DOI: 10.1097/HP.0b013e3181affa05
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Issn Print: 0017-9078
Publication Date: 2009/10/01
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Excerpt
Although physicists and engineers root from the same seed, their paths tend to diverge, then often intertwine. This is especially true in nuclear science, where you have equal parts scientists and engineers, and it is not uncommon to find radiation experts trained in both physics and engineering. If you were ever wondering how a physicist looks at the engineering aspects of radiation interactions, or how an engineer looks at the physics aspects of radiation interactions, this text is for you.
The ultimate goal of the text is to answer a simple question: “How does radiation get from point A to point B?” To do this, the author breaks down and translates concepts of mechanics (the study of energy and forces) into four primary chapters: 1. Mechanisms, 2. Collision Kinematics, 3. Cross Sections, and 4. Transport.
In Chapter 1 (Mechanisms), the author presents the basic theory associated with the principle interactions expected at relatively low particle interaction energy (eVs to 100s of MeV). Full details of all interactions are not presented, however the discussion is rich in references and presents the most commonly used relationships. The descriptions of the interactions are presented such that both engineers and physicists will find value. Understanding the basic mechanisms is the first step towards understanding transport, and the author leads us into the area first through collision kinematics.
In Chapter 2 (Collision Kinematics) the author bridges a gap between common engineering understanding of kinematics and kinematics related to radiation physics. This chapter builds upon the concepts as presented in Chapter 1. The author begins the chapter by defining the fundamental definition of kinematics (in engineering terms) and leads us seamlessly into more abstract concepts of radiation kinematics, including the special theory of relativity. Although the underlying physics is complex, the author presents the information such that it can be readily understood by a wide audience of scientists and engineers. The discussion of collision kinematics naturally leads into a discussion about interaction probabilities, or cross sections.
In Chapter 3 (Cross Sections) the author first introduces the reader to the concept of the cross section, and the differences between geometric and effective cross section. Following this, detailed sections are presented on nuclear cross section models leading to a discussion on neutron cross sections. The author then delves into a section on electrodynamics, which is followed by a discussion on photon cross sections. The discussions on neutron and photon cross sections are then followed by a section on charged particle cross sections. In all sections, detailed theory and equations are presented for the interactions. Finally, the author brings the theoretical concepts together and presents an applied section on cross section libraries, with specific consideration of the Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) formatting. Specific relevant topics such as energy grouping, thermal averaging, Doppler broadening and compounds/mixtures are presented.
In Chapter 4 (Transport) the author answers the question of “how radiation gets from point A to point B.” He starts with a detailed discussion of the Boltzmann transport equation, and demonstrates simple well-known solutions such as the attenuation law, point kernels, diffusion theory and introduces the adjoint operator. A detailed discussion of modal solutions is provided, followed by a comprehensive discussion on nodal solution methods which have had extensive use in codes such as ANISN, DORT, etc. The author then provides a section on stochastic (or Monte Carlo) methods in radiation transport, which with the advent of fast computational platforms has been the dominant method to perform transport calculations.
