Proton, Alpha, Gamma, Electron and X-radiation interaction parameters

Description

A complete package for computation of various radiation interaction parameters useful in diverse fields. The radiations considered include X-/gamma rays, electrons, protons and alpha particles.

Authors

publication : Prabhu, S., Jayaram, S., Bubbly, S. G. & Gudennavar, S. B. A simple software for swift computation of photon and charged particle interaction parameters: PAGEX. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 176, 109903 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109903
Original release : October 2019
Srilakshmi Prabhu 1 srilakshmi.prabhu@res.christuniversity.in
Sreehari Jayaram 2 s.jayaram@pi3.uni-stuttgart.de
Bubbly S G 1 bubbly.sg@christuniversity.in
S B Gudennavar 1 shivappa.b.gudennavar@christuniversity.in
1 Department of Physics and Electronics, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru-560029, Karnataka, India
2 3. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Stuttgart-70569, Stuttgart, Germany

Various parameters and their relevant atomic number and energy range computed by PAGEX are as follows:

Photon interaction parameters

Description Parameters Atomic number range Energy range
Partial/total cross section per atom (b/atom) (with and without coherent scattering) σcoh, σincoh, σe, σpair, σtrip, σw/coh, σwo/coh (for elements) 1-99 1 keV - 100 GeV
Mass attenuation coefficients (cm2/g) (with and without coherent scattering) μ/ρcoh, μ/ρincoh, μ/ρe, μ/ρpair, μ/ρtrip, μ/ρw/coh, μ/ρwo/coh (for elements/compounds) 1-99 1 keV - 100 GeV
Average cross section per atom (b/atom) and average cross section per electron (b/electron)a σa and σe 1-99 1 keV - 100 GeV
Effective atomic number (Zeff) and electron density (Neff, electrons/g) Zeff and Neff 1-99 1 keV - 100 GeV
Mass-energy absorption coefficients (μen/ρ, cm2/g) and relative KERMAb μen/ρ and KR 1-92 1 keV - 20 MeV
Photon energy absorption effective atomic number and electron density (electrons/g) ZPEAeff, NPEAeff (electrons/g) 1-92 1 keV - 20 MeV
Equivalent atomic number Zeq 1-99 1 keV - 100 GeV
G-P fitting parameters and buildup factors a, b, c, Xk and d, EABF and EBF Zeq ~ 4-82 15 keV - 15 MeV

a - Note: 1 barn = 10-24cm2 b - Relative to air and 11 human tissues (adipose tissue, blood, bone, brain, breast, eye, muscles, ovary, testis, skin and soft tissue) as reported in ICRU Report 44 (1989)

Charged particle interaction parameters

Description Parameters Atomic number range Energy range
Mass stopping power (MeV cm2/g) S(E)/ρ 1-98 (electrons) 1-92 (alpha particles) 1-92 (protons) 10 keV - 1 GeV (electrons) 1 keV - 1 GeV (alpha particles) 1 keV - 10 GeV (protons)
Mass stopping cross section (MeV cm2/atom) Sc
Effective atomic number and electron density (electrons/g) Zeff and Neff

Data files used in PAGEX

File Data
NIST/MDATX3n.xxx Atomic cross section data for each element
AStar_data/DATAxxx Stopping-power data of helium ions in each element
PStar_data/DATAxxx Stopping-power data of protons in each element
EStar_data/DATAxxx Stopping-power data of electrons in each element
XRay_data1/DATAnxx Element photon mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) and mass energy-absorption coefficient (μen/ρ) data
XRay_Comp1/DATAn_material Material photon mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) and mass energy-absorption coefficient (μen/ρ) data
ANSI_data/ANSI_(A/B)/DATAn_x G-P fitting parameters a, b, c, d, Xk

where ‘xxx’ and ‘xx’ represent the atomic number.

PAGEX I/O

User Input

The user can input the composition of material, either in terms of molecular formula or as fractional (by mass) elemental composition, which is then stored in temporary memory. All the data regarding the basic properties of individual elements is extracted. The formula input is case sensitive. The composition data entered will be used to load the corresponding standard data files stored in the program directory. The user can choose either only standard energy range or the standard energy range with user defined energies for computation of desired parameters. However, the chosen energy should be within the available range. An input log (‘InputLog.log’) is maintained that logs all input made to the program with a time-stamp when PAGEX GUI is used.

PAGEX output

An attractive feature of PAGEX is that it allows the user to save the output data in an easily extractable CSV file or plot the desired parameter as functions of energy. The data in CSV file contains all the quantities related to the calculation in addition to the specific output parameter. For instance, mass attenuation coefficients are written in the file named “Photon mass attenuation and interaction cross section parameters” in the folder “Save_Folder” which is automatically created if not present. Graphs are also plotted using the GUI as well as Matplotlib (Hunter, 2007) when using the API from comman line. These graphs can be easily saved in various publication ready formats.

Installation

  • An executable file is available in releases to easily run the GUI (https://github.com/sriharijayaram5/PAGEX/releases/). Alternatively, to run from the command line follow the instructions below.

  • Clone the github repository https://github.com/sriharijayaram5/PAGEX.git on your local machine.

  • Install python3.x from https://www.python.org/downloads/.

  • Run the following commands in your command prompt in the directory you wish to install a virtual python environment.

  • pip install virtualenv
    virtualenv my_env_name
    my_env_name\Scripts\activate.bat
    
  • Navigate to the PAGEX directory.

  • pip install -r requirements.txt
    
  • You can now run the PAGEX program GUI by the following command:
  • python pagex_worker.py
    
  • The program can also be run from terminal by importing the Compound class:

  • from pagex_worker import Compound
    my_comp = Compound(comp='C 6 H 12 O 6')
    my_comp.myu()
    my_comp.plot_parameter()
    my_comp.write_to_csv()
    #To run gui
    import pagex_worker
    pagex_worker.run_gui()
    
  • An iPython REPL is recommended for terminal use. See docstring for help and arguments. Users are encouraged to read PAGEX Worker module for more details.

  • help(my_comp.myu)
    

Disclaimer

The developers of PAGEX have put in their sincere efforts to deliver a program that computes accurate data and relies on other standard databases. However, the developers make no warranties to that effect, and the developers or affiliates shall not be liable for any damage that may result from errors or omissions in the calculations or database used.

License

Copyright 2019 Bubbly S G Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.