Cosmic Ray Interactions in Shielding Materials
Citations Over Time
Abstract
This 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 industry standard Monte Carlo simulation tool, Geant4, was used for this study. 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.
Related Papers
- → Propagation of multi-TeV muons(1991)235 cited
- → A New Precise Measurement of the Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment(2001)2 cited
- The Interest of MuonâÂÂAntimuon (ü- ü+) pair production: ó â ü- ü+(2017)
- → Negative Muon Count for the FNAL Muon g-2 Experiment(2021)