A scientometric analysis has been performed on selected physics journals to estimate the presence of simulation and modeling in physics literature in the past fifty years. Correlations between the observed trends and several social and economical factors have been evaluated.
Two theory-driven models of electron ionization cross sections, the Binary-Encounter-Bethe model and the Deutsch-Mark model, have been design and implemented; they are intended to extend the simulation capabilities of the Geant4 toolkit. The resultin
g values, along with the cross sections included in the EEDL data library, have been compared to an extensive set of experimental data, covering more than 50 elements over the whole periodic table.
A wide survey has been performed, concerning atomic binding energies and ionization energies used by well- known general purpose Monte Carlo codes and a few specialized electromagnetic models for track structure simulation. Validation results are reported.
We present {gamma} spectroscopy validation measurements for the Geant4 radioactive decay simulation for a selected range of isotopes using a simple experimental setup. Using these results we point out problems in the decay simulation and where they may originate from.
The role of data libraries as a collaborative tool across Monte Carlo codes is discussed. Some new contributions in this domain are presented; they concern a data library of proton and alpha ionization cross sections, the development in progress of a
data library of electron ionization cross sections and proposed improvements to the EADL (Evaluated Atomic Data Library), the latter resulting from an extensive data validation process.
The development of a package for the management of physics data is described: its design, implementation and computational benchmarks. This package improves the data management tools originally developed for Geant4 physics models based on the EADL, E
EDL and EPDL97 data libraries. The implementation exploits recent evolutions of the C++ libraries appearing in the C++0x draft, which are intended for inclusion in the next C++ ISO Standard. The new tools improve the computational performance of physics data management.
Ongoing investigations to introduce software techniques suitable to support new experimental requirements for multi-scale simulation are discussed.
A R&D project, named Nano5, has been recently launched to study an architectural design in view of addressing new experimental issues related to particle transport in high energy physics and other related physics disciplines with Geant4. In this fram
e, the first step has involved the redesign of the photon interaction models currently available in Geant4; this task has motivated a thorough investigation of the physics and computational features of these models, whose first results are presented here.
Particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) is an important physical effect that is not yet adequately modelled in Geant4. This paper provides a critical analysis of the problem domain associated with PIXE simulation and describes a set of software develo
pments to improve PIXE simulation with Geant4. The capabilities of the developed software prototype are illustrated and applied to a study of the passive shielding of the X-ray detectors of the German eROSITA telescope on the upcoming Russian Spectrum-X-Gamma space mission.
A R&D project has been launched in 2009 to address fundamental methods in radiation transport simulation and revisit Geant4 kernel design to cope with new experimental requirements. The project focuses on simulation at different scales in the same ex
perimental environment: this set of problems requires new methods across the current boundaries of condensed-random-walk and discrete transport schemes. An exploration is also foreseen about exploiting and extending already existing Geant4 features to apply Monte Carlo and deterministic transport methods in the same simulation environment. An overview of this new R&D associated with Geant4 is presented, together with the first developments in progress.
