This paper updates and complements a previously published evaluation of computational methods for total and partial cross sections, relevant to modeling the photoelectric effect in Monte Carlo particle transport. It examines calculation methods that
have become available since the publication of the previous paper, some of which claim improvements over previous calculations; it tests them with statistical methods against the same sample of experimental data collected for the previous evaluation. No statistically significant improvements are observed with respect to the calculation method identified in the previous paper as the state of the art for the intended purpose, encoded in the EPDL97 data library. Some of the more recent computational methods exhibit significantly lower capability to reproduce experimental measurements than the existing alternatives.
Evolutions of Geant4 code have affected the simulation of electron backscattering with respect to previously published results. Their effects are quantified by analyzing the compatibility of the simulated electron backscattering fraction with a large
collection of experimental data for a wide set of physics configuration options available in Geant4. Special emphasis is placed on two electron scattering implementations first released in Geant4 version 10.2: the Goudsmit-Saunderson multiple scattering model and a single Coulomb scattering model based on Mott cross section calculation. The new Goudsmit-Saunderson multiple scattering model appears to perform equally or less accurately than the model implemented in previous Gean
A test of Geant4 simulation of electron backscattering recently published in this journal prompted further investigation into the causes of the observed behaviour. An interplay between features of geometry and physics algorithms implemented in Geant4
is found to significantly affect the accuracy of backscattering simulation in some physics configurations.
Backscattering is a sensitive probe of the accuracy of electron scattering algorithms implemented in Monte Carlo codes. The capability of the Geant4 toolkit to describe realistically the fraction of electrons backscattered from a target volume is ext
ensively and quantitatively evaluated in comparison with experimental data retrieved from the literature. The validation test covers the energy range between approximately 100 eV and 20 MeV, and concerns a wide set of target elements. Multiple and single electron scattering models implemented in Geant4, as well as preassembled selections of physics models distributed within Geant4, are analyzed with statistical methods. The evaluations concern Gean
The broad coverage of the search for the Higgs boson in the mainstream media is a relative novelty for high energy physics (HEP) research, whose achievements have traditionally been limited to scholarly literature. This paper illustrates the results
of a scientometric analysis of HEP computing in scientific literature, institutional media and the press, and a comparative overview of similar metrics concerning representative particle physics measurements. The picture emerging from these scientometric data documents the scientific impact and social perception of HEP computing. The results of this analysis suggest that improved communication of the scientific and social role of HEP computing would be beneficial to the high energy physics community.
Several physics methods for the simulation of the photoelectric effect are quantitatively evaluated with respect to a large collection of experimental data retrieved from the literature. They include theoretical and empirical calculations of total an
d partial cross sections, and calculations of the photoelectron angular distribution. Some of these models are currently implemented in general purpose Monte Carlo systems; some have been implemented and evaluated for possible use in Monte Carlo particle transport for the first time in this study.
A scientometric analysis of Monte Carlo simulation and Monte Carlo codes has been performed over a set of representative scholarly journals related to radiation physics. The results of this study are reported and discussed. They document and quantita
tively appraise the role of Monte Carlo methods and codes in scientific research and engineering applications.
