to be significant compared to the neutron component. The cosmogenic production due to neutrons generated by muons were simulated in (Aguayo-Navarrete et al 2010). In that study it was shown that the neutron production in shielding materials by muons is three orders of magnitude smaller in the energy region of interest, so it is assumed that in the different shielding scenarios considered in this work, these neutrons will remain a second order contributor to the cosmogenic production.…”

Section: The Europeanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• Geant4 Toolkit • Neutron flux parameterization (including CRY library) • ROOT data analysis tool A complete description of the tool can be found in (Aguayo-Navarrete et al 2010). Table 3 presents the toolset for a Monte Carlo application based on Geant4 run in a Windows computing environment.…”

Section: Monte Carlo Tool Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Optimization of the Transport Shield for Neutrinoless Double Beta-decay Enriched Germanium

Navarrete¹,

Kouzes²,

Orrell³

et al. 2012

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SummaryThis document presents results of an investigation of the material and geometry choice for the transport cosmogenic shield of enriched germanium, the active detector material used in the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR neutrinoless double-beta decay search. The objective of this work is to select the optimal material and geometry to minimize cosmogenic production of radioactive isotopes in the germanium material during transport. The design of such a shield is based on the calculation of the cosmogenic production rate of isotopes that are known to cause interfering backgrounds in enriched germanium neutrinoless double-beta decay searches. As part of this study, we will examine the reliability of estimates of cosmogenic activation from this study under different shielding scenarios.This study utilizes Monte Carlo techniques to simulate the transport and attenuation of the incident cosmic ray particles in the shielding material and the nuclear reactions in the germanium. This method of calculating production rates relies completely on the accuracy of the simulation model and library data. The calculated production rate of an isotope is the product of the energy-dependent cross section of the reaction of interest and the incoming cosmic ray produced flux of particles, integrated over the relevant energy range. The production of 68 Ge from the various germanium isotopes have Q values starting at approximately 20 MeV, so the energy range of interest in this study is above 20 MeV. Based on the transport shield design used by GERDA and the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, we present one modification to the shield that will further reduce the production rate of undesired isotopes 68 Ge and 60 Co and still comply with requirements of official transportation standards. The conclusion, based on Monte Carlo models, is that increasing the amount of iron to the container's maximum allowable weight results in a shield that would be an order of magnitude more efficient in the attenuation of the production of isotopes of interest for neutrinoless double-beta decay searches than the current GERDA transport shield design.

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Section: The Europeanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Europeanmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Optimization of the Transport Shield for Neutrinoless Double Beta-decay Enriched Germanium

Navarrete¹,

Kouzes²,

Orrell³

et al. 2012

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“…This document refers to a hadronic simulation tool developed by our group that was used to analyze the shielding materials considered herein (Aguayo-Navarrete et al 2010). This tool is intended to simulate hadronic interaction of cosmic rays impinging on a radiation shield and has three components:…”

Section: Monte Carlo Tool Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cosmic Ray Interactions in Shielding Materials

Navarrete¹,

Kouzes²,

Ankney³

et al. 2011

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SummaryThis document provides a detailed study of materials used to shield against the hadronic particles from cosmic ray showers at Earth's surface. This work was motivated by the need for a shield that minimizes activation of the enriched germanium during transport for the MAJORANA collaboration. The materials suitable for cosmic-ray shield design are materials such as lead and iron that will stop the primary protons, and materials like polyethylene, borated polyethylene, concrete and water that will stop the induced neutrons. The interaction of the different cosmic-ray components at ground level (protons, neutrons, muons) with their wide energy range (from kilo-electron volts to giga-electron volts) is a complex calculation. Monte Carlo calculations have proven to be a suitable tool for the simulation of nucleon transport, including hadron interactions and radioactive isotope production. The Monte Carlo simulation tool Geant4 was used for this study.This document is structured to explicitly present the data and its analysis for the six different materials considered. Each material is analyzed according to it geometry, considering ten different thicknesses of each material plus no material. The intent of this document is to provide practical guidance in the choice of shielding material for the energy range of interest (20 MeV to 10 GeV) and its particular configuration. The hydrogenous materials modeled for this study were polyethylene (PE), borated polyethylene (BPE), and water. The effectiveness of each of these materials in shielding cosmic neutrons, protons and muons was similarly poor. None of these is therefore recommended as a material to consider in shielding the detector materials in transport from cosmic rays.The result of this study is the assertion that activation at Earth's surface is a result of the neutronic and protonic components of the cosmic-ray shower. The best material to shield against these cosmic-ray components is iron, which has the best combination of primary shielding and minimal secondary neutron production.

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Monte Carlo Simulations of Cosmic Rays Hadronic Interactions

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Optimization of the Transport Shield for Neutrinoless Double Beta-decay Enriched Germanium

Optimization of the Transport Shield for Neutrinoless Double Beta-decay Enriched Germanium

Cosmic Ray Interactions in Shielding Materials

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