Ferrari PDF

Interactions of particles with Matter
Alfredo Ferrari,
CERN, Geneva
Accelerators for Medical Applications
(CERN Accelerator School)
Vösendorf, May 27th 2015
Caveat:
Ø  The talk is intentionally qualitative with minimal math, and no in-depth
discussion*
Ø  … it is aimed at illustrating some general and well known concepts about
particle atomic and nuclear interactions…
Ø  … in particular the nuclear physics part is kept at a (sub?)minimal level
and the maximum energy considered is limited at few hundreds MeV
It will likely be disappointing for many and maybe still

obscure for non-experts, I apologize in advance
* Extra material with more details is available in another file on Indico
Credits, in particular but not only: A.Mairani, V.Patera, P.Sala, F.Salvat, PDG…
May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 2

Overview:
Photon interactions Neutronics:
Ø  Compton Ø  Reaction types
Ø  Photoelectric
Ø  Coherent scattering
? Ø  Evaluated data files
Ø  Examples of evaluated cross sections
Charged particle atomic interactions: Ø  Caveats
Ø  (average) stopping power What matters for what:
Ø  Landau fluctuations Ø  Electron machines
Ø  Multiple scattering Ø  Shielding
Ø  Bremsstrahlung and Pair production Ø  Hadron Therapy
→ radiation length Ø  Isotope production
Nuclear interactions Miscellaneous
Ø  Elastic/Non-elastic Ø  Deuteron stripping
Ø  hN nuclear interactions Ø  ElectroMagnetic Dissociation
Ø  hA nuclear interactions High energy showers
Ø  AA nuclear interactions Ø  ElectroMagnetic showers
Ø  Photonuclear interactions Ø  EM component of hadronic showers
Ø  Spatial development of hadronic showers

Cross section metrics: Barn (b) = 10-24 cm2
ρ∼2 g cm-3ρ∼11.4 g cm-3
0.2 mg cm-23.5 mg cm-2

20 mg cm-2350 mg cm-2
2 mg cm-2 35 mg cm-2
20 kg cm-2 350 kg cm-2
200 g cm-2 3.5 kg cm-2
20 g cm-2 350 g cm-2

2 kg cm-2 35 kg cm-2
200 mg cm-2 3.5 g cm-2

35 g cm-2
0.3 mm
30 µm
3 µm
300 m
30 cm
3 mm
30 m
3 cm
3 m
Pb
2 g cm-2
10 µm
0.1 mm
1 µm
100 m
10 cm
1 mm
10 m
1 cm
1 m
C
1 mb 10 mb 100 mb 1b 10 b 100 b 1 kb 10 kb 100 kb

⎡ atoms ⎤ ρN Av ⎡ atoms ⎤ N Av ⎡ electrons ⎤ ZN Av
⎢⎣ volume ⎥⎦ = P ⎢⎣ mass ⎥⎦ = P ⎢⎣ mass ⎥⎦ = P
A A A
−1 ρN Av −1 -1 ρ [g/cm 3 ]N Av [cm 2 b-1mole-1 ]

Σ=λ = σ λ [cm ] = σ [b]
PA PA [g/mole]
−1 N Av [cm 2 b-1mole-1 ]
2 −1
λ [(g/cm ) ] = σ [b] N Av = 0.6 [cm 2 b-1mole-1 ] PA ≈ A[g/mole]
May 27th, 2015 PA [g/mole] Alfredo Ferrari 4
Charged particle (atomic)
interactions

Charged particles dE/dx
All energy transfers to the target medium are in the end mediated by Coulomb
interactions of charged particles following atomic or nuclear interactions
Two main problems:
Ø  Compute the average energy loss, for a given particle, in a given material, at a given energy
Ø  Compute the distribution of actual energy losses around the average value (energy loss
fluctuations) not discussed today
The problem is to compute the moments of the energy loss

distribution
It is a central problem both in dosimetry and in general in

radiation physics

Coulomb collisions among charged particles
dσ Ruth z 2 Z 2 re2 me2 c 2
Rutherford cross section (mproj≡m << Mtarg≡M): =
dΩ θ
4 β 2 p 2 sin 4
2
θ
using the 4-momentum transfer q = 2 p sin q 2 = 2 p 2 (1 − cosθ ) the cross section becomes:
2
dσ 4π z 2 Z 2re2me2c 2
2
=
dq β 2q 4
In this form the cross section is no longer dependent on the (m << M) assumption and it works
in every frame!
dσ 2π z 2 Z 2re2mec 2 ⎛ me ⎞
Finally, using, T=q2/2M (T=target recoil energy): dT = β T2 2 ⎜ ⎟
⎝ M ⎠
The dependence on the recoil energy is essentially given by the 1/T2 term.
It is therefore clear from such formulae, that low energy
transfers are much more likely than large ones.

Coulomb collisions: considerations
For a given projectile/energy combination:
Ø  The cross section per atom is given by
ü  Z times the cross section on one electron (÷ Z x 12)
ü  1 time the cross section on the atomic nucleus (÷1 x Z2)
Ø  The q2 (4-momentum transfer) dependence is the same for light/heavy target/projectile
ü  Energy losses due to interactions on atomic electrons are Mnucleus/me times larger than those on
atomic nuclei (T=q2/2M) for the same q2
ü  Angular deflections are the same for the same q2
q  Energy losses are dominated by interactions with electrons (so called electronic stopping
power) by a factor Mnucleus/(Z me) = mamu/me A/Z and are computed as the sum of:
Ø  Close collisions (collisions energetic enough to be ~ on free electrons)
Ø  Distant collisions (lower energy transfer, interaction involving the whole atom)
q  Angular deflections are mostly due to interactions on atomic nuclei by a factor Z

Close collisions: secondary electrons
The cross section for producing an electron of energy Te for an incident particle of kinetic
energy T0 = (γ − 1)Mc2 (note now M≡mproj) and charge z is given for spin 0 and spin ½
particles by: 2 For spin ½
2 2 ⎡ ⎤
dσ 2π re me c 2 Te 1 ⎛ Te ⎞ only
= 2 2
⎢1 − β + ⎜⎜ ⎟ ⎥
2 ⎟
dTe β Te ⎢⎣ Tmax 2 ⎝ T0 + Mc ⎠ ⎥
⎦
The maximum energy transfer, Tmax, to an electron is dictated by kinematics and given by:
2mec 2 β 2γ 2 Common
Tmax = approximationT 2p2 me 1
me ⎛ me ⎞
2
max ≈ 2me c 2
⎯⎯⎯
β <<1
→ 4 T0 ≈ (T0 / A)
1 + 2γ + ⎜ ⎟ M M 500
M ⎝ M ⎠
Similar expressions hold for e-e- (Møller, Tmax=T0/2) and e+e- (Bhabha, Tmax=T0) scattering. In all
cases the dependence on the energy of the secondary electron is mostly due to the 1/T2 term.
For a 200 MeV/n ion Tmax~ 400 keV → RCSDA H2O~2 mm, for 20 MeV e- → RCSDA H2O~45 mm
Tmax determines the extent of the buildup region and of the electronic (dis)equilibrium!

Unrestricted dE/dx for heavy particle:
The (unrestricted) electronic (ionization) stopping power for charged particles heavier than the
electron can be obtained summing up distant and close collisions for spin 0 or spin 1/2 particles as:
ρZN Av
Effective 4
∼ln β γ 4
For spin ½ ne = (n. elec. per unit volume)
PA
charge relativistic rise only
⎛ dE ⎞ 2π ne re2 me c 2 zeff
2
⎡ ⎛ 2m c 2 β 2T ⎞ 2 1 T 2
2 C ⎤ Density
⎜ ⎟ = ⎢ln⎜⎜ 2e max
⎟
⎟ − 2 β + max
2
+ 2 zL1 ( β ) + 2 z L2 ( β ) − 2 − δ ⎥ correction
⎝ dx ⎠ hv β2 2
⎢⎣ ⎝ I (1 − β ) ⎠ (
4 T0 + Mc 2 ) Z ⎥⎦
Mean excitation energy Barkas (z3)
term Bloch (z4) Shell
while for electrons (Tmax =T0/2) and positrons (Tmax =T0) is given by: term corrections
2
⎛ dE ⎞ 2π r n me c ⎡ T02 (γ + 1)
2 2
2γ − 1 1 ⎛ γ − 1 ⎞ ⎤
⎜ ⎟ = e e
2 ⎢ln 2
2
( )
+ 1 − β − 2 ln 2 + ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ − δ ⎥
⎝ dx ⎠ el β ⎣ 2I γ 8 ⎝ γ ⎠ ⎥⎦
⎛ dE ⎞ 2π re2 ne me c 2 ⎡ 2T02 (γ + 1) β 2 ⎧ 14 10 4 ⎫ ⎤
⎜ ⎟ = 2 ⎢ln 2
− ⎨23 + + 2
+ 3 ⎬
− δ ⎥
⎝ dx ⎠ po β ⎢⎣ I 12 ⎩ γ + 1 (γ + 1) (γ + 1) ⎭ ⎥⎦

dE/dx and range examples:
Continuous Slowing Down Approximation (CSDA) range,
RCSDA, or simply R = total amount of matter traversed by
a particle of energy E0 whenever the energy losses are
the average ones −1
⎛ dE ⎞
0
Rcsda = ∫ ⎜ ⎟ dE
E0 dx
⎝ ⎠ mean
It is a useful concept for (heavy) charged particles up to
the energy where nuclear reactions dominate.
Since dE/dx is approx. a function only of the particle

velocity, β, and of its charge squared, z2, the following Nucl. Int.
scaling property holds:
λ for σ=1.8 b
dominated
⎡ M / M ⎤ ⎛ M ⎞
Rb (M b , zb , pb ) = ⎢ b2 2 a ⎥ Ra ⎜⎜ M a , z a , pa = pb a ⎟⎟ dE/dx
⎣ zb / z a ⎦ ⎝ M b ⎠
dominated
Eg the range of an α particle of momentum pα is
approximately equal to the range of a proton of
momentum pα/4, same momentum per nucleon, eg of
energy Tp = Tα/4 in the non relativistic regime, and
again Tp∼Tα/4 in the relativistic case

dE/dx: considerations:
q  dE/dx in a given material depends only on the particle velocity, β, and charge, z
q  thus particles with the same velocity and charge have roughly the same energy loss.
q  if one measures distances in units of ρdx, g/cm2, the energy loss is weakly
dependent on the material, as it goes like Z/A plus the logarithmic dependence on I
q  Obviously dE/dx depends on the projectile charge squared
q  In practice, due to shell corrections, dE/dx never behaves like 1/Ek at low energies
q  The energy loss, when plotted as a function of βγ=p/Mc, has a broad minimum at
βγ∼3-3.5.
q  This minimum is almost constant up to very high energies, if the restricted energy
loss (that is the energy loss due to energy transfers smaller than some suitable
threshold) is considered
q  In practice, most relativistic particles have energy losses in active detectors close
to the minimum and are called minimum ionizing particles, or mip’s

Energy loss: examples (from PDG)

Bremsstrahlung: The classical rate of energy loss
for a charged particle experiencing
an acceleration a is given by:
In reality things are much more complex and atomic screening plays a
major role in determining the actual bremsstrahlung rate,
The cross section differential in v = w/E0 (w photon energy, E0, incident
particle energy)::
2
2 4 2
dσ brem 4α r z Z ⎛⎜ me ⎞⎟
e
⎧ ⎡ 4 4 2 ⎤ ⎡⎛ Φ1 1 ⎞ 1 ⎛ Ψ1 2 ⎞⎤
= ⎜ m ⎟ ⎨ ⎢ − v + v ⎥⎦ ⎜
⎢ 4 3 − log Z − f c ⎟ + ⎜ − log Z ⎟⎥ +
dv v ⎝ p ⎠ ⎩ ⎣ 3 3 ⎣⎝ ⎠ Z ⎝ 4 3 ⎠⎦
2 ⎡ Φ − Φ 2 1 Ψ1 − Ψ2 ⎤ ⎫
+ (1 − v ) ⎢ 1 + ⎥ ⎬
3 ⎣ 4 Z 4 ⎦ ⎭
Here fc is an higher order correction (the so called Coulomb correction),
Φ1, Φ2 are the (elastic) screening functions for nuclear bremsstrahlung,
and Ψ1, Ψ2 are the (inelastic) screening functions for (incoherent)
bremsstrahlung on atomic electrons.
Bremsstrahlung spectra: examples
1/Z2 v dσbrem/dv for e- (red)/e+ (blue) at 12 MeV on Pb (left) and 12 GeV on Al (right)
Pair production:
The matrix elements of the bremsstrahlung are related to those of pair production by the substitution
k → - k and p → - p, where p is the four momentum or either the incident particle in the
bremsstrahlung emission or the four momentum of one of the pair of particles in the pair production.
In another way, they Feynman diagram of pair production is the same as the bremsstrahlung one,
rotated of 90°, where one of the electron lines, now going back in time, becomes the (outgoing) positron
line
The integration of the pair production cross section over all possible angles brings to the usual cross
section differential in u = E+/k , as, for instance, reported in the review of Tsai:
2
dσ pair 2 4 2 ⎜ me ⎟
⎛ ⎞ ⎧⎡ 4 2 4 ⎤ ⎡⎛ Φ1 1 ⎞ 1 ⎛ Ψ1 2 ⎞⎤ 2 ⎡ Φ1 − Φ 2 1 Ψ1 − Ψ2 ⎤ ⎫
= 4α re z Z ⎨⎢ u − u + 1⎥ ⎜
⎢ 4 3 − log Z − f c ⎟ + ⎜ − log Z ⎟ +
⎥ 3 u (1 − u ) ⎢⎣ 4 + ⎥⎦ ⎬
du ⎜ m ⎟
⎝ p ⎠ ⎩⎣ 3 3 ⎦ ⎣⎝ ⎠ Z ⎝ 4 3 ⎠ ⎦ Z 4 ⎭
where again fc is the Coulomb correction, and Φ1, Φ2 are the same (elastic) screening functions as for
nuclear bremsstrahlung, while Ψ1, Ψ2 the same (inelastic) screening functions as for (incoherent)
bremsstrahlung on atomic electrons.

Pair production: examples
1/Z2dσpair/du+ for different incoming photon energies (in units of mec2)

Radiation length X0
Integrating the bremsstrahlung cross section gives the result
⎛ dE ⎞ −1 ρN A 1 dσ brem
⎜ ⎟ ≡ E0 X 0 = E0 ∫ dv v =
⎝ dx ⎠brem PA
0 dv
⎛ fs ⎡ m 184.15 ⎤
2 ⎜ Lrad = log ⎢ p 1 / 3 ⎥
2 4
⎛ me ⎞ ρ N A ⎡ fs
2 Lʹ′fs
rad 1 ⎛ 1 ⎞⎤ ⎜
⎝ ⎣ me Z ⎦
= 4α r z Z ⎜
e
⎟ E0 ⎢ Lrad + − f c + ⎜1 + ⎟⎥
⎜ m ⎟ P Z 18 ⎝ Z ⎠⎦
⎝ p ⎠ A ⎣ ⎡ m 1194 ⎤ ⎞
ʹ′fs = log ⎢ p 2 / 3 ⎥ ⎟
Lrad
where the radiation length X0 has been introduced: ⎣ me Z ⎦ ⎠
⎟
2
⎛ ⎞
2 4 2 me ⎟ ρ N A ⎡ fs Lʹ′fs 1 ⎛ 1 ⎞⎤
X 0 =1 4α re z Z ⎜⎜ ⎟ ⎢ Lrad + rad
− f c + ⎜1 + ⎟⎥
⎝ m p ⎠ PA ⎣ Z 18 ⎝ Z ⎠⎦
X0 is the length over which the initial energy is reduced to 1/e
In a fully analogue manner:

2
−1 ρN A
1 dσ pair 2 4 2
⎛ me
⎞ ρ N A
⎧ 7 ⎡ fs Lʹ′fs
rad ⎤ 1 ⎛ 1 ⎞ ⎫ 9
λ pair = du = 4α r z Z ⎜ ⎟ L + − f + 1 + → λ ≈ X0
PA ∫0
e ⎜ m ⎟ P ⎨ 9 ⎢ rad c ⎥ ⎜ ⎟ ⎬ pair
du ⎝ p ⎠ A ⎩ ⎣ Z ⎦ 54 ⎝ Z ⎠ ⎭ 7
q  Bremsstrahlung (cm2/g) scales as (same as pair production):

−1 Z2
X 0 ∝
A
Coulomb collisions: Molière cross section
The Molière cross section for particle-Nucleus Coulomb scattering accounting for screening:
dσ Mol dσ Ruth dσ Ruth (1 − cos θ ) 2 z 2 Z 2 re2 me2 c 4 4 z 2 Z 2 re2 me2 c 4

= × K scr (θ , β ) = × = 4 2 ≈ 4 2 2
dΩ dΩ dΩ (1 − cos θ + 1 χ 2 2
) β E (1 − cos θ + 1 χ 2 2
) β E (θ + χ 2 2
a)
2 a 2 a
re2 z 2 Z ( Z + ξe )me2c 4 4π 1
σ Mol =
β 4E 2 χ a2 1 + 1 χ a2
4
T(MeV) χa (mrad) σMol (kb) R (g/cm2) Σ-1 (g/cm2)
0.1 38 900 0.0187 4.98x10-5

Al 1.0 8.4 346 0.555 1.30x10-4
10.0 1.14 308 5.86 1.46x10-4
0.1 317 517 0.0311 6.66x10-4
Pb 1.0 35 784 0.784 4.39x10-4
10.0 4.5 793 6.13 4.34x10-4
MCS: Molière distribution
The Molière distribution is an approximate result which holds for a specific single scattering cross
section (the Molière one), for path-lengths not too short, and angles not too large. It is expressed
as an universal function, which depends only on one parameter B.
Probability of scattering through an angle θ after travelling a total step length t:

1 Bethe correction, not
⎡ − χ 2 1 1 ⎤ ⎡ sin θ ⎤ 2 present in the original
FMol (θ , t )dΩ = 2πχdχ ⎢2 e + f1 (χ ) + 2 f 2 (χ ) + ...⎥ ⎢ theory
⎣ B B ⎦ ⎣ θ ⎥⎦
Gaussian term 2 n
1 ∞
- u / 4 ⎛ u
2 u 2 ⎞ Single scatt. tail
f n (χ ) = ∫ u du J 0 (χu )e ⎜ 4 ln 4 ⎟
⎜ ⎟ For χ>>χc f1∝1/χ4
n! 0 ⎝ ⎠ 1
where the scaled variable is given by: χ =

θ χ cc t 2
χc = 2
χc B β E
and B is solution of the transcendental equation (χcc and bc are material dependent constants):
bc t
B − ln B = b ≡ ln Ω 0 Ω0 =
β2
19.2 t ⎡ ⎛ t ⎞⎤
A Gaussian approximation for the MCS distr. (like θ rms = ⎢1 + 0.038 ln ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟⎥ ) can often be found
βp X0 ⎣ ⎝ X 0 ⎠⎦
However it is not precise and, most important, it ignores the tails!
C Pb
May 27th, 2015

ρ∼2 g cm-3 ρ∼11.4 g cm-3
20 kg cm-2 350 kg cm-2
X0::
100 m 300 m
1 mb
10 m 30 m
200 g cm-2 3.5 kg cm-2

1 m 3 m
10 mb 100 mb
20 g cm-2 350 g cm-2
1b
10 cm 30 cm
Cross section metrics: X0
2 g cm-2 35 g cm-2
10 b
1 cm 3 cm
Alfredo Ferrari
200 mg cm-2 3.5 g cm-2

1 mm 3 mm
100 b
20 mg cm-2 350 mg cm-2

1 kb
0.1 mm 0.3 mm
10 µm 30 µm
10 kb
0.2 mg cm-2 3.5 mg cm-2

1 µm 3 µm
100 kb
Charged particle
Coulomb interactions
→>>>>>
C 42.7 g cm-2 (21.3 cm), Cu 12.86 g cm-2 (1.44 cm), Pb 6.37 g cm-2 (0.56 cm)
21
Energy loss e+/e-: examples, Water and Lead
Critical energy ≡ the energy at
which collision and radiative
energy losses are equal
Given that:
q  Bremsstrahlung scales as
(same as pair production):
−1 Z2
X0 ∝
A Critical
q  Electronic stopping power
energy
(dE/dx) scales (roughly) as:
dE Z Critical
∝
dx A energy
→  The critical energy
approximately scales as:
1
Ec ∝
Z

Bragg peaks: ideal proton
Bragg pcase
eaks: ideal proton case
The Bragg peak is a pronounced peak on the Bragg
curve (laterally integrated depth-dose curve) which
plots the energy loss of ionizing radiation during its
travel through matter. For protons, alpha particles and
heavy ions, the peak occurs immediately before the
particles come to rest. This is called Bragg peak, for
William Henry Bragg who discovered it in 1903.
Curves (200 MeV p on Water):
Ø  Red: pure CSDA, no nucl. int.
Ø  Green: MCS + CSDA
Ø  Blue: CSDA + nuclear int.
Ø  Purple: no MCS, no nucl. int, Landau fluct. on.
Ø  Light Blue: full calculation

Electron energy losses: complete examples, H2O and Pb
Right: depth-dose curve for
20 MeV e- on Water
Left: depth dose curve for
10 MeV e- on Lead
q  Purple: pure CSDA (bremss.
included)
q  Cyan: MCS + CSDA
q  Red: full calculation
q  Blue: secondary electrons
(E> 10 keV) contribution
q  Green: Bremss. photon
contribution
Note that the effect of

Multiple Coulomb
Scattering (MCS) is much
more important than for
the 200 MeV p example

Nuclear reactions

Nuclear
C1 Nuclear
interactions: reac)ons: elas)c and non-‐elas)c
generalities
q  In order to understand Nucleus-Nucleus (AA) and Hadron-Nucleus (hA) nuclear
reactions one has to understand first Hadron-Nucleon (hN) reactions, since nuclei are
made up by protons and neutrons
q  In general there are two kind of nuclear
Nuclear reactions
reac4ons: (for
elas4c and both hN and hA/AA) elastic
non-‐elas4c
and non-elastic:
Ø  Elastic interactions are those that do not change the internal structure of the
projectile/target and do not produce new particles.
Ø  They transfer part of the projectile energy to the target (lab system)
Ø  Or equivalently they deflect in opposite directions target and projectile in the
centre-of-mass system (CMS) with no change in energy.
Ø  There is no threshold for elastic interactions
Ø  Non-elastic reactions are those where new particles are produced and/or the
internal structure of the projectile/target is changed (e.g. exciting a nucleus).
Ø  Any specific non-elastic reactions has usually an energy threshold below which
the reaction cannot occur (the exception being neutron capture)

From hN to hA cross sections:
Pion production
threshold ~290 MeV
NN cross sections
+
Nucleus ground state
+
Glauber calculus
Proton (Neutron) Carbon cross sections

computed in self-consistent Glauber
approach accounting for inelastic screening
starting from NN ones (left)
nA, pA Cross sections:
Proton on
Neutron on Lead
Neutron on Lead
Carbon
σreac minimum
→ maximum penetration
Hadronic interactions are mostly surface effects ⇒ hadron nucleus cross

section scale with the target atomic mass A2/3 (Rnuc÷A1/3)
C Pb
May 27th, 2015

ρ∼2 g cm-3 ρ∼11.4 g cm-3
20 kg cm-2 350 kg cm-2
λint::
100 m 300 m
1 mb
10 m 30 m
200 g cm-2 3.5 kg cm-2

1 m 3 m
10 mb 100 mb
20 g cm-2 350 g cm-2
1b
10 cm 30 cm
Cross section metrics: λint
2 g cm-2 35 g cm-2
10 b
1 cm 3 cm
Alfredo Ferrari
200 mg cm-2 3.5 g cm-2

1 mm 3 mm
100 b
20 mg cm-2 350 mg cm-2

1 kb
0.1 mm 0.3 mm
10 µm 30 µm
10 kb
0.2 mg cm-2 3.5 mg cm-2

1 µm 3 µm
100 kb
C 85.8 g cm-2 (42.9 cm), Cu 137.3 g cm-2 (15.3 cm), Pb 199.6 g cm-2 (17.5 cm)
29
Simplified scheme of Nuclear interactions
Target nucleus description (density, Fermi motion, etc)
t (s)
10-23
Glauber-Gribov cascade with formation zone
High energies
(above few
GeV) Generalized IntraNuclear cascade
10-22
Preequilibrium stage with current exciton configuration and excitation energy

(not discussed in this lecture)
10-20
Evaporation/Fragmentation/Fission
10-16
γ deexcitation
… INC, a bit like snooker…
The projectile is hitting a “bag” of protons and neutrons
representing the nucleus. The products of this interaction can
in turn hit other neutrons and protons and so on. The most
energetic particles, p,n, π’s (and a few light fragments) are
emitted in this phase
…it is in this phase that if energy is enough extra

“balls” (new particles) are produced (contrary to
snooker). The target “balls” are anyway protons and
neutrons, so further collisions will mostly knock out p’s
and n’s

Evaporation:
After many collisions and possibly particle emissions, the residual nucleus is left in
a highly excited “equilibrated” state (compound nucleus). De-excitation can be
described by statistical models which resemble the evaporation of “droplets”,
actually low energy, isotropically emitted, particles (p, n, d, t, 3He, alphas…)
from a “boiling” soup characterized by a “nuclear temperature”
Since only neutrons have no Coulomb barrier to overcome, neutron emission is
strongly favoured.
When the excitation energy is similar or below the separation energy (energy needed
to break the nuclear binding and emit a nucleon), prompt photons are emitted during
gamma deexcitation
The process is terminated when all available energy is spent
→ the leftover nucleus, possibly radioactive, is now “cold”, with typical recoil
energies ∼ MeV.
For heavy nuclei the initial excitation energy can be large enough to allow breaking
into two major chunks (fission).
Thick target examples: neutrons
9Be(p,xn) @ 113 MeV, stopping target
197Au(p,xn) @ 68 MeV, stopping target
Data: JAERI-C-96-008, 217 (1996) Data: NSE110, 299 (1992)
Evaporation Cascade,
neutrons preequilibrium
neutrons
Double differential
neutron yield, energy
spectra at various
angles

Example of fission/evaporation
1 A GeV 208Pb + p reactions Nucl. Phys. A 686 (2001) 481-524
•  Data
•  Model final result Quasi-elastic
•  Model after cascade
The production
•  Model after preeq Spallation of specific
residuals is the
Evaporation result of the
very last step
of the nuclear
reaction, thus
it is influenced
Fission
by all the
Deep spallation
previous stages
Fragmentation

Residual Nuclei
Right: color scale of isotope production
as a function of neutron excess (x-axis)
and atomic number (y-axis) for various
proton energy/target combo’s. The black
line is the stability line
q  Particle beams tend to produce
proton rich isotopes because of the
preference for evaporating neutrons
rather than charged particles
q  Isotopes produced by fission are
typically neutron rich (at least for
fission on actinides)
q  → there is an obvious
complementarity between the two
techniques

Ion-Ion reaction cross sections:
4Heon
Carbon on
Carbon Lead
σreac (mb)
σreac (mb)
Energy/nucleon (MeV) Energy/nucleon (MeV)
2 ⎛ VCoul ⎞ Z AZ B
σ reac ≈ π (RA + RB ) ⎜⎜1 − ⎟⎟ VCoul ≈ 1.4 1/ 3 1/ 3
[MeV] RA / B ≈1.2 A1A/B
/3
[fm]
⎝ Ek ⎠ A A + AB
“Heavy” ion nuclear interactions:
σ reac ≈ π (RA + RB )2
RA / B ≈1.2 A1A/B
/3
[fm]
Evapora)on
Fast stage
Projec'le
b + prompt γ
Cascade
Preeq. spectators
Target
spectators
Evaporation of the projectile-like fragment:

Ø  low energy particles isotropically in its rest frame → highly energetic ones,
strongly forward peaked, in the lab frame (including the final residual)!
Ø  Contrary to hA collisions there could be a projectile-like residual flying
forward

Examples of (thin target) neutron emission spectra:
Projectile evaporation
forward peak
High energy tails
(>> Ebeam/n)
C on C @ 135 MeV/n
(0,15,30,50,80,110 deg)
Ar on C @ 95 MeV/n
(0,30,50,80,110 deg
Neutron double
differential spectra
at various angles
Symbols: exp. data

Monoenergetic and SOBP for 12C:
Left: 12C @ 400

MeV/n in water
Depth-dose
distribution (top)
and beam
attenuation (bottom)
Right: Spread Out

Bragg Peak, global
depth-dose
distribution (top) and
detail of ion fragment
~70% reduction
XC
contributions
due to nucl. Int. (bottom)

Photonuclear reactions: Pb(γ,x)
Giant Dipole Resonance

(GDR)
Delta (1π)
Quasideuteron
Vector Meson
Dominance

Neutronics

Low energy neutron interactions:
Neutrons, being the only “stable” (T1/2∼10 min) neutral particle are the
dominating component at low energies. They undergo elastic and non-elastic
nuclear interactions until in most cases they are thermalized and captured by a
nucleus (n + AZX → A+1ZX + γ’s). The slowing down is mostly accomplished via
elastic interactions since non-elastic ones (apart capture) have thresholds
At energies below 10-20 MeV, the specific nuclear structure of individual isotopes
starts to play a major role, and cross sections are no longer a smooth function of A
(mass number), rather…
→ Evaluated nuclear data files (ENDF, JEFF, JENDL...)
q  typically provide neutron σ (cross sections) and secondary particles (sometimes only
neutrons) inclusive distributions for E < 20 MeV for all channels. Recent evaluations
include data up to 150/200 MeV for a few isotopes
q  σ are stored as continuum + resonance parameters

“Low” energy neutrons:
Ø  Thermal neutrons: Maxwellian distribution (most probable energy @ 293 K ~ 0.025 eV)
Ø  Epithermal neutrons, resonance neutrons, slow neutrons: 0.4 eV – 0.1 MeV
Ø  Fast neutrons: > 0.1 MeV
q  Non-elastic: (n,2n) (>~8 MeV), (n,3n), (n,p), (n,α), (n,d), (n,np)… Eth ~ several MeV
q  Inelastic: (n,n’) (γ’s emitted with the n), Eth~MeV’s (even-even nuclei), ~keV’s
(heavy odd-odd nuclei)
mn M A,Z
q  Elastic: no thresh., energy transfer (θ = cms scattering angle) rec
* T ≈ 2 E kin n 1(− cos θ *
)(mn + M A,Z )2
Ø  Proton target: Trec max=Ekin n, <Trec>=1/2 Ekin n
Ø  Lead target: Trec max=0.019 Ekin n, <Trec>=0.009 Ekin n (for isot. scatt., En <0.5 MeV)
q  Capture: no thresh., important in the thermal (and resonance) regions, mostly
n + AZX → A+1ZX + γ’s, notable exceptions:
Ø  3He(n,p)3H, Q = 764 keV
Ø  14N(n,p)14C, Q = 626 keV
Ø  10B(n,α)7Li, Q = 2790 keV

Neutron data: examples (eg from http://www.oecd-nea.org/janis/):
ENDF/B-7.1: US
JENDL-4.0: Japan
JEFF-3.1.2: Europe
…
TENDL-2013:
Model (TALYS)
Some of them
include data for
incident charged
particles as well,
and/or evaluations
up to 150/200 MeV
for some isotopes

… or from http://www.nndc.bnl.gov :

Typical neutron cross section
Resonances ⇒ energy levels in compound
nucleus A+1Z*
σtot
unresolved resonance
region
resolved
resonance
Before Doppler broadening region
(σcapt<<σtot)
1eV 1keV Ekin incident neutron
resonance
spacing Resonance spacing too dense ⇒
overlapping resonances
May 27th, 2015
few eV Alfredo Ferrari 46
Low Energy Neutron Cross sections: C
Blue: total cross section

Green: elastic cross section
Red: capture cross section
σ0 capt~0.0035 b
kT @ 293 K

Low Energy Neutron Cross sections: 56Fe

Green: elastic cross section
σ0 capt~2.8 b

Low Energy Neutron Cross sections: 113Cd

σ0 capt~21000 b Green: elastic cross section
kT @ 293 K

Photon (atomic) Interactions

Photon interactions:

Photon cross sections: scaling
q  The photoelectric macroscopic cross section (cm2/g) scales as:
Z5
Σ pe ∝
A
q  The Compton macroscopic cross section (cm2/g) scales as:
Z
Σincoh ∝
A
q  The coherent (Rayleigh) macroscopic cross section (cm2/g) scales
as: Z2
Σ coh ∝
A
q  The pair production macroscopic cross section (cm2/g) scales as:
Z2
Σ pair ∝
A

Compton scattering: dynamics
Klein-Nishina cross section (see for example Heitler, “The Quantum Theory of Radiation”):
dσ KN 1 2 k '2 ⎡ k k ' ⎤
= re 2 ⎢ + − 2 + 4 cos2 Θ⎥
dΩ 4 k ⎣ k ' k ⎦
Let e be the polarization vector of the incident photon, and e’ that of the scattered one:
! !
cos Θ = e ⋅ e '
Split σ into the two components, ⊥ and || to e respectively (actually with e’ ⊥ to the plane (e,k’), or
contained in the plane (e,k’) ):
dσ ⊥ 1 2 k '2 ⎡ k k ' ⎤ dσ ||
1 2 k '2 ⎡ k k ' ⎤
= re 2 ⎢ + − 2⎥ = re 2 ⎢ + + 2 − 4 sin 2 ϑ cos 2 Φ ⎥ k
dΩ 4 k ⎣ k ' k dΩ 4 k ⎣ k ' k k’
⎦ ⎦
2 2 2 θ
cos Θ = 1 − sin ϑ cos Φ
e’
The effect of polarization is important for polarized
photon beams (eg synchrotron radiation source)!! Φ
It breaks the scattering azimuthal symmetry!!! e

Atomic corrections:
Atomic electrons are bound → atomic corrections are important
q  Mild effects on Compton (except at low energies):
ü  Small angles (→ small energy/momentum transfers) suppressed
ü  Compton line broadened by bound electron motion
q  Dominant effect on coherent scattering
Ø  Atomic effect dominant, only small angle scattering is left
Ø  Medium-large angle scattering suppressed because of loss of coherence
Under certain approximations atomic effects can be described

via the inelastic and elastic atomic form factors

Compton cross section: Gold*
Zσ0=Z 8/3πre2
σKN ∝ 1/k
Green curve: Klein-Nishina formula.

*From the Penelope manual
Dashed curve: Waller-Hartree approximation.
Black curve: relativistic impulse approximation.
Photoelectric effect: just a reminder (more in the backup slides)
The incident photon is absorbed by an
Z Z*
k atomic electron which is emitted with
kinetic energy roughly equal to the
incident photon energy minus the
(electron) binding energy. The atom is
left in an excited state
Te ∼ k - Ui
The electron must be bound to fulfill energy-momentum conservation
What is required to describe fully p.e. interactions?
q  Cross sections for each atomic shell

q  Angular distribution of photoelectrons
q  Effect of (possible) photon polarization
q  De-excitation of atomic ions left after the interaction
ü  Fluorescence (X-rays) (radiative, between shells)
ü  Auger emission (electrons, between shells)
ü  Coster-Kronig emission (electrons, intra-shell)

Photon cross sections: summary
Photonuclear
Photoelectric Compton Pair Photoelectric Compton Pair

dominated dominated dominated dominated dominated dominated
σp.e.=photoelectric cross section; σincoh=Compton cross section;
σcoherent=Rayleigh cross section; σnuc =photonuclear cross section;
κN=pair production cross section, nuclear field;
κe=pair production cross section, electron field
How to make good use of (unwanted) nuclear interactions:
Photon yield
Blue: Calculation
GANIL: 90 deg prompt*
Red: data
photon yields by 95
Green: dose profile MeV/n 12C in PMMA
Eγ> 2 MeV, within
few ns from spill
* Prompt photons:
nuclear de-excitation
photons emitted in
nuclear interactions
Z (mm)
Z (mm)
[sketch and exp. data taken from F. Le Foulher et al IEEE TNS 57 (2009), E. Testa et al, NIMB 267 (2009) 993.
Exp. data have been reevaluated in 2012 with substantial corrections]
Unwanted nuclear physics turned useful: ß+ isotope prod.
Thanks for your

attention!
p beam
Dose map ß+ emitters produced in

nuclear interactions map
NIST Database:
http://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/Xcom/Text/chap4.html

NIST Database:
http://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/Xcom/Text/chap4.html

Useful bibliography/sites:
References/Literature I
q  E.A. Uehling, Annual Review of Nuclear Science, 4, 315 (1954)
q  E.A. Uehling, Annual Review of Nuclear Science, 4, 315 (1954)
q  Nuclear Science Series, Report n. 39, “Studies if penetration of charged particles in
matter”, National Academy of Sciences – National Research Council, (1964)
q  H.A. Bethe, J. Ashkin, “Passage of Radiations Through Matter”, Experimental Nuclear
Physics, Vol. I, Ed. E. Segre` (1960)
q  R.D. Birchoff, “The passage of fast electrons through matter”, Encyclopedia of Physics,
Vol. XXXIV, Springer-Verlag (1958)
q  ICRU Report n. 37, “Stopping Powers for Electrons and Positrons”, (1984)
q  ICRU Report n. 49, “Stopping Powers and Ranges for Protons and Alpha particles”, (1993)
q  ICRU Report n. 73, “Stopping of Ions Heavier than Helium”, (2005) !!Be careful to get
also the errata and addenda (2009)!!
q  ICRU Report n. 63, “Nuclear Data for Neutron and Proton Radiotherapy and for Radiation
Protection”, (2000)
q  H.W.Koch, J.W.Motz, “Bremsstrahlung Cross-Section Formulas and Related Data”, Review of
Modern Physics 31, 920, 1959
q  J.W.Motz, H.A.Olsen, H.W.Koch, “Pair Production by Photons”, Review of Modern Physics 41, 581,
1969
Useful bibliography/sites:
References/Literature I
q  Yung-Su Tsai, “Pair Production and Bremsstrahlung of charged particles”, Review of Modern
Physics 46, 815, 1974
q  “Monte Carlo Transport of Electrons and Photons”, eds T.R.Jenkins, W.R.Nelson and A. Rindi,
Plenum Press 1988
q  E.Gadioli, and P.E.Hodgson, “Pre-equilibrium Nuclear Reactions”, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992
q  “Reference Input Parameter Library”, Nuclear Data Sheets 110, 3107, 2009,
https://www-nds.iaea.org/RIPL-3/
q  A.Ferrari, P.R.Sala, “The physics of High Energy reactions”, Proc. of the Workshop on Nuclear
Reaction Data and Nuclear Reactors Physics, Design and Safety, World Scientific, A.Gandini,
G.Reffo eds, Vol.2, p.424 (1998),
http://www.fluka.org/content/publications/1996_trieste.pdf
q  http://www.nist.gov/pml/data/index.cfm
q  http://www.nist.gov/physlab/data/star/index.cfm
q  http://www.nist.gov/pml/data/xcom/index.cfm
q  http://www.nist.gov/pml/data/radiation.cfm
q  http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/
q  http://www.oecd-nea.org/janis/

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Interactions of particles with Matter

It will likely be disappointing for many and maybe still

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 2

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 3

ρ∼2 g cm-3ρ∼11.4 g cm-3

0.2 mg cm-23.5 mg cm-2

200 g cm-2 3.5 kg cm-2

20 g cm-2 350 g cm-2

200 mg cm-2 3.5 g cm-2

1 mb 10 mb 100 mb 1b 10 b 100 b 1 kb 10 kb 100 kb

−1 ρN Av −1 -1 ρ [g/cm 3 ]N Av [cm 2 b-1mole-1 ]

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 5

The problem is to compute the moments of the energy loss

It is a central problem both in dosimetry and in general in

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Since dE/dx is approx. a function only of the particle

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 11

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1/Z2dσpair/du+ for different incoming photon energies (in units of mec2)

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 17

In a fully analogue manner:

q Bremsstrahlung (cm2/g) scales as (same as pair production):

dσ Mol dσ Ruth dσ Ruth (1 − cos θ ) 2 z 2 Z 2 re2 me2 c 4 4 z 2 Z 2 re2 me2 c 4

0.1 38 900 0.0187 4.98x10-5

Probability of scattering through an angle θ after travelling a total step length t:

where the scaled variable is given by: χ =

May 27th, 2015

20 kg cm-2 350 kg cm-2

200 g cm-2 3.5 kg cm-2

200 mg cm-2 3.5 g cm-2

20 mg cm-2 350 mg cm-2

0.2 mg cm-2 3.5 mg cm-2

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 22

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Note that the effect of

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 24

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Proton (Neutron) Carbon cross sections

Hadronic interactions are mostly surface effects ⇒ hadron nucleus cross

May 27th, 2015

20 kg cm-2 350 kg cm-2

200 g cm-2 3.5 kg cm-2

200 mg cm-2 3.5 g cm-2

20 mg cm-2 350 mg cm-2

0.2 mg cm-2 3.5 mg cm-2

Preequilibrium stage with current exciton configuration and excitation energy

…it is in this phase that if energy is enough extra

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 31

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 33

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May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 35

Evaporation of the projectile-like fragment:

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 37

May 27th, 2015 Alfredo Ferrari 38

Left: 12C @ 400

Right: Spread Out

q  Bremsstrahlung (cm2/g) scales as (same as pair production):

Ø  10B(n,α)7Li, Q = 2790 keV

q  Cross sections for each atomic shell