Guideline of Monte Carlo calculation. Neutron/gamma ray transport simulation by Monte Carlo method

CERN Document Server

2002-01-01

This report condenses basic theories and advanced applications of neutron/gamma ray transport calculations in many fields of nuclear energy research. Chapters 1 through 5 treat historical progress of Monte Carlo methods, general issues of variance reduction technique, cross section libraries used in continuous energy Monte Carlo codes. In chapter 6, the following issues are discussed: fusion benchmark experiments, design of ITER, experiment analyses of fast critical assembly, core analyses of JMTR, simulation of pulsed neutron experiment, core analyses of HTTR, duct streaming calculations, bulk shielding calculations, neutron/gamma ray transport calculations of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Chapters 8 and 9 treat function enhancements of MCNP and MVP codes, and a parallel processing of Monte Carlo calculation, respectively. An important references are attached at the end of this report.

Present status of transport code development based on Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakagawa, Masayuki

1985-01-01

The present status of development in Monte Carlo code is briefly reviewed. The main items are the followings; Application fields, Methods used in Monte Carlo code (geometry spectification, nuclear data, estimator and variance reduction technique) and unfinished works, Typical Monte Carlo codes and Merits of continuous energy Monte Carlo code. (author)

MVP/GMVP version 3. General purpose Monte Carlo codes for neutron and photon transport calculations based on continuous energy and multigroup methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Yasunobu; Okumura, Keisuke; Sakurai, Takeshi; Mori, Takamasa

2017-03-01

In order to realize fast and accurate Monte Carlo simulation of neutron and photon transport problems, two Monte Carlo codes MVP (continuous-energy method) and GMVP (multigroup method) have been developed at Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The codes have adopted a vectorized algorithm and have been developed for vector-type supercomputers. They also support parallel processing with a standard parallelization library MPI and thus a speed-up of Monte Carlo calculations can be achieved on general computing platforms. The first and second versions of the codes were released in 1994 and 2005, respectively. They have been extensively improved and new capabilities have been implemented. The major improvements and new capabilities are as follows: (1) perturbation calculation for effective multiplication factor, (2) exact resonant elastic scattering model, (3) calculation of reactor kinetics parameters, (4) photo-nuclear model, (5) simulation of delayed neutrons, (6) generation of group constants. This report describes the physical model, geometry description method used in the codes, new capabilities and input instructions. (author)

Monte Carlo studies of high-transverse-energy hadronic interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corcoran, M.D.

1985-01-01

A four-jet Monte Carlo calculation has been used to simulate hadron-hadron interactions which deposit high transverse energy into a large-solid-angle calorimeter and limited solid-angle regions of the calorimeter. The calculation uses first-order QCD cross sections to generate two scattered jets and also produces beam and target jets. Field-Feynman fragmentation has been used in the hadronization. The sensitivity of the results to a few features of the Monte Carlo program has been studied. The results are found to be very sensitive to the method used to ensure overall energy conservation after the fragmentation of the four jets is complete. Results are also sensitive to the minimum momentum transfer in the QCD subprocesses and to the distribution of p/sub T/ to the jet axis and the multiplicities in the fragmentation. With reasonable choices of these features of the Monte Carlo program, good agreement with data at Fermilab/CERN SPS energies is obtained, comparable to the agreement achieved with more sophisticated parton-shower models. With other choices, however, the calculation gives qualitatively different results which are in strong disagreement with the data. These results have important implications for extracting physics conclusions from Monte Carlo calculations. It is not possible to test the validity of a particular model or distinguish between different models unless the Monte Carlo results are unambiguous and different models exhibit clearly different behavior

Physical time scale in kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of continuous-time Markov chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Serebrinsky, Santiago A

2011-03-01

We rigorously establish a physical time scale for a general class of kinetic Monte Carlo algorithms for the simulation of continuous-time Markov chains. This class of algorithms encompasses rejection-free (or BKL) and rejection (or "standard") algorithms. For rejection algorithms, it was formerly considered that the availability of a physical time scale (instead of Monte Carlo steps) was empirical, at best. Use of Monte Carlo steps as a time unit now becomes completely unnecessary.

Applicability of the condensed-random-walk Monte Carlo method at low energies in high-Z materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, Martin J.

1998-01-01

The predictions of several Monte Carlo codes were compared with each other and with experimental results pertaining to the penetration of through gold foils of electrons incident with energies from 128 to 8 keV. The main purpose was to demonstrate that reflection and transmission coefficients, for number and energy, can be estimated reliably with a simple Monte Carlo code based on the condensed-random-walk and continuous-slowing-down approximations

Implementation of the probability table method in a continuous-energy Monte Carlo code system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sutton, T.M.; Brown, F.B.

1998-10-01

RACER is a particle-transport Monte Carlo code that utilizes a continuous-energy treatment for neutrons and neutron cross section data. Until recently, neutron cross sections in the unresolved resonance range (URR) have been treated in RACER using smooth, dilute-average representations. This paper describes how RACER has been modified to use probability tables to treat cross sections in the URR, and the computer codes that have been developed to compute the tables from the unresolved resonance parameters contained in ENDF/B data files. A companion paper presents results of Monte Carlo calculations that demonstrate the effect of the use of probability tables versus the use of dilute-average cross sections for the URR. The next section provides a brief review of the probability table method as implemented in the RACER system. The production of the probability tables for use by RACER takes place in two steps. The first step is the generation of probability tables from the nuclear parameters contained in the ENDF/B data files. This step, and the code written to perform it, are described in Section 3. The tables produced are at energy points determined by the ENDF/B parameters and/or accuracy considerations. The tables actually used in the RACER calculations are obtained in the second step from those produced in the first. These tables are generated at energy points specific to the RACER calculation. Section 4 describes this step and the code written to implement it, as well as modifications made to RACER to enable it to use the tables. Finally, some results and conclusions are presented in Section 5

Statistical implications in Monte Carlo depletions - 051

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhiwen, Xu; Rhodes, J.; Smith, K.

2010-01-01

As a result of steady advances of computer power, continuous-energy Monte Carlo depletion analysis is attracting considerable attention for reactor burnup calculations. The typical Monte Carlo analysis is set up as a combination of a Monte Carlo neutron transport solver and a fuel burnup solver. Note that the burnup solver is a deterministic module. The statistical errors in Monte Carlo solutions are introduced into nuclide number densities and propagated along fuel burnup. This paper is towards the understanding of the statistical implications in Monte Carlo depletions, including both statistical bias and statistical variations in depleted fuel number densities. The deterministic Studsvik lattice physics code, CASMO-5, is modified to model the Monte Carlo depletion. The statistical bias in depleted number densities is found to be negligible compared to its statistical variations, which, in turn, demonstrates the correctness of the Monte Carlo depletion method. Meanwhile, the statistical variation in number densities generally increases with burnup. Several possible ways of reducing the statistical errors are discussed: 1) to increase the number of individual Monte Carlo histories; 2) to increase the number of time steps; 3) to run additional independent Monte Carlo depletion cases. Finally, a new Monte Carlo depletion methodology, called the batch depletion method, is proposed, which consists of performing a set of independent Monte Carlo depletions and is thus capable of estimating the overall statistical errors including both the local statistical error and the propagated statistical error. (authors)

New Approaches and Applications for Monte Carlo Perturbation Theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aufiero, Manuele; Bidaud, Adrien; Kotlyar, Dan; Leppänen, Jaakko; Palmiotti, Giuseppe; Salvatores, Massimo; Sen, Sonat; Shwageraus, Eugene; Fratoni, Massimiliano

2017-02-01

This paper presents some of the recent and new advancements in the extension of Monte Carlo Perturbation Theory methodologies and application. In particular, the discussed problems involve Brunup calculation, perturbation calculation based on continuous energy functions, and Monte Carlo Perturbation Theory in loosely coupled systems.

MVP/GMVP Version 3. General purpose Monte Carlo codes for neutron and photon transport calculations based on continuous energy and multigroup methods (Translated document)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Yasunobu; Okumura, Keisuke; Sakurai, Takeshi; Mori, Takamasa

2017-03-01

In order to realize fast and accurate Monte Carlo simulation of neutron and photon transport problems, two Monte Carlo codes MVP (continuous-energy method) and GMVP (multigroup method) have been developed at Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The codes have adopted a vectorized algorithm and have been developed for vector-type supercomputers. They also support parallel processing with a standard parallelization library MPI and thus a speed-up of Monte Carlo calculations can be achieved on general computing platforms. The first and second versions of the codes were released in 1994 and 2005, respectively. They have been extensively improved and new capabilities have been implemented. The major improvements and new capabilities are as follows: (1) perturbation calculation for effective multiplication factor, (2) exact resonant elastic scattering model, (3) calculation of reactor kinetics parameters, (4) photo-nuclear model, (5) simulation of delayed neutrons, (6) generation of group constants. This report describes the physical model, geometry description method used in the codes, new capabilities and input instructions. (author)

Monte Carlo alpha calculation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brockway, D.; Soran, P.; Whalen, P.

1985-01-01

A Monte Carlo algorithm to efficiently calculate static alpha eigenvalues, N = ne/sup ..cap alpha..t/, for supercritical systems has been developed and tested. A direct Monte Carlo approach to calculating a static alpha is to simply follow the buildup in time of neutrons in a supercritical system and evaluate the logarithmic derivative of the neutron population with respect to time. This procedure is expensive, and the solution is very noisy and almost useless for a system near critical. The modified approach is to convert the time-dependent problem to a static ..cap alpha../sup -/eigenvalue problem and regress ..cap alpha.. on solutions of a/sup -/ k/sup -/eigenvalue problem. In practice, this procedure is much more efficient than the direct calculation, and produces much more accurate results. Because the Monte Carlo codes are intrinsically three-dimensional and use elaborate continuous-energy cross sections, this technique is now used as a standard for evaluating other calculational techniques in odd geometries or with group cross sections.

Monte Carlo codes and Monte Carlo simulator program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higuchi, Kenji; Asai, Kiyoshi; Suganuma, Masayuki.

1990-03-01

Four typical Monte Carlo codes KENO-IV, MORSE, MCNP and VIM have been vectorized on VP-100 at Computing Center, JAERI. The problems in vector processing of Monte Carlo codes on vector processors have become clear through the work. As the result, it is recognized that these are difficulties to obtain good performance in vector processing of Monte Carlo codes. A Monte Carlo computing machine, which processes the Monte Carlo codes with high performances is being developed at our Computing Center since 1987. The concept of Monte Carlo computing machine and its performance have been investigated and estimated by using a software simulator. In this report the problems in vectorization of Monte Carlo codes, Monte Carlo pipelines proposed to mitigate these difficulties and the results of the performance estimation of the Monte Carlo computing machine by the simulator are described. (author)

Evaluation of cobalt-60 energy deposit in mouse and monkey using Monte Carlo simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woo, Sang Keun; Kim, Wook; Park, Yong Sung; Kang, Joo Hyun; Lee, Yong Jin [Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, KIRAMS, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Doo Wan; Lee, Hong Soo; Han, Su Cheol [Jeonbuk Department of Inhalation Research, Korea Institute of toxicology, KRICT, Jeongeup (Korea, Republic of)

2016-12-15

These absorbed dose can calculated using the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP (Monte Carlo N-particle transport code). Internal radiotherapy absorbed dose was calculated using conventional software, such as OLINDA/EXM or Monte Carlo simulation. However, the OLINDA/EXM does not calculate individual absorbed dose and non-standard organ, such as tumor. While the Monte Carlo simulation can calculated non-standard organ and specific absorbed dose using individual CT image. External radiotherapy, absorbed dose can calculated by specific absorbed energy in specific organs using Monte Carlo simulation. The specific absorbed energy in each organ was difference between species or even if the same species. Since they have difference organ sizes, position, and density of organs. The aim of this study was to individually evaluated cobalt-60 energy deposit in mouse and monkey using Monte Carlo simulation. We evaluation of cobalt-60 energy deposit in mouse and monkey using Monte Carlo simulation. The absorbed energy in each organ compared with mouse heart was 54.6 fold higher than monkey absorbed energy in heart. Likewise lung was 88.4, liver was 16.0, urinary bladder was 29.4 fold higher than monkey. It means that the distance of each organs and organ mass was effects of the absorbed energy. This result may help to can calculated absorbed dose and more accuracy plan for external radiation beam therapy and internal radiotherapy.

Evaluation of cobalt-60 energy deposit in mouse and monkey using Monte Carlo simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woo, Sang Keun; Kim, Wook; Park, Yong Sung; Kang, Joo Hyun; Lee, Yong Jin; Cho, Doo Wan; Lee, Hong Soo; Han, Su Cheol

2016-01-01

These absorbed dose can calculated using the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP (Monte Carlo N-particle transport code). Internal radiotherapy absorbed dose was calculated using conventional software, such as OLINDA/EXM or Monte Carlo simulation. However, the OLINDA/EXM does not calculate individual absorbed dose and non-standard organ, such as tumor. While the Monte Carlo simulation can calculated non-standard organ and specific absorbed dose using individual CT image. External radiotherapy, absorbed dose can calculated by specific absorbed energy in specific organs using Monte Carlo simulation. The specific absorbed energy in each organ was difference between species or even if the same species. Since they have difference organ sizes, position, and density of organs. The aim of this study was to individually evaluated cobalt-60 energy deposit in mouse and monkey using Monte Carlo simulation. We evaluation of cobalt-60 energy deposit in mouse and monkey using Monte Carlo simulation. The absorbed energy in each organ compared with mouse heart was 54.6 fold higher than monkey absorbed energy in heart. Likewise lung was 88.4, liver was 16.0, urinary bladder was 29.4 fold higher than monkey. It means that the distance of each organs and organ mass was effects of the absorbed energy. This result may help to can calculated absorbed dose and more accuracy plan for external radiation beam therapy and internal radiotherapy.

Neutron cross section library production code system for continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP. LICEM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki; Kaneko, Kunio.

1996-05-01

A code system has been developed to produce neutron cross section libraries for the MVP continuous energy Monte Carlo code from an evaluated nuclear data library in the ENDF format. The code system consists of 9 computer codes, and can process nuclear data in the latest ENDF-6 format. By using the present system, MVP neutron cross section libraries for important nuclides in reactor core analyses, shielding and fusion neutronics calculations have been prepared from JENDL-3.1, JENDL-3.2, JENDL-FUSION file and ENDF/B-VI data bases. This report describes the format of MVP neutron cross section library, the details of each code in the code system and how to use them. (author)

Neutron cross section library production code system for continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP. LICEM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment; Kaneko, Kunio

1996-05-01

A code system has been developed to produce neutron cross section libraries for the MVP continuous energy Monte Carlo code from an evaluated nuclear data library in the ENDF format. The code system consists of 9 computer codes, and can process nuclear data in the latest ENDF-6 format. By using the present system, MVP neutron cross section libraries for important nuclides in reactor core analyses, shielding and fusion neutronics calculations have been prepared from JENDL-3.1, JENDL-3.2, JENDL-FUSION file and ENDF/B-VI data bases. This report describes the format of MVP neutron cross section library, the details of each code in the code system and how to use them. (author).

New strategies of sensitivity analysis capabilities in continuous-energy Monte Carlo code RMC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu, Yishu; Liang, Jingang; Wang, Kan; Yu, Jiankai

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Data decomposition techniques are proposed for memory reduction. • New strategies are put forward and implemented in RMC code to improve efficiency and accuracy for sensitivity calculations. • A capability to compute region-specific sensitivity coefficients is developed in RMC code. - Abstract: The iterated fission probability (IFP) method has been demonstrated to be an accurate alternative for estimating the adjoint-weighted parameters in continuous-energy Monte Carlo forward calculations. However, the memory requirements of this method are huge especially when a large number of sensitivity coefficients are desired. Therefore, data decomposition techniques are proposed in this work. Two parallel strategies based on the neutron production rate (NPR) estimator and the fission neutron population (FNP) estimator for adjoint fluxes, as well as a more efficient algorithm which has multiple overlapping blocks (MOB) in a cycle, are investigated and implemented in the continuous-energy Reactor Monte Carlo code RMC for sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, a region-specific sensitivity analysis capability is developed in RMC. These new strategies, algorithms and capabilities are verified against analytic solutions of a multi-group infinite-medium problem and against results from other software packages including MCNP6, TSUANAMI-1D and multi-group TSUNAMI-3D. While the results generated by the NPR and FNP strategies agree within 0.1% of the analytic sensitivity coefficients, the MOB strategy surprisingly produces sensitivity coefficients exactly equal to the analytic ones. Meanwhile, the results generated by the three strategies in RMC are in agreement with those produced by other codes within a few percent. Moreover, the MOB strategy performs the most efficient sensitivity coefficient calculations (offering as much as an order of magnitude gain in FoMs over MCNP6), followed by the NPR and FNP strategies, and then MCNP6. The results also reveal that these

Monte Carlo and Quasi-Monte Carlo Sampling

CERN Document Server

Lemieux, Christiane

2009-01-01

Presents essential tools for using quasi-Monte Carlo sampling in practice. This book focuses on issues related to Monte Carlo methods - uniform and non-uniform random number generation, variance reduction techniques. It covers several aspects of quasi-Monte Carlo methods.

SWAT4.0 - The integrated burnup code system driving continuous energy Monte Carlo codes MVP, MCNP and deterministic calculation code SRAC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kashima, Takao; Suyama, Kenya; Takada, Tomoyuki

2015-03-01

There have been two versions of SWAT depending on details of its development history: the revised SWAT that uses the deterministic calculation code SRAC as a neutron transportation solver, and the SWAT3.1 that uses the continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP or MCNP5 for the same purpose. It takes several hours, however, to execute one calculation by the continuous energy Monte Carlo code even on the super computer of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Moreover, two-dimensional burnup calculation is not practical using the revised SWAT because it has problems on production of effective cross section data and applying them to arbitrary fuel geometry when a calculation model has multiple burnup zones. Therefore, SWAT4.0 has been developed by adding, to SWAT3.1, a function to utilize the deterministic code SARC2006, which has shorter calculation time, as an outer module of neutron transportation solver for burnup calculation. SWAT4.0 has been enabled to execute two-dimensional burnup calculation by providing an input data template of SRAC2006 to SWAT4.0 input data, and updating atomic number densities of burnup zones in each burnup step. This report describes outline, input data instruction, and examples of calculations of SWAT4.0. (author)

On the use of stochastic approximation Monte Carlo for Monte Carlo integration

KAUST Repository

Liang, Faming

2009-03-01

The stochastic approximation Monte Carlo (SAMC) algorithm has recently been proposed as a dynamic optimization algorithm in the literature. In this paper, we show in theory that the samples generated by SAMC can be used for Monte Carlo integration via a dynamically weighted estimator by calling some results from the literature of nonhomogeneous Markov chains. Our numerical results indicate that SAMC can yield significant savings over conventional Monte Carlo algorithms, such as the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, for the problems for which the energy landscape is rugged. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Burnup calculations using Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, Biplab; Degweker, S.B.

2009-01-01

In the recent years, interest in burnup calculations using Monte Carlo methods has gained momentum. Previous burn up codes have used multigroup transport theory based calculations followed by diffusion theory based core calculations for the neutronic portion of codes. The transport theory methods invariably make approximations with regard to treatment of the energy and angle variables involved in scattering, besides approximations related to geometry simplification. Cell homogenisation to produce diffusion, theory parameters adds to these approximations. Moreover, while diffusion theory works for most reactors, it does not produce accurate results in systems that have strong gradients, strong absorbers or large voids. Also, diffusion theory codes are geometry limited (rectangular, hexagonal, cylindrical, and spherical coordinates). Monte Carlo methods are ideal to solve very heterogeneous reactors and/or lattices/assemblies in which considerable burnable poisons are used. The key feature of this approach is that Monte Carlo methods permit essentially 'exact' modeling of all geometrical detail, without resort to ene and spatial homogenization of neutron cross sections. Monte Carlo method would also be better for in Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) which could have strong gradients due to the external source and a sub-critical assembly. To meet the demand for an accurate burnup code, we have developed a Monte Carlo burnup calculation code system in which Monte Carlo neutron transport code is coupled with a versatile code (McBurn) for calculating the buildup and decay of nuclides in nuclear materials. McBurn is developed from scratch by the authors. In this article we will discuss our effort in developing the continuous energy Monte Carlo burn-up code, McBurn. McBurn is intended for entire reactor core as well as for unit cells and assemblies. Generally, McBurn can do burnup of any geometrical system which can be handled by the underlying Monte Carlo transport code

A contribution Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aboughantous, C.H.

1994-01-01

A Contribution Monte Carlo method is developed and successfully applied to a sample deep-penetration shielding problem. The random walk is simulated in most of its parts as in conventional Monte Carlo methods. The probability density functions (pdf's) are expressed in terms of spherical harmonics and are continuous functions in direction cosine and azimuthal angle variables as well as in position coordinates; the energy is discretized in the multigroup approximation. The transport pdf is an unusual exponential kernel strongly dependent on the incident and emergent directions and energies and on the position of the collision site. The method produces the same results obtained with the deterministic method with a very small standard deviation, with as little as 1,000 Contribution particles in both analog and nonabsorption biasing modes and with only a few minutes CPU time

Speed-up of ab initio hybrid Monte Carlo and ab initio path integral hybrid Monte Carlo simulations by using an auxiliary potential energy surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakayama, Akira; Taketsugu, Tetsuya; Shiga, Motoyuki

2009-01-01

Efficiency of the ab initio hybrid Monte Carlo and ab initio path integral hybrid Monte Carlo methods is enhanced by employing an auxiliary potential energy surface that is used to update the system configuration via molecular dynamics scheme. As a simple illustration of this method, a dual-level approach is introduced where potential energy gradients are evaluated by computationally less expensive ab initio electronic structure methods. (author)

Monte Carlo simulation of continuous-space crystal growth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodson, B.W.; Taylor, P.A.

1986-01-01

We describe a method, based on Monte Carlo techniques, of simulating the atomic growth of crystals without the discrete lattice space assumed by conventional Monte Carlo growth simulations. Since no lattice space is assumed, problems involving epitaxial growth, heteroepitaxy, phonon-driven mechanisms, surface reconstruction, and many other phenomena incompatible with the lattice-space approximation can be studied. Also, use of the Monte Carlo method circumvents to some extent the extreme limitations on simulated timescale inherent in crystal-growth techniques which might be proposed using molecular dynamics. The implementation of the new method is illustrated by studying the growth of strained-layer superlattice (SLS) interfaces in two-dimensional Lennard-Jones atomic systems. Despite the extreme simplicity of such systems, the qualitative features of SLS growth seen here are similar to those observed experimentally in real semiconductor systems

Monte Carlo based diffusion coefficients for LMFBR analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Rooijen, Willem F.G.; Takeda, Toshikazu; Hazama, Taira

2010-01-01

A method based on Monte Carlo calculations is developed to estimate the diffusion coefficient of unit cells. The method uses a geometrical model similar to that used in lattice theory, but does not use the assumption of a separable fundamental mode used in lattice theory. The method uses standard Monte Carlo flux and current tallies, and the continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP was used without modifications. Four models are presented to derive the diffusion coefficient from tally results of flux and partial currents. In this paper the method is applied to the calculation of a plate cell of the fast-spectrum critical facility ZEBRA. Conventional calculations of the diffusion coefficient diverge in the presence of planar voids in the lattice, but our Monte Carlo method can treat this situation without any problem. The Monte Carlo method was used to investigate the influence of geometrical modeling as well as the directional dependence of the diffusion coefficient. The method can be used to estimate the diffusion coefficient of complicated unit cells, the limitation being the capabilities of the Monte Carlo code. The method will be used in the future to confirm results for the diffusion coefficient obtained of the Monte Carlo code. The method will be used in the future to confirm results for the diffusion coefficient obtained with deterministic codes. (author)

An Overview of the Monte Carlo Application ToolKit (MCATK)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trahan, Travis John [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-01-07

MCATK is a C++ component-based Monte Carlo neutron-gamma transport software library designed to build specialized applications and designed to provide new functionality in existing general-purpose Monte Carlo codes like MCNP; it was developed with Agile software engineering methodologies under the motivation to reduce costs. The characteristics of MCATK can be summarized as follows: MCATK physics – continuous energy neutron-gamma transport with multi-temperature treatment, static eigenvalue (k and α) algorithms, time-dependent algorithm, fission chain algorithms; MCATK geometry – mesh geometries, solid body geometries. MCATK provides verified, unit-tested Monte Carlo components, flexibility in Monte Carlo applications development, and numerous tools such as geometry and cross section plotters. Recent work has involved deterministic and Monte Carlo analysis of stochastic systems. Static and dynamic analysis is discussed, and the results of a dynamic test problem are given.

Collision of Physics and Software in the Monte Carlo Application Toolkit (MCATK)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sweezy, Jeremy Ed [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-01-21

The topic is presented in a series of slides organized as follows: MCATK overview, development strategy, available algorithms, problem modeling (sources, geometry, data, tallies), parallelism, miscellaneous tools/features, example MCATK application, recent areas of research, and summary and future work. MCATK is a C++ component-based Monte Carlo neutron-gamma transport software library with continuous energy neutron and photon transport. Designed to build specialized applications and to provide new functionality in existing general-purpose Monte Carlo codes like MCNP, it reads ACE formatted nuclear data generated by NJOY. The motivation behind MCATK was to reduce costs. MCATK physics involves continuous energy neutron & gamma transport with multi-temperature treatment, static eigenvalue (k_eff and α) algorithms, time-dependent algorithm, and fission chain algorithms. MCATK geometry includes mesh geometries and solid body geometries. MCATK provides verified, unit-test Monte Carlo components, flexibility in Monte Carlo application development, and numerous tools such as geometry and cross section plotters.

Lecture 1. Monte Carlo basics. Lecture 2. Adjoint Monte Carlo. Lecture 3. Coupled Forward-Adjoint calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoogenboom, J.E. [Delft University of Technology, Interfaculty Reactor Institute, Delft (Netherlands)

2000-07-01

The Monte Carlo method is a statistical method to solve mathematical and physical problems using random numbers. The principle of the methods will be demonstrated for a simple mathematical problem and for neutron transport. Various types of estimators will be discussed, as well as generally applied variance reduction methods like splitting, Russian roulette and importance biasing. The theoretical formulation for solving eigenvalue problems for multiplying systems will be shown. Some reflections will be given about the applicability of the Monte Carlo method, its limitations and its future prospects for reactor physics calculations. Adjoint Monte Carlo is a Monte Carlo game to solve the adjoint neutron (or photon) transport equation. The adjoint transport equation can be interpreted in terms of simulating histories of artificial particles, which show properties of neutrons that move backwards in history. These particles will start their history at the detector from which the response must be estimated and give a contribution to the estimated quantity when they hit or pass through the neutron source. Application to multigroup transport formulation will be demonstrated Possible implementation for the continuous energy case will be outlined. The inherent advantages and disadvantages of the method will be discussed. The Midway Monte Carlo method will be presented for calculating a detector response due to a (neutron or photon) source. A derivation will be given of the basic formula for the Midway Monte Carlo method The black absorber technique, allowing for a cutoff of particle histories when reaching the midway surface in one of the calculations will be derived. An extension of the theory to coupled neutron-photon problems is given. The method will be demonstrated for an oil well logging problem, comprising a neutron source in a borehole and photon detectors to register the photons generated by inelastic neutron scattering. (author)

Lecture 1. Monte Carlo basics. Lecture 2. Adjoint Monte Carlo. Lecture 3. Coupled Forward-Adjoint calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoogenboom, J.E.

2000-01-01

The Monte Carlo method is a statistical method to solve mathematical and physical problems using random numbers. The principle of the methods will be demonstrated for a simple mathematical problem and for neutron transport. Various types of estimators will be discussed, as well as generally applied variance reduction methods like splitting, Russian roulette and importance biasing. The theoretical formulation for solving eigenvalue problems for multiplying systems will be shown. Some reflections will be given about the applicability of the Monte Carlo method, its limitations and its future prospects for reactor physics calculations. Adjoint Monte Carlo is a Monte Carlo game to solve the adjoint neutron (or photon) transport equation. The adjoint transport equation can be interpreted in terms of simulating histories of artificial particles, which show properties of neutrons that move backwards in history. These particles will start their history at the detector from which the response must be estimated and give a contribution to the estimated quantity when they hit or pass through the neutron source. Application to multigroup transport formulation will be demonstrated Possible implementation for the continuous energy case will be outlined. The inherent advantages and disadvantages of the method will be discussed. The Midway Monte Carlo method will be presented for calculating a detector response due to a (neutron or photon) source. A derivation will be given of the basic formula for the Midway Monte Carlo method The black absorber technique, allowing for a cutoff of particle histories when reaching the midway surface in one of the calculations will be derived. An extension of the theory to coupled neutron-photon problems is given. The method will be demonstrated for an oil well logging problem, comprising a neutron source in a borehole and photon detectors to register the photons generated by inelastic neutron scattering. (author)

MVP/GMVP 2: general purpose Monte Carlo codes for neutron and photon transport calculations based on continuous energy and multigroup methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Yasunobu; Okumura, Keisuke; Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki

2005-06-01

In order to realize fast and accurate Monte Carlo simulation of neutron and photon transport problems, two vectorized Monte Carlo codes MVP and GMVP have been developed at JAERI. MVP is based on the continuous energy model and GMVP is on the multigroup model. Compared with conventional scalar codes, these codes achieve higher computation speed by a factor of 10 or more on vector super-computers. Both codes have sufficient functions for production use by adopting accurate physics model, geometry description capability and variance reduction techniques. The first version of the codes was released in 1994. They have been extensively improved and new functions have been implemented. The major improvements and new functions are (1) capability to treat the scattering model expressed with File 6 of the ENDF-6 format, (2) time-dependent tallies, (3) reaction rate calculation with the pointwise response function, (4) flexible source specification, (5) continuous-energy calculation at arbitrary temperatures, (6) estimation of real variances in eigenvalue problems, (7) point detector and surface crossing estimators, (8) statistical geometry model, (9) function of reactor noise analysis (simulation of the Feynman-α experiment), (10) arbitrary shaped lattice boundary, (11) periodic boundary condition, (12) parallelization with standard libraries (MPI, PVM), (13) supporting many platforms, etc. This report describes the physical model, geometry description method used in the codes, new functions and how to use them. (author)

Successful vectorization - reactor physics Monte Carlo code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, W.R.

1989-01-01

Most particle transport Monte Carlo codes in use today are based on the ''history-based'' algorithm, wherein one particle history at a time is simulated. Unfortunately, the ''history-based'' approach (present in all Monte Carlo codes until recent years) is inherently scalar and cannot be vectorized. In particular, the history-based algorithm cannot take advantage of vector architectures, which characterize the largest and fastest computers at the current time, vector supercomputers such as the Cray X/MP or IBM 3090/600. However, substantial progress has been made in recent years in developing and implementing a vectorized Monte Carlo algorithm. This algorithm follows portions of many particle histories at the same time and forms the basis for all successful vectorized Monte Carlo codes that are in use today. This paper describes the basic vectorized algorithm along with descriptions of several variations that have been developed by different researchers for specific applications. These applications have been mainly in the areas of neutron transport in nuclear reactor and shielding analysis and photon transport in fusion plasmas. The relative merits of the various approach schemes will be discussed and the present status of known vectorization efforts will be summarized along with available timing results, including results from the successful vectorization of 3-D general geometry, continuous energy Monte Carlo. (orig.)

SWAT3.1 - the integrated burnup code system driving continuous energy Monte Carlo codes MVP and MCNP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suyama, Kenya; Mochizuki, Hiroki; Takada, Tomoyuki; Ryufuku, Susumu; Okuno, Hiroshi; Murazaki, Minoru; Ohkubo, Kiyoshi

2009-05-01

Integrated burnup calculation code system SWAT is a system that combines neutronics calculation code SRAC,which is widely used in Japan, and point burnup calculation code ORIGEN2. It has been used to evaluate the composition of the uranium, plutonium, minor actinides and the fission products in the spent nuclear fuel. Based on this idea, the integrated burnup calculation code system SWAT3.1 was developed by combining the continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP and MCNP, and ORIGEN2. This enables us to treat the arbitrary fuel geometry and to generate the effective cross section data to be used in the burnup calculation with few approximations. This report describes the outline, input data instruction and several examples of the calculation. (author)

Quasi Monte Carlo methods for optimization models of the energy industry with pricing and load processes; Quasi-Monte Carlo Methoden fuer Optimierungsmodelle der Energiewirtschaft mit Preis- und Last-Prozessen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leoevey, H.; Roemisch, W. [Humboldt-Univ., Berlin (Germany)

2015-07-01

We discuss progress in quasi Monte Carlo methods for numerical calculation integrals or expected values and justify why these methods are more efficient than the classic Monte Carlo methods. Quasi Monte Carlo methods are found to be particularly efficient if the integrands have a low effective dimension. That's why We also discuss the concept of effective dimension and prove on the example of a stochastic Optimization model of the energy industry that such models can posses a low effective dimension. Modern quasi Monte Carlo methods are therefore for such models very promising. [German] Wir diskutieren Fortschritte bei Quasi-Monte Carlo Methoden zur numerischen Berechnung von Integralen bzw. Erwartungswerten und begruenden warum diese Methoden effizienter sind als die klassischen Monte Carlo Methoden. Quasi-Monte Carlo Methoden erweisen sich als besonders effizient, falls die Integranden eine geringe effektive Dimension besitzen. Deshalb diskutieren wir auch den Begriff effektive Dimension und weisen am Beispiel eines stochastischen Optimierungsmodell aus der Energiewirtschaft nach, dass solche Modelle eine niedrige effektive Dimension besitzen koennen. Moderne Quasi-Monte Carlo Methoden sind deshalb fuer solche Modelle sehr erfolgversprechend.

Calculation of toroidal fusion reactor blankets by Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macdonald, J.L.; Cashwell, E.D.; Everett, C.J.

1977-01-01

A brief description of the calculational method is given. The code calculates energy deposition in toroidal geometry, but is a continuous energy Monte Carlo code, treating the reaction cross sections as well as the angular scattering distributions in great detail

Novel hybrid Monte Carlo/deterministic technique for shutdown dose rate analyses of fusion energy systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ibrahim, Ahmad M.; Peplow, Douglas E.; Peterson, Joshua L.; Grove, Robert E.

2014-01-01

Highlights: •Develop the novel Multi-Step CADIS (MS-CADIS) hybrid Monte Carlo/deterministic method for multi-step shielding analyses. •Accurately calculate shutdown dose rates using full-scale Monte Carlo models of fusion energy systems. •Demonstrate the dramatic efficiency improvement of the MS-CADIS method for the rigorous two step calculations of the shutdown dose rate in fusion reactors. -- Abstract: The rigorous 2-step (R2S) computational system uses three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport simulations to calculate the shutdown dose rate (SDDR) in fusion reactors. Accurate full-scale R2S calculations are impractical in fusion reactors because they require calculating space- and energy-dependent neutron fluxes everywhere inside the reactor. The use of global Monte Carlo variance reduction techniques was suggested for accelerating the R2S neutron transport calculation. However, the prohibitive computational costs of these approaches, which increase with the problem size and amount of shielding materials, inhibit their ability to accurately predict the SDDR in fusion energy systems using full-scale modeling of an entire fusion plant. This paper describes a novel hybrid Monte Carlo/deterministic methodology that uses the Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) method but focuses on multi-step shielding calculations. The Multi-Step CADIS (MS-CADIS) methodology speeds up the R2S neutron Monte Carlo calculation using an importance function that represents the neutron importance to the final SDDR. Using a simplified example, preliminary results showed that the use of MS-CADIS enhanced the efficiency of the neutron Monte Carlo simulation of an SDDR calculation by a factor of 550 compared to standard global variance reduction techniques, and that the efficiency enhancement compared to analog Monte Carlo is higher than a factor of 10,000

Estimation of ex-core detector responses by adjoint Monte Carlo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoogenboom, J. E. [Delft Univ. of Technology, Mekelweg 15, 2629 JB Delft (Netherlands)

2006-07-01

Ex-core detector responses can be efficiently calculated by combining an adjoint Monte Carlo calculation with the converged source distribution of a forward Monte Carlo calculation. As the fission source distribution from a Monte Carlo calculation is given only as a collection of discrete space positions, the coupling requires a point flux estimator for each collision in the adjoint calculation. To avoid the infinite variance problems of the point flux estimator, a next-event finite-variance point flux estimator has been applied, witch is an energy dependent form for heterogeneous media of a finite-variance estimator known from the literature. To test the effects of this combined adjoint-forward calculation a simple geometry of a homogeneous core with a reflector was adopted with a small detector in the reflector. To demonstrate the potential of the method the continuous-energy adjoint Monte Carlo technique with anisotropic scattering was implemented with energy dependent absorption and fission cross sections and constant scattering cross section. A gain in efficiency over a completely forward calculation of the detector response was obtained, which is strongly dependent on the specific system and especially the size and position of the ex-core detector and the energy range considered. Further improvements are possible. The method works without problems for small detectors, even for a point detector and a small or even zero energy range. (authors)

SWAT2: The improved SWAT code system by incorporating the continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mochizuki, Hiroki; Suyama, Kenya; Okuno, Hiroshi

2003-01-01

SWAT is a code system, which performs the burnup calculation by the combination of the neutronics calculation code, SRAC95 and the one group burnup calculation code, ORIGEN2.1. The SWAT code system can deal with the cell geometry in SRAC95. However, a precise treatment of resonance absorptions by the SRAC95 code using the ultra-fine group cross section library is not directly applicable to two- or three-dimensional geometry models, because of restrictions in SRAC95. To overcome this problem, SWAT2 which newly introduced the continuous energy Monte Carlo code, MVP into SWAT was developed. Thereby, the burnup calculation by the continuous energy in any geometry became possible. Moreover, using the 147 group cross section library called SWAT library, the reactions which are not dealt with by SRAC95 and MVP can be treated. OECD/NEA burnup credit criticality safety benchmark problems Phase-IB (PWR, a single pin cell model) and Phase-IIIB (BWR, fuel assembly model) were calculated as a verification of SWAT2, and the results were compared with the average values of calculation results of burnup calculation code of each organization. Through two benchmark problems, it was confirmed that SWAT2 was applicable to the burnup calculation of the complicated geometry. (author)

Algorithmic choices in WARP – A framework for continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport in general 3D geometries on GPUs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergmann, Ryan M.; Vujić, Jasmina L.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • WARP, a GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo neutron transport code, has been developed. • The NVIDIA OptiX high-performance ray tracing library is used to process geometric data. • The unionized cross section representation is modified for higher performance. • Reference remapping is used to keep the GPU busy as neutron batch population reduces. • Reference remapping is done using a key-value radix sort on neutron reaction type. - Abstract: In recent supercomputers, general purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs) are a significant faction of the supercomputer’s total computational power. GPGPUs have different architectures compared to central processing units (CPUs), and for Monte Carlo neutron transport codes used in nuclear engineering to take advantage of these coprocessor cards, transport algorithms must be changed to execute efficiently on them. WARP is a continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport code that has been written to do this. The main thrust of WARP is to adapt previous event-based transport algorithms to the new GPU hardware; the algorithmic choices for all parts of which are presented in this paper. It is found that remapping history data references increases the GPU processing rate when histories start to complete. The main reason for this is that completed data are eliminated from the address space, threads are kept busy, and memory bandwidth is not wasted on checking completed data. Remapping also allows the interaction kernels to be launched concurrently, improving efficiency. The OptiX ray tracing framework and CUDPP library are used for geometry representation and parallel dataset-side operations, ensuring high performance and reliability

MC 93 - Proceedings of the International Conference on Monte Carlo Simulation in High Energy and Nuclear Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Dragovitsch, Peter; Linn, Stephan L.; Burbank, Mimi

1994-01-01

The Table of Contents for the book is as follows: * Preface * Heavy Fragment Production for Hadronic Cascade Codes * Monte Carlo Simulations of Space Radiation Environments * Merging Parton Showers with Higher Order QCD Monte Carlos * An Order-αs Two-Photon Background Study for the Intermediate Mass Higgs Boson * GEANT Simulation of Hall C Detector at CEBAF * Monte Carlo Simulations in Radioecology: Chernobyl Experience * UNIMOD2: Monte Carlo Code for Simulation of High Energy Physics Experiments; Some Special Features * Geometrical Efficiency Analysis for the Gamma-Neutron and Gamma-Proton Reactions * GISMO: An Object-Oriented Approach to Particle Transport and Detector Modeling * Role of MPP Granularity in Optimizing Monte Carlo Programming * Status and Future Trends of the GEANT System * The Binary Sectioning Geometry for Monte Carlo Detector Simulation * A Combined HETC-FLUKA Intranuclear Cascade Event Generator * The HARP Nucleon Polarimeter * Simulation and Data Analysis Software for CLAS * TRAP -- An Optical Ray Tracing Program * Solutions of Inverse and Optimization Problems in High Energy and Nuclear Physics Using Inverse Monte Carlo * FLUKA: Hadronic Benchmarks and Applications * Electron-Photon Transport: Always so Good as We Think? Experience with FLUKA * Simulation of Nuclear Effects in High Energy Hadron-Nucleus Collisions * Monte Carlo Simulations of Medium Energy Detectors at COSY Jülich * Complex-Valued Monte Carlo Method and Path Integrals in the Quantum Theory of Localization in Disordered Systems of Scatterers * Radiation Levels at the SSCL Experimental Halls as Obtained Using the CLOR89 Code System * Overview of Matrix Element Methods in Event Generation * Fast Electromagnetic Showers * GEANT Simulation of the RMC Detector at TRIUMF and Neutrino Beams for KAON * Event Display for the CLAS Detector * Monte Carlo Simulation of High Energy Electrons in Toroidal Geometry * GEANT 3.14 vs. EGS4: A Comparison Using the DØ Uranium/Liquid Argon

Monte Carlo Treatment Planning for Advanced Radiotherapy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cronholm, Rickard

This Ph.d. project describes the development of a workflow for Monte Carlo Treatment Planning for clinical radiotherapy plans. The workflow may be utilized to perform an independent dose verification of treatment plans. Modern radiotherapy treatment delivery is often conducted by dynamically...... modulating the intensity of the field during the irradiation. The workflow described has the potential to fully model the dynamic delivery, including gantry rotation during irradiation, of modern radiotherapy. Three corner stones of Monte Carlo Treatment Planning are identified: Building, commissioning...... and validation of a Monte Carlo model of a medical linear accelerator (i), converting a CT scan of a patient to a Monte Carlo compliant phantom (ii) and translating the treatment plan parameters (including beam energy, angles of incidence, collimator settings etc) to a Monte Carlo input file (iii). A protocol...

Advanced Mesh-Enabled Monte carlo capability for Multi-Physics Reactor Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilson, Paul; Evans, Thomas; Tautges, Tim

2012-12-24

This project will accumulate high-precision fluxes throughout reactor geometry on a non- orthogonal grid of cells to support multi-physics coupling, in order to more accurately calculate parameters such as reactivity coefficients and to generate multi-group cross sections. This work will be based upon recent developments to incorporate advanced geometry and mesh capability in a modular Monte Carlo toolkit with computational science technology that is in use in related reactor simulation software development. Coupling this capability with production-scale Monte Carlo radiation transport codes can provide advanced and extensible test-beds for these developments. Continuous energy Monte Carlo methods are generally considered to be the most accurate computational tool for simulating radiation transport in complex geometries, particularly neutron transport in reactors. Nevertheless, there are several limitations for their use in reactor analysis. Most significantly, there is a trade-off between the fidelity of results in phase space, statistical accuracy, and the amount of computer time required for simulation. Consequently, to achieve an acceptable level of statistical convergence in high-fidelity results required for modern coupled multi-physics analysis, the required computer time makes Monte Carlo methods prohibitive for design iterations and detailed whole-core analysis. More subtly, the statistical uncertainty is typically not uniform throughout the domain, and the simulation quality is limited by the regions with the largest statistical uncertainty. In addition, the formulation of neutron scattering laws in continuous energy Monte Carlo methods makes it difficult to calculate adjoint neutron fluxes required to properly determine important reactivity parameters. Finally, most Monte Carlo codes available for reactor analysis have relied on orthogonal hexahedral grids for tallies that do not conform to the geometric boundaries and are thus generally not well

Monte Carlo methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bardenet Rémi

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Bayesian inference often requires integrating some function with respect to a posterior distribution. Monte Carlo methods are sampling algorithms that allow to compute these integrals numerically when they are not analytically tractable. We review here the basic principles and the most common Monte Carlo algorithms, among which rejection sampling, importance sampling and Monte Carlo Markov chain (MCMC methods. We give intuition on the theoretical justification of the algorithms as well as practical advice, trying to relate both. We discuss the application of Monte Carlo in experimental physics, and point to landmarks in the literature for the curious reader.

Monte Carlo approaches to light nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlson, J.

1990-01-01

Significant progress has been made recently in the application of Monte Carlo methods to the study of light nuclei. We review new Green's function Monte Carlo results for the alpha particle, Variational Monte Carlo studies of 16 O, and methods for low-energy scattering and transitions. Through these calculations, a coherent picture of the structure and electromagnetic properties of light nuclei has arisen. In particular, we examine the effect of the three-nucleon interaction and the importance of exchange currents in a variety of experimentally measured properties, including form factors and capture cross sections. 29 refs., 7 figs

Monte Carlo approaches to light nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlson, J.

1990-01-01

Significant progress has been made recently in the application of Monte Carlo methods to the study of light nuclei. We review new Green's function Monte Carlo results for the alpha particle, Variational Monte Carlo studies of {sup 16}O, and methods for low-energy scattering and transitions. Through these calculations, a coherent picture of the structure and electromagnetic properties of light nuclei has arisen. In particular, we examine the effect of the three-nucleon interaction and the importance of exchange currents in a variety of experimentally measured properties, including form factors and capture cross sections. 29 refs., 7 figs.

Development of M3C code for Monte Carlo reactor physics criticality calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Anek; Kannan, Umasankari; Krishanani, P.D.

2015-06-01

The development of Monte Carlo code (M3C) for reactor design entails use of continuous energy nuclear data and Monte Carlo simulations for each of the neutron interaction processes. BARC has started a concentrated effort for developing a new general geometry continuous energy Monte Carlo code for reactor physics calculation indigenously. The code development required a comprehensive understanding of the basic continuous energy cross section sets. The important features of this code are treatment of heterogeneous lattices by general geometry, use of point cross sections along with unionized energy grid approach, thermal scattering model for low energy treatment, capability of handling the microscopic fuel particles dispersed randomly. The capability of handling the randomly dispersed microscopic fuel particles which is very useful for the modeling of High-Temperature Gas-Cooled reactor fuels which are composed of thousands of microscopic fuel particle (TRISO fuel particle), randomly dispersed in a graphite matrix. The Monte Carlo code for criticality calculation is a pioneering effort and has been used to study several types of lattices including cluster geometries. The code has been verified for its accuracy against more than 60 sample problems covering a wide range from simple (like spherical) to complex geometry (like PHWR lattice). Benchmark results show that the code performs quite well for the criticality calculation of the system. In this report, the current status of the code, features of the code, some of the benchmark results for the testing of the code and input preparation etc. are discussed. (author)

Bayesian inference and the analytic continuation of imaginary-time quantum Monte Carlo data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gubernatis, J.E.; Bonca, J.; Jarrell, M.

1995-01-01

We present brief description of how methods of Bayesian inference are used to obtain real frequency information by the analytic continuation of imaginary-time quantum Monte Carlo data. We present the procedure we used, which is due to R. K. Bryan, and summarize several bottleneck issues

Accuracy estimation for intermediate and low energy neutron transport calculation with Monte Carlo code MCNP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotegawa, Hiroshi; Sasamoto, Nobuo; Tanaka, Shun-ichi

1987-02-01

Both ''measured radioactive inventory due to neutron activation in the shield concrete of JPDR'' and ''measured intermediate and low energy neutron spectra penetrating through a graphite sphere'' are analyzed using a continuous energy model Monte Carlo code MCNP so as to estimate calculational accuracy of the code for neutron transport in thermal and epithermal energy regions. Analyses reveal that MCNP calculates thermal neutron spectra fairly accurately, while it apparently over-estimates epithermal neutron spectra (of approximate 1/E distribution) as compared with the measurements. (author)

Status of Monte Carlo at Los Alamos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, W.L.; Cashwell, E.D.

1980-01-01

At Los Alamos the early work of Fermi, von Neumann, and Ulam has been developed and supplemented by many followers, notably Cashwell and Everett, and the main product today is the continuous-energy, general-purpose, generalized-geometry, time-dependent, coupled neutron-photon transport code called MCNP. The Los Alamos Monte Carlo research and development effort is concentrated in Group X-6. MCNP treats an arbitrary three-dimensional configuration of arbitrary materials in geometric cells bounded by first- and second-degree surfaces and some fourth-degree surfaces (elliptical tori). Monte Carlo has evolved into perhaps the main method for radiation transport calculations at Los Alamos. MCNP is used in every technical division at the Laboratory by over 130 users about 600 times a month accounting for nearly 200 hours of CDC-7600 time

Monte Carlo simulation of nuclear energy study (II). Annual report on Nuclear Code Evaluation Committee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-01-01

In the report, research results discussed in 1999 fiscal year at Nuclear Code Evaluation Committee of Nuclear Code Research Committee were summarized. Present status of Monte Carlo simulation on nuclear energy study was described. Especially, besides of criticality, shielding and core analyses, present status of applications to risk and radiation damage analyses, high energy transport and nuclear theory calculations of Monte Carlo Method was described. The 18 papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

Effect of error propagation of nuclide number densities on Monte Carlo burn-up calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tohjoh, Masayuki; Endo, Tomohiro; Watanabe, Masato; Yamamoto, Akio

2006-01-01

As a result of improvements in computer technology, the continuous energy Monte Carlo burn-up calculation has received attention as a good candidate for an assembly calculation method. However, the results of Monte Carlo calculations contain the statistical errors. The results of Monte Carlo burn-up calculations, in particular, include propagated statistical errors through the variance of the nuclide number densities. Therefore, if statistical error alone is evaluated, the errors in Monte Carlo burn-up calculations may be underestimated. To make clear this effect of error propagation on Monte Carlo burn-up calculations, we here proposed an equation that can predict the variance of nuclide number densities after burn-up calculations, and we verified this equation using enormous numbers of the Monte Carlo burn-up calculations by changing only the initial random numbers. We also verified the effect of the number of burn-up calculation points on Monte Carlo burn-up calculations. From these verifications, we estimated the errors in Monte Carlo burn-up calculations including both statistical and propagated errors. Finally, we made clear the effects of error propagation on Monte Carlo burn-up calculations by comparing statistical errors alone versus both statistical and propagated errors. The results revealed that the effects of error propagation on the Monte Carlo burn-up calculations of 8 x 8 BWR fuel assembly are low up to 60 GWd/t

Data decomposition of Monte Carlo particle transport simulations via tally servers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romano, Paul K.; Siegel, Andrew R.; Forget, Benoit; Smith, Kord

2013-01-01

An algorithm for decomposing large tally data in Monte Carlo particle transport simulations is developed, analyzed, and implemented in a continuous-energy Monte Carlo code, OpenMC. The algorithm is based on a non-overlapping decomposition of compute nodes into tracking processors and tally servers. The former are used to simulate the movement of particles through the domain while the latter continuously receive and update tally data. A performance model for this approach is developed, suggesting that, for a range of parameters relevant to LWR analysis, the tally server algorithm should perform with minimal overhead on contemporary supercomputers. An implementation of the algorithm in OpenMC is then tested on the Intrepid and Titan supercomputers, supporting the key predictions of the model over a wide range of parameters. We thus conclude that the tally server algorithm is a successful approach to circumventing classical on-node memory constraints en route to unprecedentedly detailed Monte Carlo reactor simulations

A Multivariate Time Series Method for Monte Carlo Reactor Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taro Ueki

2008-01-01

A robust multivariate time series method has been established for the Monte Carlo calculation of neutron multiplication problems. The method is termed Coarse Mesh Projection Method (CMPM) and can be implemented using the coarse statistical bins for acquisition of nuclear fission source data. A novel aspect of CMPM is the combination of the general technical principle of projection pursuit in the signal processing discipline and the neutron multiplication eigenvalue problem in the nuclear engineering discipline. CMPM enables reactor physicists to accurately evaluate major eigenvalue separations of nuclear reactors with continuous energy Monte Carlo calculation. CMPM was incorporated in the MCNP Monte Carlo particle transport code of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The great advantage of CMPM over the traditional Fission Matrix method is demonstrated for the three space-dimensional modeling of the initial core of a pressurized water reactor

Monte Carlo Techniques for Nuclear Systems - Theory Lectures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, Forrest B.; Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

2016-01-01

These are lecture notes for a Monte Carlo class given at the University of New Mexico. The following topics are covered: course information; nuclear eng. review & MC; random numbers and sampling; computational geometry; collision physics; tallies and statistics; eigenvalue calculations I; eigenvalue calculations II; eigenvalue calculations III; variance reduction; parallel Monte Carlo; parameter studies; fission matrix and higher eigenmodes; doppler broadening; Monte Carlo depletion; HTGR modeling; coupled MC and T/H calculations; fission energy deposition. Solving particle transport problems with the Monte Carlo method is simple - just simulate the particle behavior. The devil is in the details, however. These lectures provide a balanced approach to the theory and practice of Monte Carlo simulation codes. The first lectures provide an overview of Monte Carlo simulation methods, covering the transport equation, random sampling, computational geometry, collision physics, and statistics. The next lectures focus on the state-of-the-art in Monte Carlo criticality simulations, covering the theory of eigenvalue calculations, convergence analysis, dominance ratio calculations, bias in Keff and tallies, bias in uncertainties, a case study of a realistic calculation, and Wielandt acceleration techniques. The remaining lectures cover advanced topics, including HTGR modeling and stochastic geometry, temperature dependence, fission energy deposition, depletion calculations, parallel calculations, and parameter studies. This portion of the class focuses on using MCNP to perform criticality calculations for reactor physics and criticality safety applications. It is an intermediate level class, intended for those with at least some familiarity with MCNP. Class examples provide hands-on experience at running the code, plotting both geometry and results, and understanding the code output. The class includes lectures & hands-on computer use for a variety of Monte Carlo calculations

Monte Carlo Techniques for Nuclear Systems - Theory Lectures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, Forrest B. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Monte Carlo Methods, Codes, and Applications Group; Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States). Nuclear Engineering Dept.

2016-11-29

These are lecture notes for a Monte Carlo class given at the University of New Mexico. The following topics are covered: course information; nuclear eng. review & MC; random numbers and sampling; computational geometry; collision physics; tallies and statistics; eigenvalue calculations I; eigenvalue calculations II; eigenvalue calculations III; variance reduction; parallel Monte Carlo; parameter studies; fission matrix and higher eigenmodes; doppler broadening; Monte Carlo depletion; HTGR modeling; coupled MC and T/H calculations; fission energy deposition. Solving particle transport problems with the Monte Carlo method is simple - just simulate the particle behavior. The devil is in the details, however. These lectures provide a balanced approach to the theory and practice of Monte Carlo simulation codes. The first lectures provide an overview of Monte Carlo simulation methods, covering the transport equation, random sampling, computational geometry, collision physics, and statistics. The next lectures focus on the state-of-the-art in Monte Carlo criticality simulations, covering the theory of eigenvalue calculations, convergence analysis, dominance ratio calculations, bias in Keff and tallies, bias in uncertainties, a case study of a realistic calculation, and Wielandt acceleration techniques. The remaining lectures cover advanced topics, including HTGR modeling and stochastic geometry, temperature dependence, fission energy deposition, depletion calculations, parallel calculations, and parameter studies. This portion of the class focuses on using MCNP to perform criticality calculations for reactor physics and criticality safety applications. It is an intermediate level class, intended for those with at least some familiarity with MCNP. Class examples provide hands-on experience at running the code, plotting both geometry and results, and understanding the code output. The class includes lectures & hands-on computer use for a variety of Monte Carlo calculations

Monte Carlo - Advances and Challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, Forrest B.; Mosteller, Russell D.; Martin, William R.

2008-01-01

Abstract only, full text follows: With ever-faster computers and mature Monte Carlo production codes, there has been tremendous growth in the application of Monte Carlo methods to the analysis of reactor physics and reactor systems. In the past, Monte Carlo methods were used primarily for calculating k eff of a critical system. More recently, Monte Carlo methods have been increasingly used for determining reactor power distributions and many design parameters, such as β eff , l eff , τ, reactivity coefficients, Doppler defect, dominance ratio, etc. These advanced applications of Monte Carlo methods are now becoming common, not just feasible, but bring new challenges to both developers and users: Convergence of 3D power distributions must be assured; confidence interval bias must be eliminated; iterated fission probabilities are required, rather than single-generation probabilities; temperature effects including Doppler and feedback must be represented; isotopic depletion and fission product buildup must be modeled. This workshop focuses on recent advances in Monte Carlo methods and their application to reactor physics problems, and on the resulting challenges faced by code developers and users. The workshop is partly tutorial, partly a review of the current state-of-the-art, and partly a discussion of future work that is needed. It should benefit both novice and expert Monte Carlo developers and users. In each of the topic areas, we provide an overview of needs, perspective on past and current methods, a review of recent work, and discussion of further research and capabilities that are required. Electronic copies of all workshop presentations and material will be available. The workshop is structured as 2 morning and 2 afternoon segments: - Criticality Calculations I - convergence diagnostics, acceleration methods, confidence intervals, and the iterated fission probability, - Criticality Calculations II - reactor kinetics parameters, dominance ratio, temperature

An improved energy-range relationship for high-energy electron beams based on multiple accurate experimental and Monte Carlo data sets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sorcini, B.B.; Andreo, P.; Hyoedynmaa, S.; Brahme, A.; Bielajew, A.F.

1995-01-01

A theoretically based analytical energy-range relationship has been developed and calibrated against well established experimental and Monte Carlo calculated energy-range data. Only published experimental data with a clear statement of accuracy and method of evaluation have been used. Besides published experimental range data for different uniform media, new accurate experimental data on the practical range of high-energy electron beams in water for the energy range 10-50 MeV from accurately calibrated racetrack microtrons have been used. Largely due to the simultaneous pooling of accurate experimental and Monte Carlo data for different materials, the fit has resulted in an increased accuracy of the resultant energy-range relationship, particularly at high energies. Up to date Monte Carlo data from the latest versions of the codes ITS3 and EGS4 for absorbers of atomic numbers between four and 92 (Be, C, H 2 O, PMMA, Al, Cu, Ag, Pb and U) and incident electron energies between 1 and 100 MeV have been used as a complement where experimental data are sparse or missing. The standard deviation of the experimental data relative to the new relation is slightly larger than that of the Monte Carlo data. This is partly due to the fact that theoretically based stopping and scattering cross-sections are used both to account for the material dependence of the analytical energy-range formula and to calculate ranges with the Monte Carlo programs. For water the deviation from the traditional energy-range relation of ICRU Report 35 is only 0.5% at 20 MeV but as high as - 2.2% at 50 MeV. An improved method for divergence and ionization correction in high-energy electron beams has also been developed to enable use of a wider range of experimental results. (Author)

Monte Carlo simulation on nuclear energy study. Annual report of Nuclear Code Evaluation Committee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, Kiyoshi; Yamamoto, Toshihiro

1999-03-01

In this report, research results discussed in 1998 fiscal year at Nuclear Code Evaluation Special Committee of Nuclear Code Committee were summarised. Present status of Monte Carlo calculation in high energy region investigated / discussed at Monte Carlo simulation working-group and automatic compilation system for MCNP cross sections developed at MCNP high temperature library compilation working-group were described. The 6 papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

A Monte Carlo algorithm for the Vavilov distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi, Chul-Young; Han, Hyon-Soo

1999-01-01

Using the convolution property of the inverse Laplace transform, an improved Monte Carlo algorithm for the Vavilov energy-loss straggling distribution of the charged particle is developed, which is relatively simple and gives enough accuracy to be used for most Monte Carlo applications

Exploring Monte Carlo methods

CERN Document Server

Dunn, William L

2012-01-01

Exploring Monte Carlo Methods is a basic text that describes the numerical methods that have come to be known as "Monte Carlo." The book treats the subject generically through the first eight chapters and, thus, should be of use to anyone who wants to learn to use Monte Carlo. The next two chapters focus on applications in nuclear engineering, which are illustrative of uses in other fields. Five appendices are included, which provide useful information on probability distributions, general-purpose Monte Carlo codes for radiation transport, and other matters. The famous "Buffon's needle proble

Specialized Monte Carlo codes versus general-purpose Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moskvin, Vadim; DesRosiers, Colleen; Papiez, Lech; Lu, Xiaoyi

2002-01-01

The possibilities of Monte Carlo modeling for dose calculations and optimization treatment are quite limited in radiation oncology applications. The main reason is that the Monte Carlo technique for dose calculations is time consuming while treatment planning may require hundreds of possible cases of dose simulations to be evaluated for dose optimization. The second reason is that general-purpose codes widely used in practice, require an experienced user to customize them for calculations. This paper discusses the concept of Monte Carlo code design that can avoid the main problems that are preventing wide spread use of this simulation technique in medical physics. (authors)

Variational Monte Carlo Technique

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 19; Issue 8. Variational Monte Carlo Technique: Ground State Energies of Quantum Mechanical Systems. Sukanta Deb. General Article Volume 19 Issue 8 August 2014 pp 713-739 ...

Importance iteration in MORSE Monte Carlo calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kloosterman, J.L.; Hoogenboom, J.E.

1994-01-01

An expression to calculate point values (the expected detector response of a particle emerging from a collision or the source) is derived and implemented in the MORSE-SGC/S Monte Carlo code. It is outlined how these point values can be smoothed as a function of energy and as a function of the optical thickness between the detector and the source. The smoothed point values are subsequently used to calculate the biasing parameters of the Monte Carlo runs to follow. The method is illustrated by an example that shows that the obtained biasing parameters lead to a more efficient Monte Carlo calculation

Importance iteration in MORSE Monte Carlo calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kloosterman, J.L.; Hoogenboom, J.E.

1994-02-01

An expression to calculate point values (the expected detector response of a particle emerging from a collision or the source) is derived and implemented in the MORSE-SGC/S Monte Carlo code. It is outlined how these point values can be smoothed as a function of energy and as a function of the optical thickness between the detector and the source. The smoothed point values are subsequently used to calculate the biasing parameters of the Monte Carlo runs to follow. The method is illustrated by an example, which shows that the obtained biasing parameters lead to a more efficient Monte Carlo calculation. (orig.)

Monte Carlo principles and applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raeside, D E [Oklahoma Univ., Oklahoma City (USA). Health Sciences Center

1976-03-01

The principles underlying the use of Monte Carlo methods are explained, for readers who may not be familiar with the approach. The generation of random numbers is discussed, and the connection between Monte Carlo methods and random numbers is indicated. Outlines of two well established Monte Carlo sampling techniques are given, together with examples illustrating their use. The general techniques for improving the efficiency of Monte Carlo calculations are considered. The literature relevant to the applications of Monte Carlo calculations in medical physics is reviewed.

Research on reactor physics analysis method based on Monte Carlo homogenization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye Zhimin; Zhang Peng

2014-01-01

In order to meet the demand of nuclear energy market in the future, many new concepts of nuclear energy systems has been put forward. The traditional deterministic neutronics analysis method has been challenged in two aspects: one is the ability of generic geometry processing; the other is the multi-spectrum applicability of the multigroup cross section libraries. Due to its strong geometry modeling capability and the application of continuous energy cross section libraries, the Monte Carlo method has been widely used in reactor physics calculations, and more and more researches on Monte Carlo method has been carried out. Neutronics-thermal hydraulics coupling analysis based on Monte Carlo method has been realized. However, it still faces the problems of long computation time and slow convergence which make it not applicable to the reactor core fuel management simulations. Drawn from the deterministic core analysis method, a new two-step core analysis scheme is proposed in this work. Firstly, Monte Carlo simulations are performed for assembly, and the assembly homogenized multi-group cross sections are tallied at the same time. Secondly, the core diffusion calculations can be done with these multigroup cross sections. The new scheme can achieve high efficiency while maintain acceptable precision, so it can be used as an effective tool for the design and analysis of innovative nuclear energy systems. Numeric tests have been done in this work to verify the new scheme. (authors)

Monte Carlo electron/photon transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mack, J.M.; Morel, J.E.; Hughes, H.G.

1985-01-01

A review of nonplasma coupled electron/photon transport using Monte Carlo method is presented. Remarks are mainly restricted to linerarized formalisms at electron energies from 1 keV to 1000 MeV. Applications involving pulse-height estimation, transport in external magnetic fields, and optical Cerenkov production are discussed to underscore the importance of this branch of computational physics. Advances in electron multigroup cross-section generation is reported, and its impact on future code development assessed. Progress toward the transformation of MCNP into a generalized neutral/charged-particle Monte Carlo code is described. 48 refs

Monte Carlo methods for shield design calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grimstone, M.J.

1974-01-01

A suite of Monte Carlo codes is being developed for use on a routine basis in commercial reactor shield design. The methods adopted for this purpose include the modular construction of codes, simplified geometries, automatic variance reduction techniques, continuous energy treatment of cross section data, and albedo methods for streaming. Descriptions are given of the implementation of these methods and of their use in practical calculations. 26 references. (U.S.)

Enhanced Monte-Carlo-Linked Depletion Capabilities in MCNPX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fensin, Michael L.; Hendricks, John S.; Anghaie, Samim

2006-01-01

As advanced reactor concepts challenge the accuracy of current modeling technologies, a higher-fidelity depletion calculation is necessary to model time-dependent core reactivity properly for accurate cycle length and safety margin determinations. The recent integration of CINDER90 into the MCNPX Monte Carlo radiation transport code provides a completely self-contained Monte-Carlo-linked depletion capability. Two advances have been made in the latest MCNPX capability based on problems observed in pre-released versions: continuous energy collision density tracking and proper fission yield selection. Pre-released versions of the MCNPX depletion code calculated the reaction rates for (n,2n), (n,3n), (n,p), (n,a), and (n,?) by matching the MCNPX steady-state 63-group flux with 63-group cross sections inherent in the CINDER90 library and then collapsing to one-group collision densities for the depletion calculation. This procedure led to inaccuracies due to the miscalculation of the reaction rates resulting from the collapsed multi-group approach. The current version of MCNPX eliminates this problem by using collapsed one-group collision densities generated from continuous energy reaction rates determined during the MCNPX steady-state calculation. MCNPX also now explicitly determines the proper fission yield to be used by the CINDER90 code for the depletion calculation. The CINDER90 code offers a thermal, fast, and high-energy fission yield for each fissile isotope contained in the CINDER90 data file. MCNPX determines which fission yield to use for a specified problem by calculating the integral fission rate for the defined energy boundaries (thermal, fast, and high energy), determining which energy range contains the majority of fissions, and then selecting the appropriate fission yield for the energy range containing the majority of fissions. The MCNPX depletion capability enables complete, relatively easy-to-use depletion calculations in a single Monte Carlo code

A Monte Carlo study of time-aggregation in continuous-time and discrete-time parametric hazard models.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hofstede, ter F.; Wedel, M.

1998-01-01

This study investigates the effects of time aggregation in discrete and continuous-time hazard models. A Monte Carlo study is conducted in which data are generated according to various continuous and discrete-time processes, and aggregated into daily, weekly and monthly intervals. These data are

11th International Conference on Monte Carlo and Quasi-Monte Carlo Methods in Scientific Computing

CERN Document Server

Nuyens, Dirk

2016-01-01

This book presents the refereed proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Monte Carlo and Quasi-Monte Carlo Methods in Scientific Computing that was held at the University of Leuven (Belgium) in April 2014. These biennial conferences are major events for Monte Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo researchers. The proceedings include articles based on invited lectures as well as carefully selected contributed papers on all theoretical aspects and applications of Monte Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo methods. Offering information on the latest developments in these very active areas, this book is an excellent reference resource for theoreticians and practitioners interested in solving high-dimensional computational problems, arising, in particular, in finance, statistics and computer graphics.

A continuation multilevel Monte Carlo algorithm

KAUST Repository

Collier, Nathan

2014-09-05

We propose a novel Continuation Multi Level Monte Carlo (CMLMC) algorithm for weak approximation of stochastic models. The CMLMC algorithm solves the given approximation problem for a sequence of decreasing tolerances, ending when the required error tolerance is satisfied. CMLMC assumes discretization hierarchies that are defined a priori for each level and are geometrically refined across levels. The actual choice of computational work across levels is based on parametric models for the average cost per sample and the corresponding variance and weak error. These parameters are calibrated using Bayesian estimation, taking particular notice of the deepest levels of the discretization hierarchy, where only few realizations are available to produce the estimates. The resulting CMLMC estimator exhibits a non-trivial splitting between bias and statistical contributions. We also show the asymptotic normality of the statistical error in the MLMC estimator and justify in this way our error estimate that allows prescribing both required accuracy and confidence in the final result. Numerical results substantiate the above results and illustrate the corresponding computational savings in examples that are described in terms of differential equations either driven by random measures or with random coefficients. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Monte Carlo event generator MCMHA for high energy hadron-nucleus collisions and intranuclear cascade interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iga, Y.; Hamatsu, R.; Yamazaki, S.

1988-01-01

The Monte Carlo event generator for high energy hadron-nucleus (h-A) collisions has been developed which is based on the multi-chain model. The concept of formation zone and the cascade interactions of secondary particles are properly taken into account in this Monte Carlo code. Comparing the results of this code with experimental data, the importance of intranuclear cascade interactions becomes very clear. (orig.)

Analytic continuation of quantum Monte Carlo data. Stochastic sampling method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghanem, Khaldoon; Koch, Erik [Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Juelich, 52425 Juelich (Germany)

2016-07-01

We apply Bayesian inference to the analytic continuation of quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) data from the imaginary axis to the real axis. Demanding a proper functional Bayesian formulation of any analytic continuation method leads naturally to the stochastic sampling method (StochS) as the Bayesian method with the simplest prior, while it excludes the maximum entropy method and Tikhonov regularization. We present a new efficient algorithm for performing StochS that reduces computational times by orders of magnitude in comparison to earlier StochS methods. We apply the new algorithm to a wide variety of typical test cases: spectral functions and susceptibilities from DMFT and lattice QMC calculations. Results show that StochS performs well and is able to resolve sharp features in the spectrum.

Temperature variance study in Monte-Carlo photon transport theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giorla, J.

1985-10-01

We study different Monte-Carlo methods for solving radiative transfer problems, and particularly Fleck's Monte-Carlo method. We first give the different time-discretization schemes and the corresponding stability criteria. Then we write the temperature variance as a function of the variances of temperature and absorbed energy at the previous time step. Finally we obtain some stability criteria for the Monte-Carlo method in the stationary case [fr

Methods for coupling radiation, ion, and electron energies in grey Implicit Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, T.M.; Densmore, J.D.

2007-01-01

We present three methods for extending the Implicit Monte Carlo (IMC) method to treat the time-evolution of coupled radiation, electron, and ion energies. The first method splits the ion and electron coupling and conduction from the standard IMC radiation-transport process. The second method recasts the IMC equations such that part of the coupling is treated during the Monte Carlo calculation. The third method treats all of the coupling and conduction in the Monte Carlo simulation. We apply modified equation analysis (MEA) to simplified forms of each method that neglects the errors in the conduction terms. Through MEA we show that the third method is theoretically the most accurate. We demonstrate the effectiveness of each method on a series of 0-dimensional, nonlinear benchmark problems where the accuracy of the third method is shown to be up to ten times greater than the other coupling methods for selected calculations

COMPARISONS OF THE FINITE-ELEMENT-WITH-DISCONTIGUOUS-SUPPORT METHOD TO CONTINUOUS-ENERGY MONTE CARLO FOR PIN-CELL PROBLEMS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A. T. Till; M. Hanuš; J. Lou; J. E. Morel; M. L. Adams

2016-05-01

The standard multigroup (MG) method for energy discretization of the transport equation can be sensitive to approximations in the weighting spectrum chosen for cross-section averaging. As a result, MG often inaccurately treats important phenomena such as self-shielding variations across a material. From a finite-element viewpoint, MG uses a single fixed basis function (the pre-selected spectrum) within each group, with no mechanism to adapt to local solution behavior. In this work, we introduce the Finite-Element-with-Discontiguous-Support (FEDS) method, whose only approximation with respect to energy is that the angular flux is a linear combination of unknowns multiplied by basis functions. A basis function is non-zero only in the discontiguous set of energy intervals associated with its energy element. Discontiguous energy elements are generalizations of bands and are determined by minimizing a norm of the difference between snapshot spectra and their averages over the energy elements. We begin by presenting the theory of the FEDS method. We then compare to continuous-energy Monte Carlo for one-dimensional slab and two-dimensional pin-cell problem. We find FEDS to be accurate and efficient at producing quantities of interest such as reaction rates and eigenvalues. Results show that FEDS converges at a rate that is approximately first-order in the number of energy elements and that FEDS is less sensitive to weighting spectrum than standard MG.

Development of fast and accurate Monte Carlo code MVP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Takamasa

2001-01-01

The development work of fast and accurate Monte Carlo code MVP has started at JAERI in late 80s. From the beginning, the code was designed to utilize vector supercomputers and achieved higher computation speed by a factor of 10 or more compared with conventional codes. In 1994, the first version of MVP was released together with cross section libraries based on JENDL-3.1 and JENDL-3.2. In 1996, minor revision was made by adding several functions such as treatments of ENDF-B6 file 6 data, time dependent problem, and so on. Since 1996, several works have been carried out for the next version of MVP. The main works are (1) the development of continuous energy Monte Carlo burn-up calculation code MVP-BURN, (2) the development of a system to generate cross section libraries at arbitrary temperature, and (3) the study on error estimations and their biases in Monte Carlo eigenvalue calculations. This paper summarizes the main features of MVP, results of recent studies and future plans for MVP. (author)

Transport methods: general. 1. The Analytical Monte Carlo Method for Radiation Transport Calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, William R.; Brown, Forrest B.

2001-01-01

We present an alternative Monte Carlo method for solving the coupled equations of radiation transport and material energy. This method is based on incorporating the analytical solution to the material energy equation directly into the Monte Carlo simulation for the radiation intensity. This method, which we call the Analytical Monte Carlo (AMC) method, differs from the well known Implicit Monte Carlo (IMC) method of Fleck and Cummings because there is no discretization of the material energy equation since it is solved as a by-product of the Monte Carlo simulation of the transport equation. Our method also differs from the method recently proposed by Ahrens and Larsen since they use Monte Carlo to solve both equations, while we are solving only the radiation transport equation with Monte Carlo, albeit with effective sources and cross sections to represent the emission sources. Our method bears some similarity to a method developed and implemented by Carter and Forest nearly three decades ago, but there are substantive differences. We have implemented our method in a simple zero-dimensional Monte Carlo code to test the feasibility of the method, and the preliminary results are very promising, justifying further extension to more realistic geometries. (authors)

A Monte Carlo Green's function method for three-dimensional neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gamino, R.G.; Brown, F.B.; Mendelson, M.R.

1992-01-01

This paper describes a Monte Carlo transport kernel capability, which has recently been incorporated into the RACER continuous-energy Monte Carlo code. The kernels represent a Green's function method for neutron transport from a fixed-source volume out to a particular volume of interest. This method is very powerful transport technique. Also, since kernels are evaluated numerically by Monte Carlo, the problem geometry can be arbitrarily complex, yet exact. This method is intended for problems where an ex-core neutron response must be determined for a variety of reactor conditions. Two examples are ex-core neutron detector response and vessel critical weld fast flux. The response is expressed in terms of neutron transport kernels weighted by a core fission source distribution. In these types of calculations, the response must be computed for hundreds of source distributions, but the kernels only need to be calculated once. The advance described in this paper is that the kernels are generated with a highly accurate three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport calculation instead of an approximate method such as line-of-sight attenuation theory or a synthesized three-dimensional discrete ordinates solution

On the use of stochastic approximation Monte Carlo for Monte Carlo integration

KAUST Repository

Liang, Faming

2009-01-01

The stochastic approximation Monte Carlo (SAMC) algorithm has recently been proposed as a dynamic optimization algorithm in the literature. In this paper, we show in theory that the samples generated by SAMC can be used for Monte Carlo integration

Quantum Monte Carlo for vibrating molecules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, W.R.; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., CA

1996-08-01

Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) has successfully computed the total electronic energies of atoms and molecules. The main goal of this work is to use correlation function quantum Monte Carlo (CFQMC) to compute the vibrational state energies of molecules given a potential energy surface (PES). In CFQMC, an ensemble of random walkers simulate the diffusion and branching processes of the imaginary-time time dependent Schroedinger equation in order to evaluate the matrix elements. The program QMCVIB was written to perform multi-state VMC and CFQMC calculations and employed for several calculations of the H 2 O and C 3 vibrational states, using 7 PES's, 3 trial wavefunction forms, two methods of non-linear basis function parameter optimization, and on both serial and parallel computers. In order to construct accurate trial wavefunctions different wavefunctions forms were required for H 2 O and C 3 . In order to construct accurate trial wavefunctions for C 3 , the non-linear parameters were optimized with respect to the sum of the energies of several low-lying vibrational states. In order to stabilize the statistical error estimates for C 3 the Monte Carlo data was collected into blocks. Accurate vibrational state energies were computed using both serial and parallel QMCVIB programs. Comparison of vibrational state energies computed from the three C 3 PES's suggested that a non-linear equilibrium geometry PES is the most accurate and that discrete potential representations may be used to conveniently determine vibrational state energies

Monte Carlo Modeling of Crystal Channeling at High Energies

CERN Document Server

Schoofs, Philippe; Cerutti, Francesco

Charged particles entering a crystal close to some preferred direction can be trapped in the electromagnetic potential well existing between consecutive planes or strings of atoms. This channeling effect can be used to extract beam particles if the crystal is bent beforehand. Crystal channeling is becoming a reliable and efficient technique for collimating beams and removing halo particles. At CERN, the installation of silicon crystals in the LHC is under scrutiny by the UA9 collaboration with the goal of investigating if they are a viable option for the collimation system upgrade. This thesis describes a new Monte Carlo model of planar channeling which has been developed from scratch in order to be implemented in the FLUKA code simulating particle transport and interactions. Crystal channels are described through the concept of continuous potential taking into account thermal motion of the lattice atoms and using Moliere screening function. The energy of the particle transverse motion determines whether or n...

Monte Carlo-based investigation of water-equivalence of solid phantoms at 137Cs energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vishwakarma, Ramkrushna S.; Palani Selvam, T.; Sahoo, Sridhar; Mishra, Subhalaxmi; Chourasiya, Ghanshyam

2013-01-01

Investigation of solid phantom materials such as solid water, virtual water, plastic water, RW1, polystyrene, and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) for their equivalence to liquid water at 137 Cs energy (photon energy of 662 keV) under full scatter conditions is carried out using the EGSnrc Monte Carlo code system. Monte Carlo-based EGSnrc code system was used in the work to calculate distance-dependent phantom scatter corrections. The study also includes separation of primary and scattered dose components. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out using primary particle histories up to 5 x 10 9 to attain less than 0.3% statistical uncertainties in the estimation of dose. Water equivalence of various solid phantoms such as solid water, virtual water, RW1, PMMA, polystyrene, and plastic water materials are investigated at 137 Cs energy under full scatter conditions. The investigation reveals that solid water, virtual water, and RW1 phantoms are water equivalent up to 15 cm from the source. Phantom materials such as plastic water, PMMA, and polystyrene phantom materials are water equivalent up to 10 cm. At 15 cm from the source, the phantom scatter corrections are 1.035, 1.050, and 0.949 for the phantoms PMMA, plastic water, and polystyrene, respectively. (author)

Monte carlo calculation of energy deposition and ionization yield for high energy protons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, W.E.; McDonald, J.C.; Coyne, J.J.; Paretzke, H.G.

1985-01-01

Recent calculations of event size spectra for neutrons use a continuous slowing down approximation model for the energy losses experienced by secondary charged particles (protons and alphas) and thus do not allow for straggling effects. Discrepancies between the calculations and experimental measurements are thought to be, in part, due to the neglect of straggling. A tractable way of including stochastics in radiation transport calculations is via the Monte Carlo method and a number of efforts directed toward simulating positive ion track structure have been initiated employing this technique. Recent results obtained with our updated and extended MOCA code for charged particle track structure are presented here. Major emphasis has been on calculating energy deposition and ionization yield spectra for recoil proton crossers since they are the most prevalent event type at high energies (>99% at 14 MeV) for small volumes. Neutron event-size spectra can be obtained from them by numerical summing and folding techniques. Data for ionization yield spectra are presented for simulated recoil protons up to 20 MeV in sites of diameters 2-1000 nm

Vectorized Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, F.B.

1981-01-01

Examination of the global algorithms and local kernels of conventional general-purpose Monte Carlo codes shows that multigroup Monte Carlo methods have sufficient structure to permit efficient vectorization. A structured multigroup Monte Carlo algorithm for vector computers is developed in which many particle events are treated at once on a cell-by-cell basis. Vectorization of kernels for tracking and variance reduction is described, and a new method for discrete sampling is developed to facilitate the vectorization of collision analysis. To demonstrate the potential of the new method, a vectorized Monte Carlo code for multigroup radiation transport analysis was developed. This code incorporates many features of conventional general-purpose production codes, including general geometry, splitting and Russian roulette, survival biasing, variance estimation via batching, a number of cutoffs, and generalized tallies of collision, tracklength, and surface crossing estimators with response functions. Predictions of vectorized performance characteristics for the CYBER-205 were made using emulated coding and a dynamic model of vector instruction timing. Computation rates were examined for a variety of test problems to determine sensitivities to batch size and vector lengths. Significant speedups are predicted for even a few hundred particles per batch, and asymptotic speedups by about 40 over equivalent Amdahl 470V/8 scalar codes arepredicted for a few thousand particles per batch. The principal conclusion is that vectorization of a general-purpose multigroup Monte Carlo code is well worth the significant effort required for stylized coding and major algorithmic changes

A New Monte Carlo Neutron Transport Code at UNIST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Hyunsuk; Kong, Chidong; Lee, Deokjung

2014-01-01

Monte Carlo neutron transport code named MCS is under development at UNIST for the advanced reactor design and research purpose. This MC code can be used for fixed source calculation and criticality calculation. Continuous energy neutron cross section data and multi-group cross section data can be used for the MC calculation. This paper presents the overview of developed MC code and its calculation results. The real time fixed source calculation ability is also tested in this paper. The calculation results show good agreement with commercial code and experiment. A new Monte Carlo neutron transport code is being developed at UNIST. The MC codes are tested with several benchmark problems: ICSBEP, VENUS-2, and Hoogenboom-Martin benchmark. These benchmarks covers pin geometry to 3-dimensional whole core, and results shows good agreement with reference results

Adjoint electron Monte Carlo calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jordan, T.M.

1986-01-01

Adjoint Monte Carlo is the most efficient method for accurate analysis of space systems exposed to natural and artificially enhanced electron environments. Recent adjoint calculations for isotropic electron environments include: comparative data for experimental measurements on electronics boxes; benchmark problem solutions for comparing total dose prediction methodologies; preliminary assessment of sectoring methods used during space system design; and total dose predictions on an electronics package. Adjoint Monte Carlo, forward Monte Carlo, and experiment are in excellent agreement for electron sources that simulate space environments. For electron space environments, adjoint Monte Carlo is clearly superior to forward Monte Carlo, requiring one to two orders of magnitude less computer time for relatively simple geometries. The solid-angle sectoring approximations used for routine design calculations can err by more than a factor of 2 on dose in simple shield geometries. For critical space systems exposed to severe electron environments, these potential sectoring errors demand the establishment of large design margins and/or verification of shield design by adjoint Monte Carlo/experiment

Contributon Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubi, A.; Gerstl, S.A.W.

1979-05-01

The contributon Monte Carlo method is based on a new recipe to calculate target responses by means of volume integral of the contributon current in a region between the source and the detector. A comprehensive description of the method, its implementation in the general-purpose MCNP code, and results of the method for realistic nonhomogeneous, energy-dependent problems are presented. 23 figures, 10 tables

Monte Carlo and analytic simulations in nanoparticle-enhanced radiation therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paro AD

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Autumn D Paro,1 Mainul Hossain,2 Thomas J Webster,1,3,4 Ming Su1,4 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; 2NanoScience Technology Center and School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA; 3Excellence for Advanced Materials Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 4Wenzhou Institute of Biomaterials and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Analytical and Monte Carlo simulations have been used to predict dose enhancement factors in nanoparticle-enhanced X-ray radiation therapy. Both simulations predict an increase in dose enhancement in the presence of nanoparticles, but the two methods predict different levels of enhancement over the studied energy, nanoparticle materials, and concentration regime for several reasons. The Monte Carlo simulation calculates energy deposited by electrons and photons, while the analytical one only calculates energy deposited by source photons and photoelectrons; the Monte Carlo simulation accounts for electron–hole recombination, while the analytical one does not; and the Monte Carlo simulation randomly samples photon or electron path and accounts for particle interactions, while the analytical simulation assumes a linear trajectory. This study demonstrates that the Monte Carlo simulation will be a better choice to evaluate dose enhancement with nanoparticles in radiation therapy. Keywords: nanoparticle, dose enhancement, Monte Carlo simulation, analytical simulation, radiation therapy, tumor cell, X-ray 

Monte Carlo: Basics

OpenAIRE

Murthy, K. P. N.

2001-01-01

An introduction to the basics of Monte Carlo is given. The topics covered include, sample space, events, probabilities, random variables, mean, variance, covariance, characteristic function, chebyshev inequality, law of large numbers, central limit theorem (stable distribution, Levy distribution), random numbers (generation and testing), random sampling techniques (inversion, rejection, sampling from a Gaussian, Metropolis sampling), analogue Monte Carlo and Importance sampling (exponential b...

Combinatorial nuclear level density by a Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cerf, N.

1994-01-01

We present a new combinatorial method for the calculation of the nuclear level density. It is based on a Monte Carlo technique, in order to avoid a direct counting procedure which is generally impracticable for high-A nuclei. The Monte Carlo simulation, making use of the Metropolis sampling scheme, allows a computationally fast estimate of the level density for many fermion systems in large shell model spaces. We emphasize the advantages of this Monte Carlo approach, particularly concerning the prediction of the spin and parity distributions of the excited states,and compare our results with those derived from a traditional combinatorial or a statistical method. Such a Monte Carlo technique seems very promising to determine accurate level densities in a large energy range for nuclear reaction calculations

Monte Carlo calculations of neutron and gamm-ray energy spectra for fusion-reactor shield design: comparison with experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santoro, R.T.; Barnes, J.M.

1983-08-01

Neutron and gamma-ray spectra resulting from the interactions of approx. 14-MeV neutrons in laminated slabs of stainless steel type-304 and borated polyethylene have been calculated using the Monte Carlo code MCNP. The calculated spectra are compared with measured data as a function of slab thickness and material composition and as a function of detector location behind the slabs. Comparisons of the differential energy spectra are made for neutrons with energies above 850 keV and for gamma rays with energies above 750 keV. The measured neutron spectra and those calculated using Monte Carlo methods agree within 5% to 50% depending on the slab thickness and composition and neutron energy. The agreement between the measured and calculated gamma-ray energy spectra is also within this range. The MCNP data are also in favorable agreement with attenuated data calculated previously by discrete ordinates transport methods and the Monte Carlo code SAM-CE

Exact Monte Carlo for molecules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lester, W.A. Jr.; Reynolds, P.J.

1985-03-01

A brief summary of the fixed-node quantum Monte Carlo method is presented. Results obtained for binding energies, the classical barrier height for H + H 2 , and the singlet-triplet splitting in methylene are presented and discussed. 17 refs

MORSE Monte Carlo code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cramer, S.N.

1984-01-01

The MORSE code is a large general-use multigroup Monte Carlo code system. Although no claims can be made regarding its superiority in either theoretical details or Monte Carlo techniques, MORSE has been, since its inception at ORNL in the late 1960s, the most widely used Monte Carlo radiation transport code. The principal reason for this popularity is that MORSE is relatively easy to use, independent of any installation or distribution center, and it can be easily customized to fit almost any specific need. Features of the MORSE code are described

Monte Carlo theory and practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

James, F.

1987-01-01

Historically, the first large-scale calculations to make use of the Monte Carlo method were studies of neutron scattering and absorption, random processes for which it is quite natural to employ random numbers. Such calculations, a subset of Monte Carlo calculations, are known as direct simulation, since the 'hypothetical population' of the narrower definition above corresponds directly to the real population being studied. The Monte Carlo method may be applied wherever it is possible to establish equivalence between the desired result and the expected behaviour of a stochastic system. The problem to be solved may already be of a probabilistic or statistical nature, in which case its Monte Carlo formulation will usually be a straightforward simulation, or it may be of a deterministic or analytic nature, in which case an appropriate Monte Carlo formulation may require some imagination and may appear contrived or artificial. In any case, the suitability of the method chosen will depend on its mathematical properties and not on its superficial resemblance to the problem to be solved. The authors show how Monte Carlo techniques may be compared with other methods of solution of the same physical problem

Monte Carlo simulation of neutron scattering instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seeger, P.A.

1995-01-01

A library of Monte Carlo subroutines has been developed for the purpose of design of neutron scattering instruments. Using small-angle scattering as an example, the philosophy and structure of the library are described and the programs are used to compare instruments at continuous wave (CW) and long-pulse spallation source (LPSS) neutron facilities. The Monte Carlo results give a count-rate gain of a factor between 2 and 4 using time-of-flight analysis. This is comparable to scaling arguments based on the ratio of wavelength bandwidth to resolution width

Monte Carlo applications to radiation shielding problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Subbaiah, K.V.

2009-01-01

Monte Carlo methods are a class of computational algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling of physical and mathematical systems to compute their results. However, basic concepts of MC are both simple and straightforward and can be learned by using a personal computer. Uses of Monte Carlo methods require large amounts of random numbers, and it was their use that spurred the development of pseudorandom number generators, which were far quicker to use than the tables of random numbers which had been previously used for statistical sampling. In Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport, the history (track) of a particle is viewed as a random sequence of free flights that end with an interaction event where the particle changes its direction of movement, loses energy and, occasionally, produces secondary particles. The Monte Carlo simulation of a given experimental arrangement (e.g., an electron beam, coming from an accelerator and impinging on a water phantom) consists of the numerical generation of random histories. To simulate these histories we need an interaction model, i.e., a set of differential cross sections (DCS) for the relevant interaction mechanisms. The DCSs determine the probability distribution functions (pdf) of the random variables that characterize a track; 1) free path between successive interaction events, 2) type of interaction taking place and 3) energy loss and angular deflection in a particular event (and initial state of emitted secondary particles, if any). Once these pdfs are known, random histories can be generated by using appropriate sampling methods. If the number of generated histories is large enough, quantitative information on the transport process may be obtained by simply averaging over the simulated histories. The Monte Carlo method yields the same information as the solution of the Boltzmann transport equation, with the same interaction model, but is easier to implement. In particular, the simulation of radiation

Modified Monte Carlo procedure for particle transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthes, W.

1978-01-01

The simulation of photon transport in the atmosphere with the Monte Carlo method forms part of the EURASEP-programme. The specifications for the problems posed for a solution were such, that the direct application of the analogue Monte Carlo method was not feasible. For this reason the standard Monte Carlo procedure was modified in the sense that additional properly weighted branchings at each collision and transport process in a photon history were introduced. This modified Monte Carlo procedure leads to a clear and logical separation of the essential parts of a problem and offers a large flexibility for variance reducing techniques. More complex problems, as foreseen in the EURASEP-programme (e.g. clouds in the atmosphere, rough ocean-surface and chlorophyl-distribution in the ocean) can be handled by recoding some subroutines. This collision- and transport-splitting procedure can of course be performed differently in different space- and energy regions. It is applied here only for a homogeneous problem

Monte Carlo calculation of the energy deposited in the KASCADE GRANDE detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mihai, Constantin

2004-01-01

The energy deposited by protons, electrons and positrons in the KASCADE GRANDE detectors is calculated with a simple and fast Monte Carlo method. The KASCADE GRANDE experiment (Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany), based on an array of plastic scintillation detectors, has the aim to study the energy spectrum of the primary cosmic rays around and above the 'knee' region of the spectrum. The reconstruction of the primary spectrum is achieved by comparing the data collected by the detectors with simulations of the development of the extensive air shower initiated by the primary particle combined with detailed simulations of the detector response. The simulation of the air shower development is carried out with the CORSIKA Monte Carlo code. The output file produced by CORSIKA is further processed with a program that estimates the energy deposited in the detectors by the particles of the shower. The standard method to calculate the energy deposit in the detectors is based on the Geant package from the CERN library. A new method that calculates the energy deposit by fitting the Geant based distributions with simpler functions is proposed in this work. In comparison with the method based on the Geant package this method is substantially faster. The time saving is important because the number of particles involved is large. (author)

Monte Carlo Methods in Physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santoso, B.

1997-01-01

Method of Monte Carlo integration is reviewed briefly and some of its applications in physics are explained. A numerical experiment on random generators used in the monte Carlo techniques is carried out to show the behavior of the randomness of various methods in generating them. To account for the weight function involved in the Monte Carlo, the metropolis method is used. From the results of the experiment, one can see that there is no regular patterns of the numbers generated, showing that the program generators are reasonably good, while the experimental results, shows a statistical distribution obeying statistical distribution law. Further some applications of the Monte Carlo methods in physics are given. The choice of physical problems are such that the models have available solutions either in exact or approximate values, in which comparisons can be mode, with the calculations using the Monte Carlo method. Comparison show that for the models to be considered, good agreement have been obtained

Monte Carlo methods and applications in nuclear physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlson, J.

1990-01-01

Monte Carlo methods for studying few- and many-body quantum systems are introduced, with special emphasis given to their applications in nuclear physics. Variational and Green's function Monte Carlo methods are presented in some detail. The status of calculations of light nuclei is reviewed, including discussions of the three-nucleon-interaction, charge and magnetic form factors, the coulomb sum rule, and studies of low-energy radiative transitions. 58 refs., 12 figs

Monte Carlo techniques in radiation therapy

CERN Document Server

Verhaegen, Frank

2013-01-01

Modern cancer treatment relies on Monte Carlo simulations to help radiotherapists and clinical physicists better understand and compute radiation dose from imaging devices as well as exploit four-dimensional imaging data. With Monte Carlo-based treatment planning tools now available from commercial vendors, a complete transition to Monte Carlo-based dose calculation methods in radiotherapy could likely take place in the next decade. Monte Carlo Techniques in Radiation Therapy explores the use of Monte Carlo methods for modeling various features of internal and external radiation sources, including light ion beams. The book-the first of its kind-addresses applications of the Monte Carlo particle transport simulation technique in radiation therapy, mainly focusing on external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy. It presents the mathematical and technical aspects of the methods in particle transport simulations. The book also discusses the modeling of medical linacs and other irradiation devices; issues specific...

The OpenMC Monte Carlo particle transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romano, Paul K.; Forget, Benoit

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► An open source Monte Carlo particle transport code, OpenMC, has been developed. ► Solid geometry and continuous-energy physics allow high-fidelity simulations. ► Development has focused on high performance and modern I/O techniques. ► OpenMC is capable of scaling up to hundreds of thousands of processors. ► Results on a variety of benchmark problems agree with MCNP5. -- Abstract: A new Monte Carlo code called OpenMC is currently under development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a tool for simulation on high-performance computing platforms. Given that many legacy codes do not scale well on existing and future parallel computer architectures, OpenMC has been developed from scratch with a focus on high performance scalable algorithms as well as modern software design practices. The present work describes the methods used in the OpenMC code and demonstrates the performance and accuracy of the code on a variety of problems.

Monte Carlo simulation for IRRMA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gardner, R.P.; Liu Lianyan

2000-01-01

Monte Carlo simulation is fast becoming a standard approach for many radiation applications that were previously treated almost entirely by experimental techniques. This is certainly true for Industrial Radiation and Radioisotope Measurement Applications - IRRMA. The reasons for this include: (1) the increased cost and inadequacy of experimentation for design and interpretation purposes; (2) the availability of low cost, large memory, and fast personal computers; and (3) the general availability of general purpose Monte Carlo codes that are increasingly user-friendly, efficient, and accurate. This paper discusses the history and present status of Monte Carlo simulation for IRRMA including the general purpose (GP) and specific purpose (SP) Monte Carlo codes and future needs - primarily from the experience of the authors

Generation and Testing of the ENDF/B-VI Continuous-Energy Cross-Section Library for Use with Continuous-Energy Versions of KENO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goluoglu, Sedat; Dunn, Michael E.; Greene, Norman Maurice; Petrie Jr, Lester M.; Hollenbach, Daniel F.

2007-01-01

KENO V.a and KENO-VI are Monte Carlo codes that solve the multigroup form of the Boltzmann transport equation. These codes are part of the SCALE system of codes and are used for performing criticality calculations of systems with fissionable material. In general, continuous-energy Monte Carlo methods are preferred because such an approach avoids many of the assumptions inherent in the multigroup treatment. On the other hand, continuous-energy treatment is much more demanding in terms of computer storage space for data, memory requirements, and calculation speed. Continuous-energy versions of KENO V.a and KENO-VI have been created and are being extensively tested. Generation of ENDF/B-VI continuous-energy cross sections is explained, and the results of the validation and verification of the codes and the data are presented

Coded aperture optimization using Monte Carlo simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martineau, A.; Rocchisani, J.M.; Moretti, J.L.

2010-01-01

Coded apertures using Uniformly Redundant Arrays (URA) have been unsuccessfully evaluated for two-dimensional and three-dimensional imaging in Nuclear Medicine. The images reconstructed from coded projections contain artifacts and suffer from poor spatial resolution in the longitudinal direction. We introduce a Maximum-Likelihood Expectation-Maximization (MLEM) algorithm for three-dimensional coded aperture imaging which uses a projection matrix calculated by Monte Carlo simulations. The aim of the algorithm is to reduce artifacts and improve the three-dimensional spatial resolution in the reconstructed images. Firstly, we present the validation of GATE (Geant4 Application for Emission Tomography) for Monte Carlo simulations of a coded mask installed on a clinical gamma camera. The coded mask modelling was validated by comparison between experimental and simulated data in terms of energy spectra, sensitivity and spatial resolution. In the second part of the study, we use the validated model to calculate the projection matrix with Monte Carlo simulations. A three-dimensional thyroid phantom study was performed to compare the performance of the three-dimensional MLEM reconstruction with conventional correlation method. The results indicate that the artifacts are reduced and three-dimensional spatial resolution is improved with the Monte Carlo-based MLEM reconstruction.

Comparison of MCB and MONTEBURNS Monte Carlo burnup codes on a one-pass deep burn

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Talamo, Alberto; Ji, Wei; Cetnar, Jerzy; Gudowski, Waclaw

2006-01-01

Numerical applications implemented on the Monte Carlo method have developed in line with the increase of computer power; nowadays, in the field of nuclear reactor physics, it is possible to perform burnup simulations in a detailed 3D geometry and a continuous energy description by the Monte Carlo method; moreover, the required computing time can be abundantly reduced by taking advantage of a computer cluster. In this paper we focused on comparing the results of the two major Monte Carlo burnup codes, MONTEBURNS and MCB, when they share the same MCNP geometry, nuclear data library, core thermal power, and they apply the same refueling and shuffling schedule. While simulating a total operation time of the Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor of 2100 effective full power days and a one-pass deep burn in-core fuel management schedule, we have found that the two Monte Carlo codes produce very similar results both on the criticality value of the core and the transmutation of the key actinides

Comparison of MCB and MONTEBURNS Monte Carlo burnup codes on a one-pass deep burn

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Talamo, Alberto [Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Roslagstullsbacken 21, Stockholm S-10691 (Sweden)]. E-mail: alby@anl.gov; Ji, Wei [University of Michigan, Bonisteel Boulevard 2355, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2104 (United States); Cetnar, Jerzy [AGH-University of Science and Technology, Al. Mickiewicza 30 Cracow (Poland); Gudowski, Waclaw [Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Roslagstullsbacken 21, Stockholm S-10691 (Sweden)

2006-09-15

Numerical applications implemented on the Monte Carlo method have developed in line with the increase of computer power; nowadays, in the field of nuclear reactor physics, it is possible to perform burnup simulations in a detailed 3D geometry and a continuous energy description by the Monte Carlo method; moreover, the required computing time can be abundantly reduced by taking advantage of a computer cluster. In this paper we focused on comparing the results of the two major Monte Carlo burnup codes, MONTEBURNS and MCB, when they share the same MCNP geometry, nuclear data library, core thermal power, and they apply the same refueling and shuffling schedule. While simulating a total operation time of the Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor of 2100 effective full power days and a one-pass deep burn in-core fuel management schedule, we have found that the two Monte Carlo codes produce very similar results both on the criticality value of the core and the transmutation of the key actinides.

Packing simulation code to calculate distribution function of hard spheres by Monte Carlo method : MCRDF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murata, Isao; Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki; Shirai, Hiroshi.

1996-03-01

High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGRs) employ spherical fuels named coated fuel particles (CFPs) consisting of a microsphere of low enriched UO 2 with coating layers in order to prevent FP release. There exist many spherical fuels distributed randomly in the cores. Therefore, the nuclear design of HTGRs is generally performed on the basis of the multigroup approximation using a diffusion code, S N transport code or group-wise Monte Carlo code. This report summarizes a Monte Carlo hard sphere packing simulation code to simulate the packing of equal hard spheres and evaluate the necessary probability distribution of them, which is used for the application of the new Monte Carlo calculation method developed to treat randomly distributed spherical fuels with the continuous energy Monte Carlo method. By using this code, obtained are the various statistical values, namely Radial Distribution Function (RDF), Nearest Neighbor Distribution (NND), 2-dimensional RDF and so on, for random packing as well as ordered close packing of FCC and BCC. (author)

Monte Carlo methods and applications in nuclear physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlson, J.

1990-01-01

Monte Carlo methods for studying few- and many-body quantum systems are introduced, with special emphasis given to their applications in nuclear physics. Variational and Green's function Monte Carlo methods are presented in some detail. The status of calculations of light nuclei is reviewed, including discussions of the three-nucleon-interaction, charge and magnetic form factors, the coulomb sum rule, and studies of low-energy radiative transitions. 58 refs., 12 figs.

Monte Carlo simulation of energy deposition by low-energy electrons in molecular hydrogen

Science.gov (United States)

Heaps, M. G.; Furman, D. R.; Green, A. E. S.

1975-01-01

A set of detailed atomic cross sections has been used to obtain the spatial deposition of energy by 1-20-eV electrons in molecular hydrogen by a Monte Carlo simulation of the actual trajectories. The energy deposition curve (energy per distance traversed) is quite peaked in the forward direction about the entry point for electrons with energies above the threshold of the electronic states, but the peak decreases and broadens noticeably as the electron energy decreases below 10 eV (threshold for the lowest excitable electronic state of H2). The curve also assumes a very symmetrical shape for energies below 10 eV, indicating the increasing importance of elastic collisions in determining the shape of the curve, although not the mode of energy deposition.

(U) Introduction to Monte Carlo Methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hungerford, Aimee L. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-03-20

Monte Carlo methods are very valuable for representing solutions to particle transport problems. Here we describe a “cook book” approach to handling the terms in a transport equation using Monte Carlo methods. Focus is on the mechanics of a numerical Monte Carlo code, rather than the mathematical foundations of the method.

Validation of the Continuous-Energy Monte Carlo Criticality-Safety Analysis System MVP and JENDL-3.2 Using the Internationally Evaluated Criticality Benchmarks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitake, Susumu

2003-01-01

Validation of the continuous-energy Monte Carlo criticality-safety analysis system, comprising the MVP code and neutron cross sections based on JENDL-3.2, was examined using benchmarks evaluated in the 'International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments'. Eight experiments (116 configurations) for the plutonium solution and plutonium-uranium mixture systems performed at Valduc, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, and other facilities were selected and used in the studies. The averaged multiplication factors calculated with MVP and MCNP-4B using the same neutron cross-section libraries based on JENDL-3.2 were in good agreement. Based on methods provided in the Japanese nuclear criticality-safety handbook, the estimated criticality lower-limit multiplication factors to be used as a subcriticality criterion for the criticality-safety evaluation of nuclear facilities were obtained. The analysis proved the applicability of the MVP code to the criticality-safety analysis of nuclear fuel facilities, particularly to the analysis of systems fueled with plutonium and in homogeneous and thermal-energy conditions

Monte Carlo methods for the reliability analysis of Markov systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buslik, A.J.

1985-01-01

This paper presents Monte Carlo methods for the reliability analysis of Markov systems. Markov models are useful in treating dependencies between components. The present paper shows how the adjoint Monte Carlo method for the continuous time Markov process can be derived from the method for the discrete-time Markov process by a limiting process. The straightforward extensions to the treatment of mean unavailability (over a time interval) are given. System unavailabilities can also be estimated; this is done by making the system failed states absorbing, and not permitting repair from them. A forward Monte Carlo method is presented in which the weighting functions are related to the adjoint function. In particular, if the exact adjoint function is known then weighting factors can be constructed such that the exact answer can be obtained with a single Monte Carlo trial. Of course, if the exact adjoint function is known, there is no need to perform the Monte Carlo calculation. However, the formulation is useful since it gives insight into choices of the weight factors which will reduce the variance of the estimator

Transforming high-dimensional potential energy surfaces into sum-of-products form using Monte Carlo methods

Science.gov (United States)

Schröder, Markus; Meyer, Hans-Dieter

2017-08-01

We propose a Monte Carlo method, "Monte Carlo Potfit," for transforming high-dimensional potential energy surfaces evaluated on discrete grid points into a sum-of-products form, more precisely into a Tucker form. To this end we use a variational ansatz in which we replace numerically exact integrals with Monte Carlo integrals. This largely reduces the numerical cost by avoiding the evaluation of the potential on all grid points and allows a treatment of surfaces up to 15-18 degrees of freedom. We furthermore show that the error made with this ansatz can be controlled and vanishes in certain limits. We present calculations on the potential of HFCO to demonstrate the features of the algorithm. To demonstrate the power of the method, we transformed a 15D potential of the protonated water dimer (Zundel cation) in a sum-of-products form and calculated the ground and lowest 26 vibrationally excited states of the Zundel cation with the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method.

Monte Carlo Tree Search for Continuous and Stochastic Sequential Decision Making Problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Couetoux, Adrien

2013-01-01

In this thesis, I studied sequential decision making problems, with a focus on the unit commitment problem. Traditionally solved by dynamic programming methods, this problem is still a challenge, due to its high dimension and to the sacrifices made on the accuracy of the model to apply state of the art methods. I investigated on the applicability of Monte Carlo Tree Search methods for this problem, and other problems that are single player, stochastic and continuous sequential decision making problems. In doing so, I obtained a consistent and anytime algorithm, that can easily be combined with existing strong heuristic solvers. (author)

Hybrid SN/Monte Carlo research and results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, R.S.

1993-01-01

The neutral particle transport equation is solved by a hybrid method that iteratively couples regions where deterministic (S N ) and stochastic (Monte Carlo) methods are applied. The Monte Carlo and S N regions are fully coupled in the sense that no assumption is made about geometrical separation or decoupling. The hybrid Monte Carlo/S N method provides a new means of solving problems involving both optically thick and optically thin regions that neither Monte Carlo nor S N is well suited for by themselves. The hybrid method has been successfully applied to realistic shielding problems. The vectorized Monte Carlo algorithm in the hybrid method has been ported to the massively parallel architecture of the Connection Machine. Comparisons of performance on a vector machine (Cray Y-MP) and the Connection Machine (CM-2) show that significant speedups are obtainable for vectorized Monte Carlo algorithms on massively parallel machines, even when realistic problems requiring variance reduction are considered. However, the architecture of the Connection Machine does place some limitations on the regime in which the Monte Carlo algorithm may be expected to perform well

Review of quantum Monte Carlo methods and results for Coulombic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ceperley, D.

1983-01-01

The various Monte Carlo methods for calculating ground state energies are briefly reviewed. Then a summary of the charged systems that have been studied with Monte Carlo is given. These include the electron gas, small molecules, a metal slab and many-body hydrogen

Unitary Dynamics of Strongly Interacting Bose Gases with the Time-Dependent Variational Monte Carlo Method in Continuous Space

Science.gov (United States)

Carleo, Giuseppe; Cevolani, Lorenzo; Sanchez-Palencia, Laurent; Holzmann, Markus

2017-07-01

We introduce the time-dependent variational Monte Carlo method for continuous-space Bose gases. Our approach is based on the systematic expansion of the many-body wave function in terms of multibody correlations and is essentially exact up to adaptive truncation. The method is benchmarked by comparison to an exact Bethe ansatz or existing numerical results for the integrable Lieb-Liniger model. We first show that the many-body wave function achieves high precision for ground-state properties, including energy and first-order as well as second-order correlation functions. Then, we study the out-of-equilibrium, unitary dynamics induced by a quantum quench in the interaction strength. Our time-dependent variational Monte Carlo results are benchmarked by comparison to exact Bethe ansatz results available for a small number of particles, and are also compared to quench action results available for noninteracting initial states. Moreover, our approach allows us to study large particle numbers and general quench protocols, previously inaccessible beyond the mean-field level. Our results suggest that it is possible to find correlated initial states for which the long-term dynamics of local density fluctuations is close to the predictions of a simple Boltzmann ensemble.

MC21 v.6.0 - A continuous-energy Monte Carlo particle transport code with integrated reactor feedback capabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grieshemer, D.P.; Gill, D.F.; Nease, B.R.; Carpenter, D.C.; Joo, H.; Millman, D.L.; Sutton, T.M.; Stedry, M.H.; Dobreff, P.S.; Trumbull, T.H.; Caro, E.

2013-01-01

MC21 is a continuous-energy Monte Carlo radiation transport code for the calculation of the steady-state spatial distributions of reaction rates in three-dimensional models. The code supports neutron and photon transport in fixed source problems, as well as iterated-fission-source (eigenvalue) neutron transport problems. MC21 has been designed and optimized to support large-scale problems in reactor physics, shielding, and criticality analysis applications. The code also supports many in-line reactor feedback effects, including depletion, thermal feedback, xenon feedback, eigenvalue search, and neutron and photon heating. MC21 uses continuous-energy neutron/nucleus interaction physics over the range from 10 -5 eV to 20 MeV. The code treats all common neutron scattering mechanisms, including fast-range elastic and non-elastic scattering, and thermal- and epithermal-range scattering from molecules and crystalline materials. For photon transport, MC21 uses continuous-energy interaction physics over the energy range from 1 keV to 100 GeV. The code treats all common photon interaction mechanisms, including Compton scattering, pair production, and photoelectric interactions. All of the nuclear data required by MC21 is provided by the NDEX system of codes, which extracts and processes data from EPDL-, ENDF-, and ACE-formatted source files. For geometry representation, MC21 employs a flexible constructive solid geometry system that allows users to create spatial cells from first- and second-order surfaces. The system also allows models to be built up as hierarchical collections of previously defined spatial cells, with interior detail provided by grids and template overlays. Results are collected by a generalized tally capability which allows users to edit integral flux and reaction rate information. Results can be collected over the entire problem or within specific regions of interest through the use of phase filters that control which particles are allowed to score each

Feasibility Study of Core Design with a Monte Carlo Code for APR1400 Initial core

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jinsun; Chang, Do Ik; Seong, Kibong [KEPCO NF, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

The Monte Carlo calculation becomes more popular and useful nowadays due to the rapid progress in computing power and parallel calculation techniques. There have been many attempts to analyze a commercial core by Monte Carlo transport code using the enhanced computer capability, recently. In this paper, Monte Carlo calculation of APR1400 initial core has been performed and the results are compared with the calculation results of conventional deterministic code to find out the feasibility of core design using Monte Carlo code. SERPENT, a 3D continuous-energy Monte Carlo reactor physics burnup calculation code is used for this purpose and the KARMA-ASTRA code system, which is used for a deterministic code of comparison. The preliminary investigation for the feasibility of commercial core design with Monte Carlo code was performed in this study. Simplified core geometry modeling was performed for the reactor core surroundings and reactor coolant model is based on two region model. The reactivity difference at HZP ARO condition between Monte Carlo code and the deterministic code is consistent with each other and the reactivity difference during the depletion could be reduced by adopting the realistic moderator temperature. The reactivity difference calculated at HFP, BOC, ARO equilibrium condition was 180 ±9 pcm, with axial moderator temperature of a deterministic code. The computing time will be a significant burden at this time for the application of Monte Carlo code to the commercial core design even with the application of parallel computing because numerous core simulations are required for actual loading pattern search. One of the remedy will be a combination of Monte Carlo code and the deterministic code to generate the physics data. The comparison of physics parameters with sophisticated moderator temperature modeling and depletion will be performed for a further study.

Energy deposition evaluation for ultra-low energy electron beam irradiation systems using calibrated thin radiochromic film and Monte Carlo simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matsui, S., E-mail: smatsui@gpi.ac.jp; Mori, Y. [The Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries, 1955-1 Kurematsucho, Nishiku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-1202 (Japan); Nonaka, T.; Hattori, T.; Kasamatsu, Y.; Haraguchi, D.; Watanabe, Y.; Uchiyama, K.; Ishikawa, M. [Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. Electron Tube Division, 314-5 Shimokanzo, Iwata, Shizuoka 438-0193 (Japan)

2016-05-15

For evaluation of on-site dosimetry and process design in industrial use of ultra-low energy electron beam (ULEB) processes, we evaluate the energy deposition using a thin radiochromic film and a Monte Carlo simulation. The response of film dosimeter was calibrated using a high energy electron beam with an acceleration voltage of 2 MV and alanine dosimeters with uncertainty of 11% at coverage factor 2. Using this response function, the results of absorbed dose measurements for ULEB were evaluated from 10 kGy to 100 kGy as a relative dose. The deviation between the responses of deposit energy on the films and Monte Carlo simulations was within 15%. As far as this limitation, relative dose estimation using thin film dosimeters with response function obtained by high energy electron irradiation and simulation results is effective for ULEB irradiation processes management.

Monte Carlo calculations for intermediate-energy standard neutron field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joneja, O.P.; Subbukutty, K.; Iyengar, S.B.D.; Navalkar, M.P.

Intermediate-Energy Standard Neutron Field (ISNF) which produces a well characterised spectrum in the energy range of interest for fast reactors including breeders, has been set up at NBS using thin enriched 235 U fission sources. A proposal has been made for setting up a similar facility at BARC using however, easily available natural U instead of enriched U sources, to start with. In order to simulate the neutronics of such a facility Monte Carlo method of calculations has been adopted and developed. The results of these calculations have been compared with those of NBS and it is found that there may be a maximum difference of 10% in spectrum characteristics for the two cases of using thick and thin fission sources. (K.B.)

A study on cell heterogeneity effects in the Monju core. Evaluation using the continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morohashi, Yuko; Ishibashi, Junichi; Nishi, Hiroshi

2002-03-01

The criticality analysis of the MONJU initial critical core was conducted based on conventional methods developed by the JUPITER program. Effective cross sections were created, considering self-shielding effects, from the JAERI Fast Set (JFS-3-J3.2); group constants in 70 energy groups, which were processed from the Japanese Evaluated Nuclear Data Library (JENDL-3.2). These were used in the standard calculation method: a 3-Dimensional Hexagonal-Z whole core calculation by diffusion theory. This standard calculation, however, involves several approximations. The continuous neutron energy spectrum is divided into 70 discrete energy groups and continuous spatial coordinates are represented by assembly-wise spatial meshes. Original transport equations are solved by diffusion theory (isotropic scattering) approximation and fine structures in fuel assemblies, such as fuel pins or wrapper tubes, are processed into cell-wise homogeneous mixture. To improve the accuracy of the results, these approximations are compensated for by applying corresponding correction factors. Cell heterogeneity effects, among them, were evaluated to be 0.3-0.4% Δk/kk' by diffusion calculations based on the group constants, obtained by heterogeneous cell model calculations. This method, however, has the drawback that it assumes that there is no interdependency of the related approximations; energy grouping, diffusion approximation, etc. A study on cell heterogeneity effects has been conducted using the continuous energy Monte Carlo method to validate the adequacy of this non-interdependency assumption. As a result, cell heterogeneity effects slightly larger than those from conventional methods have been obtained: 0.54% Δk/kk' for the initial critical core, and 0.50% Δk/kk' for the initial full power core. Dependency on plutonium enrichment and fuel temperature has also been identified, which implies the dependency of the cell heterogeneity effects on the specific core conditions. Grouping

FOCUS: a non-multigroup adjoint Monte Carlo code with improved variance reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoogenboom, J.E.

1974-01-01

A description is given of the selection mechanism in the adjoint Monte Carlo code FOCUS in which the energy is treated as a continuous variable. The method of Kalos who introduced the idea of adjoint cross sections is followed to derive a sampling scheme for the adjoint equation solved in FOCUS which is in most aspects analogous to the normal Monte Carlo game. The disadvantages of the use of these adjoint cross sections are removed to some extent by introduction of a new definition for the adjoint cross sections resulting in appreciable variance reduction. At the cost of introducing a weight factor slightly different from unity, the direction and energy are selected in a simple way without the need of two-dimensional probability tables. Finally the handling of geometry and cross section in FOCUS is briefly discussed. 6 references. (U.S.)

Recent developments of JAEA's Monte Carlo Code MVP for reactor physics applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaya, Y.; Okumura, K.; Mori, T.

2013-01-01

MVP is a general-purpose continuous-energy Monte Carlo code for neutron and photon transport calculations that has been developed since the late 1980's at Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA, formerly JAERI). The MVP code is designed for nuclear reactor applications such as reactor core design/analysis, criticality safety and reactor shielding. This paper describes the MVP code and present its latest developments. Among the new capabilities of MVP we find: -) the perturbation method has been implemented for the change in k(eff); -) the eigenvalue calculations can be performed with an explicit treatment of delayed neutrons in which their fission spectra are taken into account; -) the capability of tallying the scattering matrix (group-to-group scattering cross sections); -) the implementation of an exact model for resonance elastic scattering; and -) a Monte Carlo perturbation technique is used to calculate reactor kinetics parameters

Monte Carlo studies of ZEPLIN III

CERN Document Server

Dawson, J; Davidge, D C R; Gillespie, J R; Howard, A S; Jones, W G; Joshi, M; Lebedenko, V N; Sumner, T J; Quenby, J J

2002-01-01

A Monte Carlo simulation of a two-phase xenon dark matter detector, ZEPLIN III, has been achieved. Results from the analysis of a simulated data set are presented, showing primary and secondary signal distributions from low energy gamma ray events.

Monte Carlo advances for the Eolus Asci Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendrick, J. S.; McKinney, G. W.; Cox, L. J.

2000-01-01

The Eolus ASCI project includes parallel, 3-D transport simulation for various nuclear applications. The codes developed within this project provide neutral and charged particle transport, detailed interaction physics, numerous source and tally capabilities, and general geometry packages. One such code is MCNPW which is a general purpose, 3-dimensional, time-dependent, continuous-energy Monte Carlo fully-coupled N-Particle transport code. Significant advances are also being made in the areas of modern software engineering and parallel computing. These advances are described in detail

Sampling-based nuclear data uncertainty quantification for continuous energy Monte-Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, T.

2015-01-01

Research on the uncertainty of nuclear data is motivated by practical necessity. Nuclear data uncertainties can propagate through nuclear system simulations into operation and safety related parameters. The tolerance for uncertainties in nuclear reactor design and operation can affect the economic efficiency of nuclear power, and essentially its sustainability. The goal of the present PhD research is to establish a methodology of nuclear data uncertainty quantification (NDUQ) for MCNPX, the continuous-energy Monte-Carlo (M-C) code. The high fidelity (continuous-energy treatment and flexible geometry modelling) of MCNPX makes it the choice of routine criticality safety calculations at PSI/LRS, but also raises challenges for NDUQ by conventional sensitivity/uncertainty (S/U) methods. For example, only recently in 2011, the capability of calculating continuous energy κ_e_f_f sensitivity to nuclear data was demonstrated in certain M-C codes by using the method of iterated fission probability. The methodology developed during this PhD research is fundamentally different from the conventional S/U approach: nuclear data are treated as random variables and sampled in accordance to presumed probability distributions. When sampled nuclear data are used in repeated model calculations, the output variance is attributed to the collective uncertainties of nuclear data. The NUSS (Nuclear data Uncertainty Stochastic Sampling) tool is based on this sampling approach and implemented to work with MCNPX’s ACE format of nuclear data, which also gives NUSS compatibility with MCNP and SERPENT M-C codes. In contrast, multigroup uncertainties are used for the sampling of ACE-formatted pointwise-energy nuclear data in a groupwise manner due to the more limited quantity and quality of nuclear data uncertainties. Conveniently, the usage of multigroup nuclear data uncertainties allows consistent comparison between NUSS and other methods (both S/U and sampling-based) that employ the same

Sampling-based nuclear data uncertainty quantification for continuous energy Monte-Carlo codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, T.

2015-07-01

Research on the uncertainty of nuclear data is motivated by practical necessity. Nuclear data uncertainties can propagate through nuclear system simulations into operation and safety related parameters. The tolerance for uncertainties in nuclear reactor design and operation can affect the economic efficiency of nuclear power, and essentially its sustainability. The goal of the present PhD research is to establish a methodology of nuclear data uncertainty quantification (NDUQ) for MCNPX, the continuous-energy Monte-Carlo (M-C) code. The high fidelity (continuous-energy treatment and flexible geometry modelling) of MCNPX makes it the choice of routine criticality safety calculations at PSI/LRS, but also raises challenges for NDUQ by conventional sensitivity/uncertainty (S/U) methods. For example, only recently in 2011, the capability of calculating continuous energy κ{sub eff} sensitivity to nuclear data was demonstrated in certain M-C codes by using the method of iterated fission probability. The methodology developed during this PhD research is fundamentally different from the conventional S/U approach: nuclear data are treated as random variables and sampled in accordance to presumed probability distributions. When sampled nuclear data are used in repeated model calculations, the output variance is attributed to the collective uncertainties of nuclear data. The NUSS (Nuclear data Uncertainty Stochastic Sampling) tool is based on this sampling approach and implemented to work with MCNPX’s ACE format of nuclear data, which also gives NUSS compatibility with MCNP and SERPENT M-C codes. In contrast, multigroup uncertainties are used for the sampling of ACE-formatted pointwise-energy nuclear data in a groupwise manner due to the more limited quantity and quality of nuclear data uncertainties. Conveniently, the usage of multigroup nuclear data uncertainties allows consistent comparison between NUSS and other methods (both S/U and sampling-based) that employ the same

Monte Carlo simulation of a gas-sampled hadron calorimeter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, C Y; Kunori, S; Rapp, P; Talaga, R; Steinberg, P; Tylka, A J; Wang, Z M

1988-02-15

A prototype of the OPAL barrel hadron calorimeter, which is a gas-sampled calorimeter using plastic streamer tubes, was exposed to pions at energies between 1 and 7 GeV. The response of the detector was simulated using the CERN GEANT3 Monte Carlo program. By using the observed high energy muon signals to deduce details of the streamer formation, the Monte Carlo program was able to reproduce the observed calorimeter response. The behavior of the hadron calorimeter when placed behind a lead glass electromagnetic calorimeter was also investigated.

Lectures on Monte Carlo methods

CERN Document Server

Madras, Neal

2001-01-01

Monte Carlo methods form an experimental branch of mathematics that employs simulations driven by random number generators. These methods are often used when others fail, since they are much less sensitive to the "curse of dimensionality", which plagues deterministic methods in problems with a large number of variables. Monte Carlo methods are used in many fields: mathematics, statistics, physics, chemistry, finance, computer science, and biology, for instance. This book is an introduction to Monte Carlo methods for anyone who would like to use these methods to study various kinds of mathemati

Benchmarking of Monte Carlo simulation of bremsstrahlung from thick targets at radiotherapy energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faddegon, Bruce A.; Asai, Makoto; Perl, Joseph; Ross, Carl; Sempau, Josep; Tinslay, Jane; Salvat, Francesc

2008-01-01

Several Monte Carlo systems were benchmarked against published measurements of bremsstrahlung yield from thick targets for 10-30 MV beams. The quantity measured was photon fluence at 1 m per unit energy per incident electron (spectra), and total photon fluence, integrated over energy, per incident electron (photon yield). Results were reported at 10-30 MV on the beam axis for Al and Pb targets and at 15 MV at angles out to 90 degree sign for Be, Al, and Pb targets. Beam energy was revised with improved accuracy of 0.5% using an improved energy calibration of the accelerator. Recently released versions of the Monte Carlo systems EGSNRC, GEANT4, and PENELOPE were benchmarked against the published measurements using the revised beam energies. Monte Carlo simulation was capable of calculation of photon yield in the experimental geometry to 5% out to 30 degree sign , 10% at wider angles, and photon spectra to 10% at intermediate photon energies, 15% at lower energies. Accuracy of measured photon yield from 0 to 30 degree sign was 5%, 1 s.d., increasing to 7% for the larger angles. EGSNRC and PENELOPE results were within 2 s.d. of the measured photon yield at all beam energies and angles, GEANT4 within 3 s.d. Photon yield at nonzero angles for angles covering conventional field sizes used in radiotherapy (out to 10 degree sign ), measured with an accuracy of 3%, was calculated within 1 s.d. of measurement for EGSNRC, 2 s.d. for PENELOPE and GEANT4. Calculated spectra closely matched measurement at photon energies over 5 MeV. Photon spectra near 5 MeV were underestimated by as much as 10% by all three codes. The photon spectra below 2-3 MeV for the Be and Al targets and small angles were overestimated by up to 15% when using EGSNRC and PENELOPE, 20% with GEANT4. EGSNRC results with the NIST option for the bremsstrahlung cross section were preferred over the alternative cross section available in EGSNRC and over EGS4. GEANT4 results calculated with the ''low energy

Benchmarking of Monte Carlo simulation of bremsstrahlung from thick targets at radiotherapy energies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Faddegon, Bruce A.; Asai, Makoto; Perl, Joseph; Ross, Carl; Sempau, Josep; Tinslay, Jane; Salvat, Francesc [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143 (United States); Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025 (United States); National Research Council Canada, Institute for National Measurement Standards, 1200 Montreal Road, Building M-36, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6 (Canada); Institut de Tecniques Energetiques, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya and Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red en Bioingenieria, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025 (United States); Facultat de Fisica (ECM), Universitat de Barcelona, Societat Catalana de Fisica (IEC), Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain)

2008-10-15

Several Monte Carlo systems were benchmarked against published measurements of bremsstrahlung yield from thick targets for 10-30 MV beams. The quantity measured was photon fluence at 1 m per unit energy per incident electron (spectra), and total photon fluence, integrated over energy, per incident electron (photon yield). Results were reported at 10-30 MV on the beam axis for Al and Pb targets and at 15 MV at angles out to 90 degree sign for Be, Al, and Pb targets. Beam energy was revised with improved accuracy of 0.5% using an improved energy calibration of the accelerator. Recently released versions of the Monte Carlo systems EGSNRC, GEANT4, and PENELOPE were benchmarked against the published measurements using the revised beam energies. Monte Carlo simulation was capable of calculation of photon yield in the experimental geometry to 5% out to 30 degree sign , 10% at wider angles, and photon spectra to 10% at intermediate photon energies, 15% at lower energies. Accuracy of measured photon yield from 0 to 30 degree sign was 5%, 1 s.d., increasing to 7% for the larger angles. EGSNRC and PENELOPE results were within 2 s.d. of the measured photon yield at all beam energies and angles, GEANT4 within 3 s.d. Photon yield at nonzero angles for angles covering conventional field sizes used in radiotherapy (out to 10 degree sign ), measured with an accuracy of 3%, was calculated within 1 s.d. of measurement for EGSNRC, 2 s.d. for PENELOPE and GEANT4. Calculated spectra closely matched measurement at photon energies over 5 MeV. Photon spectra near 5 MeV were underestimated by as much as 10% by all three codes. The photon spectra below 2-3 MeV for the Be and Al targets and small angles were overestimated by up to 15% when using EGSNRC and PENELOPE, 20% with GEANT4. EGSNRC results with the NIST option for the bremsstrahlung cross section were preferred over the alternative cross section available in EGSNRC and over EGS4. GEANT4 results calculated with the &apos

Monte Carlo simulation in nuclear medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morel, Ch.

2007-01-01

The Monte Carlo method allows for simulating random processes by using series of pseudo-random numbers. It became an important tool in nuclear medicine to assist in the design of new medical imaging devices, optimise their use and analyse their data. Presently, the sophistication of the simulation tools allows the introduction of Monte Carlo predictions in data correction and image reconstruction processes. The availability to simulate time dependent processes opens up new horizons for Monte Carlo simulation in nuclear medicine. In a near future, these developments will allow to tackle simultaneously imaging and dosimetry issues and soon, case system Monte Carlo simulations may become part of the nuclear medicine diagnostic process. This paper describes some Monte Carlo method basics and the sampling methods that were developed for it. It gives a referenced list of different simulation software used in nuclear medicine and enumerates some of their present and prospective applications. (author)

Improved diffusion coefficients generated from Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herman, B. R.; Forget, B.; Smith, K.; Aviles, B. N.

2013-01-01

Monte Carlo codes are becoming more widely used for reactor analysis. Some of these applications involve the generation of diffusion theory parameters including macroscopic cross sections and diffusion coefficients. Two approximations used to generate diffusion coefficients are assessed using the Monte Carlo code MC21. The first is the method of homogenization; whether to weight either fine-group transport cross sections or fine-group diffusion coefficients when collapsing to few-group diffusion coefficients. The second is a fundamental approximation made to the energy-dependent P1 equations to derive the energy-dependent diffusion equations. Standard Monte Carlo codes usually generate a flux-weighted transport cross section with no correction to the diffusion approximation. Results indicate that this causes noticeable tilting in reconstructed pin powers in simple test lattices with L2 norm error of 3.6%. This error is reduced significantly to 0.27% when weighting fine-group diffusion coefficients by the flux and applying a correction to the diffusion approximation. Noticeable tilting in reconstructed fluxes and pin powers was reduced when applying these corrections. (authors)

Track 4: basic nuclear science variance reduction for Monte Carlo criticality simulations. 6. Variational Variance Reduction for Monte Carlo Criticality Calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Densmore, Jeffery D.; Larsen, Edward W.

2001-01-01

high scattering ratios, and (c) estimates of the forward flux obtained by Monte Carlo. The VVR method requires no non-analog Monte Carlo biasing, but it may be used in conjunction with Monte Carlo biasing schemes. In future work, we plan to extend the new VVR method to more realistic (multidimensional, energy-dependent) criticality problems and to examine the use of other types of deterministic adjoint calculations. (authors)

Time Series Analysis of Monte Carlo Fission Sources - I: Dominance Ratio Computation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueki, Taro; Brown, Forrest B.; Parsons, D. Kent; Warsa, James S.

2004-01-01

In the nuclear engineering community, the error propagation of the Monte Carlo fission source distribution through cycles is known to be a linear Markov process when the number of histories per cycle is sufficiently large. In the statistics community, linear Markov processes with linear observation functions are known to have an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) representation of orders p and p - 1. Therefore, one can perform ARMA fitting of the binned Monte Carlo fission source in order to compute physical and statistical quantities relevant to nuclear criticality analysis. In this work, the ARMA fitting of a binary Monte Carlo fission source has been successfully developed as a method to compute the dominance ratio, i.e., the ratio of the second-largest to the largest eigenvalues. The method is free of binning mesh refinement and does not require the alteration of the basic source iteration cycle algorithm. Numerical results are presented for problems with one-group isotropic, two-group linearly anisotropic, and continuous-energy cross sections. Also, a strategy for the analysis of eigenmodes higher than the second-largest eigenvalue is demonstrated numerically

Continuous Energy Photon Transport Implementation in MCATK

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adams, Terry R. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Trahan, Travis John [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Sweezy, Jeremy Ed [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Nolen, Steven Douglas [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Hughes, Henry Grady [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Pritchett-Sheats, Lori A. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Werner, Christopher John [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-10-31

The Monte Carlo Application ToolKit (MCATK) code development team has implemented Monte Carlo photon transport into the MCATK software suite. The current particle transport capabilities in MCATK, which process the tracking and collision physics, have been extended to enable tracking of photons using the same continuous energy approximation. We describe the four photoatomic processes implemented, which are coherent scattering, incoherent scattering, pair-production, and photoelectric absorption. The accompanying background, implementation, and verification of these processes will be presented.

Exponentially-convergent Monte Carlo via finite-element trial spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morel, Jim E.; Tooley, Jared P.; Blamer, Brandon J.

2011-01-01

Exponentially-Convergent Monte Carlo (ECMC) methods, also known as adaptive Monte Carlo and residual Monte Carlo methods, were the subject of intense research over a decade ago, but they never became practical for solving the realistic problems. We believe that the failure of previous efforts may be related to the choice of trial spaces that were global and thus highly oscillatory. As an alternative, we consider finite-element trial spaces, which have the ability to treat fully realistic problems. As a first step towards more general methods, we apply piecewise-linear trial spaces to the spatially-continuous two-stream transport equation. Using this approach, we achieve exponential convergence and computationally demonstrate several fundamental properties of finite-element based ECMC methods. Finally, our results indicate that the finite-element approach clearly deserves further investigation. (author)

Monte Carlo code for neutron radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milczarek, Jacek J.; Trzcinski, Andrzej; El-Ghany El Abd, Abd; Czachor, Andrzej

2005-01-01

The concise Monte Carlo code, MSX, for simulation of neutron radiography images of non-uniform objects is presented. The possibility of modeling the images of objects with continuous spatial distribution of specific isotopes is included. The code can be used for assessment of the scattered neutron component in neutron radiograms

Monte Carlo code for neutron radiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Milczarek, Jacek J. [Institute of Atomic Energy, Swierk, 05-400 Otwock (Poland)]. E-mail: jjmilcz@cyf.gov.pl; Trzcinski, Andrzej [Institute for Nuclear Studies, Swierk, 05-400 Otwock (Poland); El-Ghany El Abd, Abd [Institute of Atomic Energy, Swierk, 05-400 Otwock (Poland); Nuclear Research Center, PC 13759, Cairo (Egypt); Czachor, Andrzej [Institute of Atomic Energy, Swierk, 05-400 Otwock (Poland)

2005-04-21

The concise Monte Carlo code, MSX, for simulation of neutron radiography images of non-uniform objects is presented. The possibility of modeling the images of objects with continuous spatial distribution of specific isotopes is included. The code can be used for assessment of the scattered neutron component in neutron radiograms.

Monte Carlo numerical study of lattice field theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gan Cheekwan; Kim Seyong; Ohta, Shigemi

1997-01-01

The authors are interested in the exact first-principle calculations of quantum field theories which are indeed exact ones. For quantum chromodynamics (QCD) at low energy scale, a nonperturbation method is needed, and the only known such method is the lattice method. The path integral can be evaluated by putting a system on a finite 4-dimensional volume and discretizing space time continuum into finite points, lattice. The continuum limit is taken by making the lattice infinitely fine. For evaluating such a finite-dimensional integral, the Monte Carlo numerical estimation of the path integral can be obtained. The calculation of light hadron mass in quenched lattice QCD with staggered quarks, 3-dimensional Thirring model calculation and the development of self-test Monte Carlo method have been carried out by using the RIKEN supercomputer. The motivation of this study, lattice QCD formulation, continuum limit, Monte Carlo update, hadron propagator, light hadron mass, auto-correlation and source size dependence are described on lattice QCD. The phase structure of the 3-dimensional Thirring model for a small 8 3 lattice has been mapped. The discussion on self-test Monte Carlo method is described again. (K.I.)

Monte Carlos of the new generation: status and progress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frixione, Stefano

2005-01-01

Standard parton shower monte carlos are designed to give reliable descriptions of low-pT physics. In the very high-energy regime of modern colliders, this is may lead to largely incorrect predictions of the basic reaction processes. This motivated the recent theoretical efforts aimed at improving monte carlos through the inclusion of matrix elements computed beyond the leading order in QCD. I briefly review the progress made, and discuss bottom production at the Tevatron

Advanced Multilevel Monte Carlo Methods

KAUST Repository

Jasra, Ajay

2017-04-24

This article reviews the application of advanced Monte Carlo techniques in the context of Multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC). MLMC is a strategy employed to compute expectations which can be biased in some sense, for instance, by using the discretization of a associated probability law. The MLMC approach works with a hierarchy of biased approximations which become progressively more accurate and more expensive. Using a telescoping representation of the most accurate approximation, the method is able to reduce the computational cost for a given level of error versus i.i.d. sampling from this latter approximation. All of these ideas originated for cases where exact sampling from couples in the hierarchy is possible. This article considers the case where such exact sampling is not currently possible. We consider Markov chain Monte Carlo and sequential Monte Carlo methods which have been introduced in the literature and we describe different strategies which facilitate the application of MLMC within these methods.

Advanced Multilevel Monte Carlo Methods

KAUST Repository

Jasra, Ajay; Law, Kody; Suciu, Carina

2017-01-01

This article reviews the application of advanced Monte Carlo techniques in the context of Multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC). MLMC is a strategy employed to compute expectations which can be biased in some sense, for instance, by using the discretization of a associated probability law. The MLMC approach works with a hierarchy of biased approximations which become progressively more accurate and more expensive. Using a telescoping representation of the most accurate approximation, the method is able to reduce the computational cost for a given level of error versus i.i.d. sampling from this latter approximation. All of these ideas originated for cases where exact sampling from couples in the hierarchy is possible. This article considers the case where such exact sampling is not currently possible. We consider Markov chain Monte Carlo and sequential Monte Carlo methods which have been introduced in the literature and we describe different strategies which facilitate the application of MLMC within these methods.

Comparison of deterministic and Monte Carlo methods in shielding design.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, A D; Oliveira, C

2005-01-01

In shielding calculation, deterministic methods have some advantages and also some disadvantages relative to other kind of codes, such as Monte Carlo. The main advantage is the short computer time needed to find solutions while the disadvantages are related to the often-used build-up factor that is extrapolated from high to low energies or with unknown geometrical conditions, which can lead to significant errors in shielding results. The aim of this work is to investigate how good are some deterministic methods to calculating low-energy shielding, using attenuation coefficients and build-up factor corrections. Commercial software MicroShield 5.05 has been used as the deterministic code while MCNP has been used as the Monte Carlo code. Point and cylindrical sources with slab shield have been defined allowing comparison between the capability of both Monte Carlo and deterministic methods in a day-by-day shielding calculation using sensitivity analysis of significant parameters, such as energy and geometrical conditions.

Comparison of deterministic and Monte Carlo methods in shielding design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, A. D.; Oliveira, C.

2005-01-01

In shielding calculation, deterministic methods have some advantages and also some disadvantages relative to other kind of codes, such as Monte Carlo. The main advantage is the short computer time needed to find solutions while the disadvantages are related to the often-used build-up factor that is extrapolated from high to low energies or with unknown geometrical conditions, which can lead to significant errors in shielding results. The aim of this work is to investigate how good are some deterministic methods to calculating low-energy shielding, using attenuation coefficients and build-up factor corrections. Commercial software MicroShield 5.05 has been used as the deterministic code while MCNP has been used as the Monte Carlo code. Point and cylindrical sources with slab shield have been defined allowing comparison between the capability of both Monte Carlo and deterministic methods in a day-by-day shielding calculation using sensitivity analysis of significant parameters, such as energy and geometrical conditions. (authors)

Monte carlo study of MOSFET packaging, optimised for improved energy response: single MOSFET filtration.

Science.gov (United States)

Othman, M A R; Cutajar, D L; Hardcastle, N; Guatelli, S; Rosenfeld, A B

2010-09-01

Monte Carlo simulations of the energy response of a conventionally packaged single metal-oxide field effect transistors (MOSFET) detector were performed with the goal of improving MOSFET energy dependence for personal accident or military dosimetry. The MOSFET detector packaging was optimised. Two different 'drop-in' design packages for a single MOSFET detector were modelled and optimised using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo toolkit. Absorbed photon dose simulations of the MOSFET dosemeter placed in free-air response, corresponding to the absorbed doses at depths of 0.07 mm (D(w)(0.07)) and 10 mm (D(w)(10)) in a water equivalent phantom of size 30 x 30 x 30 cm(3) for photon energies of 0.015-2 MeV were performed. Energy dependence was reduced to within + or - 60 % for photon energies 0.06-2 MeV for both D(w)(0.07) and D(w)(10). Variations in the response for photon energies of 15-60 keV were 200 and 330 % for D(w)(0.07) and D(w)(10), respectively. The obtained energy dependence was reduced compared with that for conventionally packaged MOSFET detectors, which usually exhibit a 500-700 % over-response when used in free-air geometry.

Randomly dispersed particle fuel model in the PSG Monte Carlo neutron transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leppaenen, J.

2007-01-01

High-temperature gas-cooled reactor fuels are composed of thousands of microscopic fuel particles, randomly dispersed in a graphite matrix. The modelling of such geometry is complicated, especially using continuous-energy Monte Carlo codes, which are unable to apply any deterministic corrections in the calculation. This paper presents the geometry routine developed for modelling randomly dispersed particle fuels using the PSG Monte Carlo reactor physics code. The model is based on the delta-tracking method, and it takes into account the spatial self-shielding effects and the random dispersion of the fuel particles. The calculation routine is validated by comparing the results to reference MCNP4C calculations using uranium and plutonium based fuels. (authors)

A NEW MONTE CARLO METHOD FOR TIME-DEPENDENT NEUTRINO RADIATION TRANSPORT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdikamalov, Ernazar; Ott, Christian D.; O'Connor, Evan; Burrows, Adam; Dolence, Joshua C.; Löffler, Frank; Schnetter, Erik

2012-01-01

Monte Carlo approaches to radiation transport have several attractive properties such as simplicity of implementation, high accuracy, and good parallel scaling. Moreover, Monte Carlo methods can handle complicated geometries and are relatively easy to extend to multiple spatial dimensions, which makes them potentially interesting in modeling complex multi-dimensional astrophysical phenomena such as core-collapse supernovae. The aim of this paper is to explore Monte Carlo methods for modeling neutrino transport in core-collapse supernovae. We generalize the Implicit Monte Carlo photon transport scheme of Fleck and Cummings and gray discrete-diffusion scheme of Densmore et al. to energy-, time-, and velocity-dependent neutrino transport. Using our 1D spherically-symmetric implementation, we show that, similar to the photon transport case, the implicit scheme enables significantly larger timesteps compared with explicit time discretization, without sacrificing accuracy, while the discrete-diffusion method leads to significant speed-ups at high optical depth. Our results suggest that a combination of spectral, velocity-dependent, Implicit Monte Carlo and discrete-diffusion Monte Carlo methods represents a robust approach for use in neutrino transport calculations in core-collapse supernovae. Our velocity-dependent scheme can easily be adapted to photon transport.

A NEW MONTE CARLO METHOD FOR TIME-DEPENDENT NEUTRINO RADIATION TRANSPORT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abdikamalov, Ernazar; Ott, Christian D.; O' Connor, Evan [TAPIR, California Institute of Technology, MC 350-17, 1200 E California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Burrows, Adam; Dolence, Joshua C. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Peyton Hall, Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Loeffler, Frank; Schnetter, Erik, E-mail: abdik@tapir.caltech.edu [Center for Computation and Technology, Louisiana State University, 216 Johnston Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (United States)

2012-08-20

Monte Carlo approaches to radiation transport have several attractive properties such as simplicity of implementation, high accuracy, and good parallel scaling. Moreover, Monte Carlo methods can handle complicated geometries and are relatively easy to extend to multiple spatial dimensions, which makes them potentially interesting in modeling complex multi-dimensional astrophysical phenomena such as core-collapse supernovae. The aim of this paper is to explore Monte Carlo methods for modeling neutrino transport in core-collapse supernovae. We generalize the Implicit Monte Carlo photon transport scheme of Fleck and Cummings and gray discrete-diffusion scheme of Densmore et al. to energy-, time-, and velocity-dependent neutrino transport. Using our 1D spherically-symmetric implementation, we show that, similar to the photon transport case, the implicit scheme enables significantly larger timesteps compared with explicit time discretization, without sacrificing accuracy, while the discrete-diffusion method leads to significant speed-ups at high optical depth. Our results suggest that a combination of spectral, velocity-dependent, Implicit Monte Carlo and discrete-diffusion Monte Carlo methods represents a robust approach for use in neutrino transport calculations in core-collapse supernovae. Our velocity-dependent scheme can easily be adapted to photon transport.

A Monte Carlo implementation of the predictor-corrector Quasi-Static method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hackemack, M. W.; Ragusa, J. C.; Griesheimer, D. P.; Pounders, J. M.

2013-01-01

The Quasi-Static method (QS) is a useful tool for solving reactor transients since it allows for larger time steps when updating neutron distributions. Because of the beneficial attributes of Monte Carlo (MC) methods (exact geometries and continuous energy treatment), it is desirable to develop a MC implementation for the QS method. In this work, the latest version of the QS method known as the Predictor-Corrector Quasi-Static method is implemented. Experiments utilizing two energy-groups provide results that show good agreement with analytical and reference solutions. The method as presented can easily be implemented in any continuous energy, arbitrary geometry, MC code. (authors)

Annealing evolutionary stochastic approximation Monte Carlo for global optimization

KAUST Repository

Liang, Faming

2010-04-08

In this paper, we propose a new algorithm, the so-called annealing evolutionary stochastic approximation Monte Carlo (AESAMC) algorithm as a general optimization technique, and study its convergence. AESAMC possesses a self-adjusting mechanism, whose target distribution can be adapted at each iteration according to the current samples. Thus, AESAMC falls into the class of adaptive Monte Carlo methods. This mechanism also makes AESAMC less trapped by local energy minima than nonadaptive MCMC algorithms. Under mild conditions, we show that AESAMC can converge weakly toward a neighboring set of global minima in the space of energy. AESAMC is tested on multiple optimization problems. The numerical results indicate that AESAMC can potentially outperform simulated annealing, the genetic algorithm, annealing stochastic approximation Monte Carlo, and some other metaheuristics in function optimization. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

OpenMC: A state-of-the-art Monte Carlo code for research and development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romano, Paul K.; Horelik, Nicholas E.; Herman, Bryan R.; Nelson, Adam G.; Forget, Benoit; Smith, Kord

2015-01-01

Highlights: • OpenMC is an open source Monte Carlo particle transport code. • Solid geometry and continuous-energy physics allow high-fidelity simulations. • Development has focused on high performance and modern I/O techniques. • OpenMC is capable of scaling up to hundreds of thousands of processors. • Other features include plotting, CMFD acceleration, and variance reduction. - Abstract: This paper gives an overview of OpenMC, an open source Monte Carlo particle transport code recently developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. OpenMC uses continuous-energy cross sections and a constructive solid geometry representation, enabling high-fidelity modeling of nuclear reactors and other systems. Modern, portable input/output file formats are used in OpenMC: XML for input, and HDF5 for output. High performance parallel algorithms in OpenMC have demonstrated near-linear scaling to over 100,000 processors on modern supercomputers. Other topics discussed in this paper include plotting, CMFD acceleration, variance reduction, eigenvalue calculations, and software development processes

Development of Monte Carlo-based pebble bed reactor fuel management code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Setiadipura, Topan; Obara, Toru

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A new Monte Carlo-based fuel management code for OTTO cycle pebble bed reactor was developed. • The double-heterogeneity was modeled using statistical method in MVP-BURN code. • The code can perform analysis of equilibrium and non-equilibrium phase. • Code-to-code comparisons for Once-Through-Then-Out case were investigated. • Ability of the code to accommodate the void cavity was confirmed. - Abstract: A fuel management code for pebble bed reactors (PBRs) based on the Monte Carlo method has been developed in this study. The code, named Monte Carlo burnup analysis code for PBR (MCPBR), enables a simulation of the Once-Through-Then-Out (OTTO) cycle of a PBR from the running-in phase to the equilibrium condition. In MCPBR, a burnup calculation based on a continuous-energy Monte Carlo code, MVP-BURN, is coupled with an additional utility code to be able to simulate the OTTO cycle of PBR. MCPBR has several advantages in modeling PBRs, namely its Monte Carlo neutron transport modeling, its capability of explicitly modeling the double heterogeneity of the PBR core, and its ability to model different axial fuel speeds in the PBR core. Analysis at the equilibrium condition of the simplified PBR was used as the validation test of MCPBR. The calculation results of the code were compared with the results of diffusion-based fuel management PBR codes, namely the VSOP and PEBBED codes. Using JENDL-4.0 nuclide library, MCPBR gave a 4.15% and 3.32% lower k eff value compared to VSOP and PEBBED, respectively. While using JENDL-3.3, MCPBR gave a 2.22% and 3.11% higher k eff value compared to VSOP and PEBBED, respectively. The ability of MCPBR to analyze neutron transport in the top void of the PBR core and its effects was also confirmed

Monte Carlo electron-transport calculations for clinical beams using energy grouping

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Teng, S P; Anderson, D W; Lindstrom, D G

1986-01-01

A Monte Carlo program has been utilized to study the penetration of broad electron beams into a water phantom. The MORSE-E code, originally developed for neutron and photon transport, was chosen for adaptation to electrons because of its versatility. The electron energy degradation model employed logarithmic spacing of electron energy groups and included effects of elastic scattering, inelastic-moderate-energy-loss-processes and inelastic-large-energy-loss-processes (catastrophic). Energy straggling and angular deflections were modeled from group to group, using the Moeller cross section for energy loss, and Goudsmit-Saunderson theory to describe angular deflections. The resulting energy- and electron-deposition distributions in depth were obtained at 10 and 20 MeV and are compared with ETRAN results and broad beam experimental data from clinical accelerators.

Monte Carlo modelling of TRIGA research reactor

Science.gov (United States)

El Bakkari, B.; Nacir, B.; El Bardouni, T.; El Younoussi, C.; Merroun, O.; Htet, A.; Boulaich, Y.; Zoubair, M.; Boukhal, H.; Chakir, M.

2010-10-01

The Moroccan 2 MW TRIGA MARK II research reactor at Centre des Etudes Nucléaires de la Maâmora (CENM) achieved initial criticality on May 2, 2007. The reactor is designed to effectively implement the various fields of basic nuclear research, manpower training, and production of radioisotopes for their use in agriculture, industry, and medicine. This study deals with the neutronic analysis of the 2-MW TRIGA MARK II research reactor at CENM and validation of the results by comparisons with the experimental, operational, and available final safety analysis report (FSAR) values. The study was prepared in collaboration between the Laboratory of Radiation and Nuclear Systems (ERSN-LMR) from Faculty of Sciences of Tetuan (Morocco) and CENM. The 3-D continuous energy Monte Carlo code MCNP (version 5) was used to develop a versatile and accurate full model of the TRIGA core. The model represents in detailed all components of the core with literally no physical approximation. Continuous energy cross-section data from the more recent nuclear data evaluations (ENDF/B-VI.8, ENDF/B-VII.0, JEFF-3.1, and JENDL-3.3) as well as S( α, β) thermal neutron scattering functions distributed with the MCNP code were used. The cross-section libraries were generated by using the NJOY99 system updated to its more recent patch file "up259". The consistency and accuracy of both the Monte Carlo simulation and neutron transport physics were established by benchmarking the TRIGA experiments. Core excess reactivity, total and integral control rods worth as well as power peaking factors were used in the validation process. Results of calculations are analysed and discussed.

Vectorization of phase space Monte Carlo code in FACOM vector processor VP-200

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miura, Kenichi

1986-01-01

This paper describes the vectorization techniques for Monte Carlo codes in Fujitsu's Vector Processor System. The phase space Monte Carlo code FOWL is selected as a benchmark, and scalar and vector performances are compared. The vectorized kernel Monte Carlo routine which contains heavily nested IF tests runs up to 7.9 times faster in vector mode than in scalar mode. The overall performance improvement of the vectorized FOWL code over the original scalar code reaches 3.3. The results of this study strongly indicate that supercomputer can be a powerful tool for Monte Carlo simulations in high energy physics. (Auth.)

Fast sequential Monte Carlo methods for counting and optimization

CERN Document Server

Rubinstein, Reuven Y; Vaisman, Radislav

2013-01-01

A comprehensive account of the theory and application of Monte Carlo methods Based on years of research in efficient Monte Carlo methods for estimation of rare-event probabilities, counting problems, and combinatorial optimization, Fast Sequential Monte Carlo Methods for Counting and Optimization is a complete illustration of fast sequential Monte Carlo techniques. The book provides an accessible overview of current work in the field of Monte Carlo methods, specifically sequential Monte Carlo techniques, for solving abstract counting and optimization problems. Written by authorities in the

The MC21 Monte Carlo Transport Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sutton TM; Donovan TJ; Trumbull TH; Dobreff PS; Caro E; Griesheimer DP; Tyburski LJ; Carpenter DC; Joo H

2007-01-01

MC21 is a new Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport code currently under joint development at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory and the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. MC21 is the Monte Carlo transport kernel of the broader Common Monte Carlo Design Tool (CMCDT), which is also currently under development. The vision for CMCDT is to provide an automated, computer-aided modeling and post-processing environment integrated with a Monte Carlo solver that is optimized for reactor analysis. CMCDT represents a strategy to push the Monte Carlo method beyond its traditional role as a benchmarking tool or ''tool of last resort'' and into a dominant design role. This paper describes various aspects of the code, including the neutron physics and nuclear data treatments, the geometry representation, and the tally and depletion capabilities

Development and applications of Super Monte Carlo Simulation Program for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Y., E-mail: yican.wu@fds.org.cn [Inst. of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology, Hefei, Anhui (China)

2015-07-01

'Full text:' Super Monte Carlo Simulation Program for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (SuperMC) is a CAD-based Monte Carlo (MC) program for integrated simulation of nuclear system by making use of hybrid MC-deterministic method and advanced computer technologies. The main usability features are automatic modeling of geometry and physics, visualization and virtual simulation and cloud computing service. SuperMC 2.3, the latest version, can perform coupled neutron and photon transport calculation. SuperMC has been verified by more than 2000 benchmark models and experiments, and has been applied in tens of major nuclear projects, such as the nuclear design and analysis of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and China Lead-based reactor (CLEAR). Development and applications of SuperMC are introduced in this presentation. (author)

Development and applications of Super Monte Carlo Simulation Program for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Y.

2015-01-01

'Full text:' Super Monte Carlo Simulation Program for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (SuperMC) is a CAD-based Monte Carlo (MC) program for integrated simulation of nuclear system by making use of hybrid MC-deterministic method and advanced computer technologies. The main usability features are automatic modeling of geometry and physics, visualization and virtual simulation and cloud computing service. SuperMC 2.3, the latest version, can perform coupled neutron and photon transport calculation. SuperMC has been verified by more than 2000 benchmark models and experiments, and has been applied in tens of major nuclear projects, such as the nuclear design and analysis of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and China Lead-based reactor (CLEAR). Development and applications of SuperMC are introduced in this presentation. (author)

Energy-depth relation of electrons in bulk targets by Monte-Carlo calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaber, M.; Fitting, H.J.

1984-01-01

Monte-Carlo calculations are used to calculate the energy of penetrating electrons as a function of the depth in thick targets of Ti, Fe, Cu, As, In, and Au. It is shown that the mean energy ratio anti E(z)/E 0 decays exponentially with depth z and depends on the backscattering coefficient eta/sub B/ of the bulk material and the maximum range R(E 0 ) of the primary electrons with initial energy E 0 . Thereby a normalized plot anti E/E 0 as a function of the reduced depth z/R becomes possible. (author)

Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods for Bayesian Data Analysis in Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Sanjib

2017-08-01

Markov Chain Monte Carlo based Bayesian data analysis has now become the method of choice for analyzing and interpreting data in almost all disciplines of science. In astronomy, over the last decade, we have also seen a steady increase in the number of papers that employ Monte Carlo based Bayesian analysis. New, efficient Monte Carlo based methods are continuously being developed and explored. In this review, we first explain the basics of Bayesian theory and discuss how to set up data analysis problems within this framework. Next, we provide an overview of various Monte Carlo based methods for performing Bayesian data analysis. Finally, we discuss advanced ideas that enable us to tackle complex problems and thus hold great promise for the future. We also distribute downloadable computer software (available at https://github.com/sanjibs/bmcmc/ ) that implements some of the algorithms and examples discussed here.

Control Variates for Monte Carlo Valuation of American Options

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Nicki S.

2005-01-01

This paper considers two applications of control variates to the Monte Carlo valuation of American options. The main contribution of the paper lies in the particular choice of a control variate for American or Bermudan options. It is shown that for any martingale process used as a control variate...... technique is used for improving the least-squares Monte Carlo (LSM) approach for determining exercise strategies. The suggestions made allow for more efficient estimation of the continuation value, used in determining the strategy. An additional suggestion is made in order to improve the stability...

A reverse Monte Carlo method for deriving optical constants of solids from reflection electron energy-loss spectroscopy spectra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Da, B.; Sun, Y.; Ding, Z. J.; Mao, S. F.; Zhang, Z. M.; Jin, H.; Yoshikawa, H.; Tanuma, S.

2013-01-01

A reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) method is developed to obtain the energy loss function (ELF) and optical constants from a measured reflection electron energy-loss spectroscopy (REELS) spectrum by an iterative Monte Carlo (MC) simulation procedure. The method combines the simulated annealing method, i.e., a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling of oscillator parameters, surface and bulk excitation weighting factors, and band gap energy, with a conventional MC simulation of electron interaction with solids, which acts as a single step of MCMC sampling in this RMC method. To examine the reliability of this method, we have verified that the output data of the dielectric function are essentially independent of the initial values of the trial parameters, which is a basic property of a MCMC method. The optical constants derived for SiO 2 in the energy loss range of 8-90 eV are in good agreement with other available data, and relevant bulk ELFs are checked by oscillator strength-sum and perfect-screening-sum rules. Our results show that the dielectric function can be obtained by the RMC method even with a wide range of initial trial parameters. The RMC method is thus a general and effective method for determining the optical properties of solids from REELS measurements.

Non-Boltzmann Ensembles and Monte Carlo Simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murthy, K. P. N.

2016-01-01

Boltzmann sampling based on Metropolis algorithm has been extensively used for simulating a canonical ensemble and for calculating macroscopic properties of a closed system at desired temperatures. An estimate of a mechanical property, like energy, of an equilibrium system, is made by averaging over a large number microstates generated by Boltzmann Monte Carlo methods. This is possible because we can assign a numerical value for energy to each microstate. However, a thermal property like entropy, is not easily accessible to these methods. The reason is simple. We can not assign a numerical value for entropy, to a microstate. Entropy is not a property associated with any single microstate. It is a collective property of all the microstates. Toward calculating entropy and other thermal properties, a non-Boltzmann Monte Carlo technique called Umbrella sampling was proposed some forty years ago. Umbrella sampling has since undergone several metamorphoses and we have now, multi-canonical Monte Carlo, entropic sampling, flat histogram methods, Wang-Landau algorithm etc . This class of methods generates non-Boltzmann ensembles which are un-physical. However, physical quantities can be calculated as follows. First un-weight a microstates of the entropic ensemble; then re-weight it to the desired physical ensemble. Carry out weighted average over the entropic ensemble to estimate physical quantities. In this talk I shall tell you of the most recent non- Boltzmann Monte Carlo method and show how to calculate free energy for a few systems. We first consider estimation of free energy as a function of energy at different temperatures to characterize phase transition in an hairpin DNA in the presence of an unzipping force. Next we consider free energy as a function of order parameter and to this end we estimate density of states g ( E , M ), as a function of both energy E , and order parameter M . This is carried out in two stages. We estimate g ( E ) in the first stage

The use of Monte-Carlo codes for treatment planning in external-beam radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alan, E.; Nahum, PhD.

2003-01-01

Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport is a very powerful technique. There are basically no exact solutions to the Boltzmann transport equation. Even, the 'straightforward' situation (in radiotherapy) of an electron beam depth-dose distribution in water proves to be too difficult for analytical methods without making gross approximations such as ignoring energy-loss straggling, large-angle single scattering and Bremsstrahlung production. monte Carlo is essential when radiation is transport from one medium into another. As the particle (be it a neutron, photon, electron, proton) crosses the boundary then a new set of interaction cross-sections is simply read in and the simulation continues as though the new medium were infinite until the next boundary is encountered. Radiotherapy involves directing a beam of megavoltage x rays or electrons (occasionally protons) at a very complex object, the human body. Monte Carlo simulation has proved in valuable at many stages of the process of accurately determining the distribution of absorbed dose in the patient. Some of these applications will be reviewed here. (Rogers and al 1990; Andreo 1991; Mackie 1990). (N.C.)

Monte Carlo based radial shield design of typical PWR reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gul, Anas; Khan, Rustam; Qureshi, M. Ayub; Azeem, Muhammad Waqar; Raza, S.A. [Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Islamabad (Pakistan). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering; Stummer, Thomas [Technische Univ. Wien (Austria). Atominst.

2017-04-15

This paper presents the radiation shielding model of a typical PWR (CNPP-II) at Chashma, Pakistan. The model was developed using Monte Carlo N Particle code [2], equipped with ENDF/B-VI continuous energy cross section libraries. This model was applied to calculate the neutron and gamma flux and dose rates in the radial direction at core mid plane. The simulated results were compared with the reference results of Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI).

NOTE: Monte Carlo evaluation of kerma in an HDR brachytherapy bunker

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Calatayud, J.; Granero, D.; Ballester, F.; Casal, E.; Crispin, V.; Puchades, V.; León, A.; Verdú, G.

2004-12-01

In recent years, the use of high dose rate (HDR) after-loader machines has greatly increased due to the shift from traditional Cs-137/Ir-192 low dose rate (LDR) to HDR brachytherapy. The method used to calculate the required concrete and, where appropriate, lead shielding in the door is based on analytical methods provided by documents published by the ICRP, the IAEA and the NCRP. The purpose of this study is to perform a more realistic kerma evaluation at the entrance maze door of an HDR bunker using the Monte Carlo code GEANT4. The Monte Carlo results were validated experimentally. The spectrum at the maze entrance door, obtained with Monte Carlo, has an average energy of about 110 keV, maintaining a similar value along the length of the maze. The comparison of results from the aforementioned values with the Monte Carlo ones shows that results obtained using the albedo coefficient from the ICRP document more closely match those given by the Monte Carlo method, although the maximum value given by MC calculations is 30% greater.

Simplest Validation of the HIJING Monte Carlo Model

CERN Document Server

Uzhinsky, V.V.

2003-01-01

Fulfillment of the energy-momentum conservation law, as well as the charge, baryon and lepton number conservation is checked for the HIJING Monte Carlo program in $pp$-interactions at $\\sqrt{s}=$ 200, 5500, and 14000 GeV. It is shown that the energy is conserved quite well. The transverse momentum is not conserved, the deviation from zero is at the level of 1--2 GeV/c, and it is connected with the hard jet production. The deviation is absent for soft interactions. Charge, baryon and lepton numbers are conserved. Azimuthal symmetry of the Monte Carlo events is studied, too. It is shown that there is a small signature of a "flow". The situation with the symmetry gets worse for nucleus-nucleus interactions.

Monte carlo simulation for soot dynamics

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Kun

2012-01-01

A new Monte Carlo method termed Comb-like frame Monte Carlo is developed to simulate the soot dynamics. Detailed stochastic error analysis is provided. Comb-like frame Monte Carlo is coupled with the gas phase solver Chemkin II to simulate soot formation in a 1-D premixed burner stabilized flame. The simulated soot number density, volume fraction, and particle size distribution all agree well with the measurement available in literature. The origin of the bimodal distribution of particle size distribution is revealed with quantitative proof.

Monte Carlo simulations for stereotactic radiotherapy system with various kilo-voltage x-ray energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deloar, H.M.; Kunieda, E.; Kawase, T.; Kubo, Atsushi; Saitoh, H.; Myojoyama, A.; Ozaki, M.; Fujisaki, T.; Saito, K.

2005-01-01

Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) of lung tumors with a narrow and precise medium energy x-ray beam where the homogeneous high dose area will be confined within the tumors are desirable. A conventional x-ray CT with medium energy x-ray has been modified to develop a radiotherapy system for lung SRT. A cylindrical collimator (0.3 cm φ) made of tungsten was introduced to collimate the X-ray beam. The system was simulated with BEAMnrc(EGS4) Monte Carlo code and various x-ray energy spectra were generated to investigate the dose distributions with our kilo-voltage SRT system. Experiments were performed to acquire the energy spectra of 100, 120 and 135 kVp (kilo-voltage peak) from CT measurements and those results were compared with the spectra obtained from Monte Carlo simulations. Verifications of percentage of dose depth (PDD) for 120 and 147.5 kVp were investigated in a water phantom with experiments and Monte Carlo simulations. Finally dose distributions of 120, 135, 147.5, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 500 kVp spectra were investigated with lung phantom and human lung. The Percentage of Depth Dose (PDD) in the water phantom calculated from the experimental and simulated spectra of 120 and 147.5 kVp show good agreement with each other. The PDD of 147.5 and 120 kVp spectra at 9 cm depth was approximately 10% and 9%, respectively. Dose distributions around the lung tumor in the phantom and human for all x-ray energies were almost uniform but in the case of the human lung absorptions of dose at ribs for the energy lower than 135 kVp was more than 35% and those absorptions for the energy spectra of 147.5 kVp and above was less than 30%. This absorption gradually decreases with increasing x-ray energies. Uniform dose distributions in the lung region of human and thorax phantom demonstrated the possibility of SRT system with medium energy X-ray. A detail performance of this system as a kilo-voltage conformal radiotherapy is under investigations. (author)

Monte Carlo Simulation in Statistical Physics An Introduction

CERN Document Server

Binder, Kurt

2010-01-01

Monte Carlo Simulation in Statistical Physics deals with the computer simulation of many-body systems in condensed-matter physics and related fields of physics, chemistry and beyond, to traffic flows, stock market fluctuations, etc.). Using random numbers generated by a computer, probability distributions are calculated, allowing the estimation of the thermodynamic properties of various systems. This book describes the theoretical background to several variants of these Monte Carlo methods and gives a systematic presentation from which newcomers can learn to perform such simulations and to analyze their results. The fifth edition covers Classical as well as Quantum Monte Carlo methods. Furthermore a new chapter on the sampling of free-energy landscapes has been added. To help students in their work a special web server has been installed to host programs and discussion groups (http://wwwcp.tphys.uni-heidelberg.de). Prof. Binder was awarded the Berni J. Alder CECAM Award for Computational Physics 2001 as well ...

Statistical estimation Monte Carlo for unreliability evaluation of highly reliable system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao Gang; Su Guanghui; Jia Dounan; Li Tianduo

2000-01-01

Based on analog Monte Carlo simulation, statistical Monte Carlo methods for unreliable evaluation of highly reliable system are constructed, including direct statistical estimation Monte Carlo method and weighted statistical estimation Monte Carlo method. The basal element is given, and the statistical estimation Monte Carlo estimators are derived. Direct Monte Carlo simulation method, bounding-sampling method, forced transitions Monte Carlo method, direct statistical estimation Monte Carlo and weighted statistical estimation Monte Carlo are used to evaluate unreliability of a same system. By comparing, weighted statistical estimation Monte Carlo estimator has smallest variance, and has highest calculating efficiency

Multilevel sequential Monte Carlo samplers

KAUST Repository

Beskos, Alexandros; Jasra, Ajay; Law, Kody; Tempone, Raul; Zhou, Yan

2016-01-01

In this article we consider the approximation of expectations w.r.t. probability distributions associated to the solution of partial differential equations (PDEs); this scenario appears routinely in Bayesian inverse problems. In practice, one often has to solve the associated PDE numerically, using, for instance finite element methods which depend on the step-size level . hL. In addition, the expectation cannot be computed analytically and one often resorts to Monte Carlo methods. In the context of this problem, it is known that the introduction of the multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) method can reduce the amount of computational effort to estimate expectations, for a given level of error. This is achieved via a telescoping identity associated to a Monte Carlo approximation of a sequence of probability distributions with discretization levels . ∞>h0>h1⋯>hL. In many practical problems of interest, one cannot achieve an i.i.d. sampling of the associated sequence and a sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) version of the MLMC method is introduced to deal with this problem. It is shown that under appropriate assumptions, the attractive property of a reduction of the amount of computational effort to estimate expectations, for a given level of error, can be maintained within the SMC context. That is, relative to exact sampling and Monte Carlo for the distribution at the finest level . hL. The approach is numerically illustrated on a Bayesian inverse problem. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Multilevel sequential Monte Carlo samplers

KAUST Repository

Beskos, Alexandros

2016-08-29

In this article we consider the approximation of expectations w.r.t. probability distributions associated to the solution of partial differential equations (PDEs); this scenario appears routinely in Bayesian inverse problems. In practice, one often has to solve the associated PDE numerically, using, for instance finite element methods which depend on the step-size level . hL. In addition, the expectation cannot be computed analytically and one often resorts to Monte Carlo methods. In the context of this problem, it is known that the introduction of the multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) method can reduce the amount of computational effort to estimate expectations, for a given level of error. This is achieved via a telescoping identity associated to a Monte Carlo approximation of a sequence of probability distributions with discretization levels . ∞>h0>h1⋯>hL. In many practical problems of interest, one cannot achieve an i.i.d. sampling of the associated sequence and a sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) version of the MLMC method is introduced to deal with this problem. It is shown that under appropriate assumptions, the attractive property of a reduction of the amount of computational effort to estimate expectations, for a given level of error, can be maintained within the SMC context. That is, relative to exact sampling and Monte Carlo for the distribution at the finest level . hL. The approach is numerically illustrated on a Bayesian inverse problem. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Applications of Monte Carlo method in Medical Physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diez Rios, A.; Labajos, M.

1989-01-01

The basic ideas of Monte Carlo techniques are presented. Random numbers and their generation by congruential methods, which underlie Monte Carlo calculations are shown. Monte Carlo techniques to solve integrals are discussed. The evaluation of a simple monodimensional integral with a known answer, by means of two different Monte Carlo approaches are discussed. The basic principles to simualate on a computer photon histories reduce variance and the current applications in Medical Physics are commented. (Author)

Monte-Carlo error analysis in x-ray spectral deconvolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirk, D.G.; Hoffman, N.M.

1985-01-01

The deconvolution of spectral information from sparse x-ray data is a widely encountered problem in data analysis. An often-neglected aspect of this problem is the propagation of random error in the deconvolution process. We have developed a Monte-Carlo approach that enables us to attach error bars to unfolded x-ray spectra. Our Monte-Carlo error analysis has been incorporated into two specific deconvolution techniques: the first is an iterative convergent weight method; the second is a singular-value-decomposition (SVD) method. These two methods were applied to an x-ray spectral deconvolution problem having m channels of observations with n points in energy space. When m is less than n, this problem has no unique solution. We discuss the systematics of nonunique solutions and energy-dependent error bars for both methods. The Monte-Carlo approach has a particular benefit in relation to the SVD method: It allows us to apply the constraint of spectral nonnegativity after the SVD deconvolution rather than before. Consequently, we can identify inconsistencies between different detector channels

Experience with the Monte Carlo Method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hussein, E M.A. [Department of Mechanical Engineering University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N.B., (Canada)

2007-06-15

Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport provides a powerful research and design tool that resembles in many aspects laboratory experiments. Moreover, Monte Carlo simulations can provide an insight not attainable in the laboratory. However, the Monte Carlo method has its limitations, which if not taken into account can result in misleading conclusions. This paper will present the experience of this author, over almost three decades, in the use of the Monte Carlo method for a variety of applications. Examples will be shown on how the method was used to explore new ideas, as a parametric study and design optimization tool, and to analyze experimental data. The consequences of not accounting in detail for detector response and the scattering of radiation by surrounding structures are two of the examples that will be presented to demonstrate the pitfall of condensed.

Experience with the Monte Carlo Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussein, E.M.A.

2007-01-01

Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport provides a powerful research and design tool that resembles in many aspects laboratory experiments. Moreover, Monte Carlo simulations can provide an insight not attainable in the laboratory. However, the Monte Carlo method has its limitations, which if not taken into account can result in misleading conclusions. This paper will present the experience of this author, over almost three decades, in the use of the Monte Carlo method for a variety of applications. Examples will be shown on how the method was used to explore new ideas, as a parametric study and design optimization tool, and to analyze experimental data. The consequences of not accounting in detail for detector response and the scattering of radiation by surrounding structures are two of the examples that will be presented to demonstrate the pitfall of condensed

RNA folding kinetics using Monte Carlo and Gillespie algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Clote, Peter; Bayegan, Amir H

2018-04-01

RNA secondary structure folding kinetics is known to be important for the biological function of certain processes, such as the hok/sok system in E. coli. Although linear algebra provides an exact computational solution of secondary structure folding kinetics with respect to the Turner energy model for tiny ([Formula: see text]20 nt) RNA sequences, the folding kinetics for larger sequences can only be approximated by binning structures into macrostates in a coarse-grained model, or by repeatedly simulating secondary structure folding with either the Monte Carlo algorithm or the Gillespie algorithm. Here we investigate the relation between the Monte Carlo algorithm and the Gillespie algorithm. We prove that asymptotically, the expected time for a K-step trajectory of the Monte Carlo algorithm is equal to [Formula: see text] times that of the Gillespie algorithm, where [Formula: see text] denotes the Boltzmann expected network degree. If the network is regular (i.e. every node has the same degree), then the mean first passage time (MFPT) computed by the Monte Carlo algorithm is equal to MFPT computed by the Gillespie algorithm multiplied by [Formula: see text]; however, this is not true for non-regular networks. In particular, RNA secondary structure folding kinetics, as computed by the Monte Carlo algorithm, is not equal to the folding kinetics, as computed by the Gillespie algorithm, although the mean first passage times are roughly correlated. Simulation software for RNA secondary structure folding according to the Monte Carlo and Gillespie algorithms is publicly available, as is our software to compute the expected degree of the network of secondary structures of a given RNA sequence-see http://bioinformatics.bc.edu/clote/RNAexpNumNbors .

Monte Carlo Calculation of Sensitivities to Secondary Angular Distributions. Theory and Validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perell, R. L.

2002-01-01

The basic methods for solution of the transport equation that are in practical use today are the discrete ordinates (SN) method, and the Monte Carlo (Monte Carlo) method. While the SN method is typically less computation time consuming, the Monte Carlo method is often preferred for detailed and general description of three-dimensional geometries, and for calculations using cross sections that are point-wise energy dependent. For analysis of experimental and calculated results, sensitivities are needed. Sensitivities to material parameters in general, and to the angular distribution of the secondary (scattered) neutrons in particular, can be calculated by well known SN methods, using the fluxes obtained from solution of the direct and the adjoint transport equations. Algorithms to calculate sensitivities to cross-sections with Monte Carlo methods have been known for quite a time. However, only just recently we have developed a general Monte Carlo algorithm for the calculation of sensitivities to the angular distribution of the secondary neutrons

Monte Carlo simulations of neutron scattering instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aestrand, Per-Olof; Copenhagen Univ.; Lefmann, K.; Nielsen, K.

2001-01-01

A Monte Carlo simulation is an important computational tool used in many areas of science and engineering. The use of Monte Carlo techniques for simulating neutron scattering instruments is discussed. The basic ideas, techniques and approximations are presented. Since the construction of a neutron scattering instrument is very expensive, Monte Carlo software used for design of instruments have to be validated and tested extensively. The McStas software was designed with these aspects in mind and some of the basic principles of the McStas software will be discussed. Finally, some future prospects are discussed for using Monte Carlo simulations in optimizing neutron scattering experiments. (R.P.)

Response matrix Monte Carlo based on a general geometry local calculation for electron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballinger, C.T.; Rathkopf, J.A.; Martin, W.R.

1991-01-01

A Response Matrix Monte Carlo (RMMC) method has been developed for solving electron transport problems. This method was born of the need to have a reliable, computationally efficient transport method for low energy electrons (below a few hundred keV) in all materials. Today, condensed history methods are used which reduce the computation time by modeling the combined effect of many collisions but fail at low energy because of the assumptions required to characterize the electron scattering. Analog Monte Carlo simulations are prohibitively expensive since electrons undergo coulombic scattering with little state change after a collision. The RMMC method attempts to combine the accuracy of an analog Monte Carlo simulation with the speed of the condensed history methods. Like condensed history, the RMMC method uses probability distributions functions (PDFs) to describe the energy and direction of the electron after several collisions. However, unlike the condensed history method the PDFs are based on an analog Monte Carlo simulation over a small region. Condensed history theories require assumptions about the electron scattering to derive the PDFs for direction and energy. Thus the RMMC method samples from PDFs which more accurately represent the electron random walk. Results show good agreement between the RMMC method and analog Monte Carlo. 13 refs., 8 figs

Quantum Monte Carlo for atoms and molecules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnett, R.N.

1989-11-01

The diffusion quantum Monte Carlo with fixed nodes (QMC) approach has been employed in studying energy-eigenstates for 1--4 electron systems. Previous work employing the diffusion QMC technique yielded energies of high quality for H 2 , LiH, Li 2 , and H 2 O. Here, the range of calculations with this new approach has been extended to include additional first-row atoms and molecules. In addition, improvements in the previously computed fixed-node energies of LiH, Li 2 , and H 2 O have been obtained using more accurate trial functions. All computations were performed within, but are not limited to, the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. In our computations, the effects of variation of Monte Carlo parameters on the QMC solution of the Schroedinger equation were studied extensively. These parameters include the time step, renormalization time and nodal structure. These studies have been very useful in determining which choices of such parameters will yield accurate QMC energies most efficiently. Generally, very accurate energies (90--100% of the correlation energy is obtained) have been computed with single-determinant trail functions multiplied by simple correlation functions. Improvements in accuracy should be readily obtained using more complex trial functions

Linear filtering applied to Monte Carlo criticality calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morrison, G.W.; Pike, D.H.; Petrie, L.M.

1975-01-01

A significant improvement in the acceleration of the convergence of the eigenvalue computed by Monte Carlo techniques has been developed by applying linear filtering theory to Monte Carlo calculations for multiplying systems. A Kalman filter was applied to a KENO Monte Carlo calculation of an experimental critical system consisting of eight interacting units of fissile material. A comparison of the filter estimate and the Monte Carlo realization was made. The Kalman filter converged in five iterations to 0.9977. After 95 iterations, the average k-eff from the Monte Carlo calculation was 0.9981. This demonstrates that the Kalman filter has the potential of reducing the calculational effort of multiplying systems. Other examples and results are discussed

MCNP-X Monte Carlo Code Application for Mass Attenuation Coefficients of Concrete at Different Energies by Modeling 3 × 3 Inch NaI(Tl Detector and Comparison with XCOM and Monte Carlo Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huseyin Ozan Tekin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Gamma-ray measurements in various research fields require efficient detectors. One of these research fields is mass attenuation coefficients of different materials. Apart from experimental studies, the Monte Carlo (MC method has become one of the most popular tools in detector studies. An NaI(Tl detector has been modeled, and, for a validation study of the modeled NaI(Tl detector, the absolute efficiency of 3 × 3 inch cylindrical NaI(Tl detector has been calculated by using the general purpose Monte Carlo code MCNP-X (version 2.4.0 and compared with previous studies in literature in the range of 661–2620 keV. In the present work, the applicability of MCNP-X Monte Carlo code for mass attenuation of concrete sample material as building material at photon energies 59.5 keV, 80 keV, 356 keV, 661.6 keV, 1173.2 keV, and 1332.5 keV has been tested by using validated NaI(Tl detector. The mass attenuation coefficients of concrete sample have been calculated. The calculated results agreed well with experimental and some other theoretical results. The results specify that this process can be followed to determine the data on the attenuation of gamma-rays with other required energies in other materials or in new complex materials. It can be concluded that data from Monte Carlo is a strong tool not only for efficiency studies but also for mass attenuation coefficients calculations.

Monte Carlo simulations for plasma physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okamoto, M.; Murakami, S.; Nakajima, N.; Wang, W.X.

2000-07-01

Plasma behaviours are very complicated and the analyses are generally difficult. However, when the collisional processes play an important role in the plasma behaviour, the Monte Carlo method is often employed as a useful tool. For examples, in neutral particle injection heating (NBI heating), electron or ion cyclotron heating, and alpha heating, Coulomb collisions slow down high energetic particles and pitch angle scatter them. These processes are often studied by the Monte Carlo technique and good agreements can be obtained with the experimental results. Recently, Monte Carlo Method has been developed to study fast particle transports associated with heating and generating the radial electric field. Further it is applied to investigating the neoclassical transport in the plasma with steep gradients of density and temperatures which is beyong the conventional neoclassical theory. In this report, we briefly summarize the researches done by the present authors utilizing the Monte Carlo method. (author)

Automatic variance reduction for Monte Carlo simulations via the local importance function transform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, S.A.

1996-02-01

The author derives a transformed transport problem that can be solved theoretically by analog Monte Carlo with zero variance. However, the Monte Carlo simulation of this transformed problem cannot be implemented in practice, so he develops a method for approximating it. The approximation to the zero variance method consists of replacing the continuous adjoint transport solution in the transformed transport problem by a piecewise continuous approximation containing local biasing parameters obtained from a deterministic calculation. He uses the transport and collision processes of the transformed problem to bias distance-to-collision and selection of post-collision energy groups and trajectories in a traditional Monte Carlo simulation of ''real'' particles. He refers to the resulting variance reduction method as the Local Importance Function Transform (LIFI) method. He demonstrates the efficiency of the LIFT method for several 3-D, linearly anisotropic scattering, one-group, and multigroup problems. In these problems the LIFT method is shown to be more efficient than the AVATAR scheme, which is one of the best variance reduction techniques currently available in a state-of-the-art Monte Carlo code. For most of the problems considered, the LIFT method produces higher figures of merit than AVATAR, even when the LIFT method is used as a ''black box''. There are some problems that cause trouble for most variance reduction techniques, and the LIFT method is no exception. For example, the author demonstrates that problems with voids, or low density regions, can cause a reduction in the efficiency of the LIFT method. However, the LIFT method still performs better than survival biasing and AVATAR in these difficult cases

An experimental and Monte Carlo investigation of the energy dependence of alanine/EPR dosimetry: I. Clinical x-ray beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeng, G G; McEwen, M R; Rogers, D W O; Klassen, N V

2004-01-01

The energy dependence of alanine/EPR dosimetry, in terms of absorbed dose-to-water for clinical 6, 10, 25 MV x-rays and 60 Co rays was investigated by measurements and Monte Carlo (MC) calculations. The dose rates were traceable to the NRC primary standard for absorbed dose, a sealed water calorimetry. The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of irradiated pellets were measured using a Bruker EMX 081 EPR spectrometer. The DOSRZnrc Monte Carlo code of the EGSnrc system was used to simulate the experimental conditions with BEAM code calculated input spectra of x-rays and γ-rays. Within the experimental uncertainty of 0.5%, the alanine EPR response to absorbed dose-to-water for x-rays was not dependent on beam quality from 6 MV to 25 MV, but on average, it was about 0.6% lower than its response to 60 Co gamma rays. Combining experimental data with Monte Carlo calculations, it is found that the alanine/EPR response per unit absorbed dose-to-alanine is the same for clinical x-rays and 60 Co gamma rays within the uncertainty of 0.6%. Monte Carlo simulations showed that neither the presence of PMMA holder nor varying the dosimeter thickness between 1 mm and 5 mm has significant effect on the energy dependence of alanine/EPR dosimetry within the calculation uncertainty of 0.3%

Core Calculation of 1 MWatt PUSPATI TRIGA Reactor (RTP) using Monte Carlo MVP Code System

Science.gov (United States)

Karim, Julia Abdul

2008-05-01

The Monte Carlo MVP code system was adopted for the Reaktor TRIGA PUSAPTI (RTP) core calculation. The code was developed by a group of researcher of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) first in 1994. MVP is a general multi-purpose Monte Carlo code for neutron and photon transport calculation and able to estimate an accurate simulation problems. The code calculation is based on the continuous energy method. This code is capable of adopting an accurate physics model, geometry description and variance reduction technique faster than conventional method as compared to the conventional scalar method. This code could achieve higher computational speed by several factors on the vector super-computer. In this calculation, RTP core was modeled as close as possible to the real core and results of keff flux, fission densities and others were obtained.

Core Calculation of 1 MWatt PUSPATI TRIGA Reactor (RTP) using Monte Carlo MVP Code System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karim, Julia Abdul

2008-01-01

The Monte Carlo MVP code system was adopted for the Reaktor TRIGA PUSAPTI (RTP) core calculation. The code was developed by a group of researcher of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) first in 1994. MVP is a general multi-purpose Monte Carlo code for neutron and photon transport calculation and able to estimate an accurate simulation problems. The code calculation is based on the continuous energy method. This code is capable of adopting an accurate physics model, geometry description and variance reduction technique faster than conventional method as compared to the conventional scalar method. This code could achieve higher computational speed by several factors on the vector super-computer. In this calculation, RTP core was modeled as close as possible to the real core and results of keff flux, fission densities and others were obtained

Monte Carlo simulation of grain growth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Blikstein

1999-07-01

Full Text Available Understanding and predicting grain growth in Metallurgy is meaningful. Monte Carlo methods have been used in computer simulations in many different fields of knowledge. Grain growth simulation using this method is especially attractive as the statistical behavior of the atoms is properly reproduced; microstructural evolution depends only on the real topology of the grains and not on any kind of geometric simplification. Computer simulation has the advantage of allowing the user to visualize graphically the procedures, even dynamically and in three dimensions. Single-phase alloy grain growth simulation was carried out by calculating the free energy of each atom in the lattice (with its present crystallographic orientation and comparing this value to another one calculated with a different random orientation. When the resulting free energy is lower or equal to the initial value, the new orientation replaces the former. The measure of time is the Monte Carlo Step (MCS, which involves a series of trials throughout the lattice. A very close relationship between experimental and theoretical values for the grain growth exponent (n was observed.

Accurate Anharmonic Zero-Point Energies for Some Combustion-Related Species from Diffusion Monte Carlo.

Science.gov (United States)

Harding, Lawrence B; Georgievskii, Yuri; Klippenstein, Stephen J

2017-06-08

Full-dimensional analytic potential energy surfaces based on CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ calculations have been determined for 48 small combustion-related molecules. The analytic surfaces have been used in Diffusion Monte Carlo calculations of the anharmonic zero-point energies. The resulting anharmonicity corrections are compared to vibrational perturbation theory results based both on the same level of electronic structure theory and on lower-level electronic structure methods (B3LYP and MP2).

Continuous-energy adjoint flux and perturbation calculation using the iterated fission probability method in Monte-Carlo code TRIPOLI-4 and underlying applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Truchet, G.; Leconte, P.; Peneliau, Y.; Santamarina, A.

2013-01-01

The first goal of this paper is to present an exact method able to precisely evaluate very small reactivity effects with a Monte Carlo code (<10 pcm). it has been decided to implement the exact perturbation theory in TRIPOLI-4 and, consequently, to calculate a continuous-energy adjoint flux. The Iterated Fission Probability (IFP) method was chosen because it has shown great results in some other Monte Carlo codes. The IFP method uses a forward calculation to compute the adjoint flux, and consequently, it does not rely on complex code modifications but on the physical definition of the adjoint flux as a phase-space neutron importance. In the first part of this paper, the IFP method implemented in TRIPOLI-4 is described. To illustrate the efficiency of the method, several adjoint fluxes are calculated and compared with their equivalent obtained by the deterministic code APOLLO-2. The new implementation can calculate angular adjoint flux. In the second part, a procedure to carry out an exact perturbation calculation is described. A single cell benchmark has been used to test the accuracy of the method, compared with the 'direct' estimation of the perturbation. Once again the method based on the IFP shows good agreement for a calculation time far more inferior to the 'direct' method. The main advantage of the method is that the relative accuracy of the reactivity variation does not depend on the magnitude of the variation itself, which allows us to calculate very small reactivity perturbations with high precision. It offers the possibility to split reactivity contributions on both isotopes and reactions. Other applications of this perturbation method are presented and tested like the calculation of exact kinetic parameters (βeff, Λeff) or sensitivity parameters

Energy imparted to water slabs by photons in the energy range 5-300 keV. Calculations using a Monte Carlo photon transport model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persliden, J.; Carlsson, G.A.

1984-01-01

In diagnostic examinations of the trunk and head, the energy imparted to the patient is related to the radiation risk. In this work, the energy imparted to laterally infinite, 10-300 mm thick water slabs by 5-300 keV photons is calculated using a Monte Carlo photon transport model. The energy imparted is also derived for energy spectra of primary photons relevant to diagnostic radiology. In addition to values of energy imparted, values of backscattered and transmitted energies, quantities primarily obtained in the transport calculations, are reported. Assumptions about coherent scattering are shown to be important for values of backscattered and transmitted energies but unimportant with respect to values of energy imparted. Comparisons are made with other Monte Carlo results from the literature. Discrepancies of 10-20% in some calculated quantities can be traced back to the use of different tabulations of interaction cross-sections by various authors. (author)

Aspects of perturbative QCD in Monte Carlo shower models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gottschalk, T.D.

1986-01-01

The perturbative QCD content of Monte Carlo models for high energy hadron-hadron scattering is examined. Particular attention is given to the recently developed backwards evolution formalism for initial state parton showers, and the merging of parton shower evolution with hard scattering cross sections. Shower estimates of K-factors are discussed, and a simple scheme is presented for incorporating 2 → QCD cross sections into shower model calculations without double counting. Additional issues in the development of hard scattering Monte Carlo models are summarized. 69 references, 20 figures

Perturbative two- and three-loop coefficients from large β Monte Carlo

Science.gov (United States)

Lepage, G. P.; Mackenzie, P. B.; Shakespeare, N. H.; Trottier, H. D.

Perturbative coefficients for Wilson loops and the static quark self-energy are extracted from Monte Carlo simulations at large β on finite volumes, where all the lattice momenta are large. The Monte Carlo results are in excellent agreement with perturbation theory through second order. New results for third order coefficients are reported. Twisted boundary conditions are used to eliminate zero modes and to suppress Z3 tunneling.

Perturbative two- and three-loop coefficients from large b Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lepage, G.P.; Mackenzie, P.B.; Shakespeare, N.H.; Trottier, H.D.

1999-01-01

Perturbative coefficients for Wilson loops and the static quark self-energy are extracted from Monte Carlo simulations at large β on finite volumes, where all the lattice momenta are large. The Monte Carlo results are in excellent agreement with perturbation theory through second order. New results for third order coefficients are reported. Twisted boundary conditions are used to eliminate zero modes and to suppress Z 3 tunneling

Perturbative two- and three-loop coefficients from large β Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lepage, G.P.; Mackenzie, P.B.; Shakespeare, N.H.; Trottier, H.D.

2000-01-01

Perturbative coefficients for Wilson loops and the static quark self-energy are extracted from Monte Carlo simulations at large β on finite volumes, where all the lattice momenta are large. The Monte Carlo results are in excellent agreement with perturbation theory through second order. New results for third order coefficients are reported. Twisted boundary conditions are used to eliminate zero modes and to suppress Z 3 tunneling

Monte Carlo methods and models in finance and insurance

CERN Document Server

Korn, Ralf; Kroisandt, Gerald

2010-01-01

Offering a unique balance between applications and calculations, Monte Carlo Methods and Models in Finance and Insurance incorporates the application background of finance and insurance with the theory and applications of Monte Carlo methods. It presents recent methods and algorithms, including the multilevel Monte Carlo method, the statistical Romberg method, and the Heath-Platen estimator, as well as recent financial and actuarial models, such as the Cheyette and dynamic mortality models. The authors separately discuss Monte Carlo techniques, stochastic process basics, and the theoretical background and intuition behind financial and actuarial mathematics, before bringing the topics together to apply the Monte Carlo methods to areas of finance and insurance. This allows for the easy identification of standard Monte Carlo tools and for a detailed focus on the main principles of financial and insurance mathematics. The book describes high-level Monte Carlo methods for standard simulation and the simulation of...

Monte Carlo radiation transport: A revolution in science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendricks, J.

1993-01-01

When Enrico Fermi, Stan Ulam, Nicholas Metropolis, John von Neuman, and Robert Richtmyer invented the Monte Carlo method fifty years ago, little could they imagine the far-flung consequences, the international applications, and the revolution in science epitomized by their abstract mathematical method. The Monte Carlo method is used in a wide variety of fields to solve exact computational models approximately by statistical sampling. It is an alternative to traditional physics modeling methods which solve approximate computational models exactly by deterministic methods. Modern computers and improved methods, such as variance reduction, have enhanced the method to the point of enabling a true predictive capability in areas such as radiation or particle transport. This predictive capability has contributed to a radical change in the way science is done: design and understanding come from computations built upon experiments rather than being limited to experiments, and the computer codes doing the computations have become the repository for physics knowledge. The MCNP Monte Carlo computer code effort at Los Alamos is an example of this revolution. Physicians unfamiliar with physics details can design cancer treatments using physics buried in the MCNP computer code. Hazardous environments and hypothetical accidents can be explored. Many other fields, from underground oil well exploration to aerospace, from physics research to energy production, from safety to bulk materials processing, benefit from MCNP, the Monte Carlo method, and the revolution in science

Cosmic rays Monte Carlo simulations for the Extreme Energy Events Project

CERN Document Server

Abbrescia, M; Aiola, S; Antolini, R; Avanzini, C; Baldini Ferroli, R; Bencivenni, G; Bossini, E; Bressan, E; Chiavassa, A; Cicalò, C; Cifarelli, L; Coccia, E; De Gruttola, D; De Pasquale, S; Di Giovanni, A; D'Incecco, M; Dreucci, M; Fabbri, F L; Frolov, V; Garbini, M; Gemme, G; Gnesi, I; Gustavino, C; Hatzifotiadou, D; La Rocca, P; Li, S; Librizzi, F; Maggiora, A; Massai, M; Miozzi, S; Panareo, M; Paoletti, R; Perasso, L; Pilo, F; Piragino, G; Regano, A; Riggi, F; Righini, G C; Sartorelli, G; Scapparone, E; Scribano, A; Selvi, M; Serci, S; Siddi, E; Spandre, G; Squarcia, S; Taiuti, M; Tosello, F; Votano, L; Williams, M C S; Yánez, G; Zichichi, A; Zuyeuski, R

2014-01-01

The Extreme Energy Events Project (EEE Project) is an innovative experiment to study very high energy cosmic rays by means of the detection of the associated air shower muon component. It consists of a network of tracking detectors installed inside Italian High Schools. Each tracking detector, called EEE telescope, is composed of three Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPCs). At present, 43 telescopes are installed and taking data, opening the way for the detection of far away coincidences over a total area of about 3 × 10 5 km 2 . In this paper we present the Monte Carlo simulations that have been performed to predict the expected coincidence rate between distant EEE telescopes.

Linear-scaling evaluation of the local energy in quantum Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Austin, Brian; Aspuru-Guzik, Alan; Salomon-Ferrer, Romelia; Lester, William A. Jr.

2006-01-01

For atomic and molecular quantum Monte Carlo calculations, most of the computational effort is spent in the evaluation of the local energy. We describe a scheme for reducing the computational cost of the evaluation of the Slater determinants and correlation function for the correlated molecular orbital (CMO) ansatz. A sparse representation of the Slater determinants makes possible efficient evaluation of molecular orbitals. A modification to the scaled distance function facilitates a linear scaling implementation of the Schmidt-Moskowitz-Boys-Handy (SMBH) correlation function that preserves the efficient matrix multiplication structure of the SMBH function. For the evaluation of the local energy, these two methods lead to asymptotic linear scaling with respect to the molecule size

Simulation and the Monte Carlo method

CERN Document Server

Rubinstein, Reuven Y

2016-01-01

Simulation and the Monte Carlo Method, Third Edition reflects the latest developments in the field and presents a fully updated and comprehensive account of the major topics that have emerged in Monte Carlo simulation since the publication of the classic First Edition over more than a quarter of a century ago. While maintaining its accessible and intuitive approach, this revised edition features a wealth of up-to-date information that facilitates a deeper understanding of problem solving across a wide array of subject areas, such as engineering, statistics, computer science, mathematics, and the physical and life sciences. The book begins with a modernized introduction that addresses the basic concepts of probability, Markov processes, and convex optimization. Subsequent chapters discuss the dramatic changes that have occurred in the field of the Monte Carlo method, with coverage of many modern topics including: Markov Chain Monte Carlo, variance reduction techniques such as the transform likelihood ratio...

Monte-Carlo simulation of electromagnetic showers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amatuni, Ts.A.

1984-01-01

The universal ELSS-1 program for Monte Carlo simulation of high energy electromagnetic showers in homogeneous absorbers of arbitrary geometry is written. The major processes and effects of electron and photon interaction with matter, particularly the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effect, are taken into account in the simulation procedures. The simulation results are compared with experimental data. Some characteristics of shower detectors and electromagnetic showers for energies up 1 TeV are calculated

Monte Carlo Simulations of Neutron Oil well Logging Tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azcurra, Mario

2002-01-01

Monte Carlo simulations of simple neutron oil well logging tools into typical geological formations are presented.The simulated tools consist of both 14 MeV pulsed and continuous Am-Be neutron sources with time gated and continuous gamma ray detectors respectively.The geological formation consists of pure limestone with 15% absolute porosity in a wide range of oil saturation.The particle transport was performed with the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code System, MCNP-4B.Several gamma ray spectra were obtained at the detector position that allow to perform composition analysis of the formation.In particular, the ratio C/O was analyzed as an indicator of oil saturation.Further calculations are proposed to simulate actual detector responses in order to contribute to understand the relation between the detector response with the formation composition

Monte Carlo simulations of neutron oil well logging tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azcurra, Mario O.; Zamonsky, Oscar M.

2003-01-01

Monte Carlo simulations of simple neutron oil well logging tools into typical geological formations are presented. The simulated tools consist of both 14 MeV pulsed and continuous Am-Be neutron sources with time gated and continuous gamma ray detectors respectively. The geological formation consists of pure limestone with 15% absolute porosity in a wide range of oil saturation. The particle transport was performed with the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code System, MCNP-4B. Several gamma ray spectra were obtained at the detector position that allow to perform composition analysis of the formation. In particular, the ratio C/O was analyzed as an indicator of oil saturation. Further calculations are proposed to simulate actual detector responses in order to contribute to understand the relation between the detector response with the formation composition. (author)

Monte Carlo Transport for Electron Thermal Transport

Science.gov (United States)

Chenhall, Jeffrey; Cao, Duc; Moses, Gregory

2015-11-01

The iSNB (implicit Schurtz Nicolai Busquet multigroup electron thermal transport method of Cao et al. is adapted into a Monte Carlo transport method in order to better model the effects of non-local behavior. The end goal is a hybrid transport-diffusion method that combines Monte Carlo Transport with a discrete diffusion Monte Carlo (DDMC). The hybrid method will combine the efficiency of a diffusion method in short mean free path regions with the accuracy of a transport method in long mean free path regions. The Monte Carlo nature of the approach allows the algorithm to be massively parallelized. Work to date on the method will be presented. This work was supported by Sandia National Laboratory - Albuquerque and the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

Monte Carlo simulation of a medical linear accelerator for radiotherapy use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serrano, B.; Hachem, A.; Franchisseur, E.; Herault, J.; Marcie, S.; Costa, A.; Bensadoun, R. J.; Barthe, J.; Gerard, J. P.

2006-01-01

A Monte Carlo code MCNPX (Monte Carlo N-particle) was used to model a 25 MV photon beam from a PRIMUS (KD2-Siemens) medical linear electron accelerator at the Centre Antoine Lacassagne in Nice. The entire geometry including the accelerator head and the water phantom was simulated to calculate the dose profile and the relative depth-dose distribution. The measurements were done using an ionisation chamber in water for different square field ranges. The first results show that the mean electron beam energy is not 19 MeV as mentioned by Siemens. The adjustment between the Monte Carlo calculated and measured data is obtained when the mean electron beam energy is ∼15 MeV. These encouraging results will permit to check calculation data given by the treatment planning system, especially for small fields in high gradient heterogeneous zones, typical for intensity modulated radiation therapy technique. (authors)

Variational Monte Carlo calculations of few-body nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiringa, R.B.

1986-01-01

The variational Monte Carlo method is described. Results for the binding energies, density distributions, momentum distributions, and static longitudinal structure functions of the 3 H, 3 He, and 4 He ground states, and for the energies of the low-lying scattering states in 4 He are presented. 25 refs., 3 figs

Generalized hybrid Monte Carlo - CMFD methods for fission source convergence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolters, Emily R.; Larsen, Edward W.; Martin, William R.

2011-01-01

In this paper, we generalize the recently published 'CMFD-Accelerated Monte Carlo' method and present two new methods that reduce the statistical error in CMFD-Accelerated Monte Carlo. The CMFD-Accelerated Monte Carlo method uses Monte Carlo to estimate nonlinear functionals used in low-order CMFD equations for the eigenfunction and eigenvalue. The Monte Carlo fission source is then modified to match the resulting CMFD fission source in a 'feedback' procedure. The two proposed methods differ from CMFD-Accelerated Monte Carlo in the definition of the required nonlinear functionals, but they have identical CMFD equations. The proposed methods are compared with CMFD-Accelerated Monte Carlo on a high dominance ratio test problem. All hybrid methods converge the Monte Carlo fission source almost immediately, leading to a large reduction in the number of inactive cycles required. The proposed methods stabilize the fission source more efficiently than CMFD-Accelerated Monte Carlo, leading to a reduction in the number of active cycles required. Finally, as in CMFD-Accelerated Monte Carlo, the apparent variance of the eigenfunction is approximately equal to the real variance, so the real error is well-estimated from a single calculation. This is an advantage over standard Monte Carlo, in which the real error can be underestimated due to inter-cycle correlation. (author)

Perturbative two- and three-loop coefficients from large {beta} Monte Carlo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lepage, G.P.; Mackenzie, P.B.; Shakespeare, N.H.; Trottier, H.D

2000-03-01

Perturbative coefficients for Wilson loops and the static quark self-energy are extracted from Monte Carlo simulations at large {beta} on finite volumes, where all the lattice momenta are large. The Monte Carlo results are in excellent agreement with perturbation theory through second order. New results for third order coefficients are reported. Twisted boundary conditions are used to eliminate zero modes and to suppress Z{sub 3} tunneling.

Green's function Monte Carlo calculations of /sup 4/He

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlson, J.A.

1988-01-01

Green's Function Monte Carlo methods have been developed to study the ground state properties of light nuclei. These methods are shown to reproduce results of Faddeev calculations for A = 3, and are then used to calculate ground state energies, one- and two-body distribution functions, and the D-state probability for the alpha particle. Results are compared to variational Monte Carlo calculations for several nuclear interaction models. 31 refs.

Monte Carlo Simulation for Statistical Decay of Compound Nucleus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chadwick M.B.

2012-02-01

Full Text Available We perform Monte Carlo simulations for neutron and γ-ray emissions from a compound nucleus based on the Hauser-Feshbach statistical theory. This Monte Carlo Hauser-Feshbach (MCHF method calculation, which gives us correlated information between emitted particles and γ-rays. It will be a powerful tool in many applications, as nuclear reactions can be probed in a more microscopic way. We have been developing the MCHF code, CGM, which solves the Hauser-Feshbach theory with the Monte Carlo method. The code includes all the standard models that used in a standard Hauser-Feshbach code, namely the particle transmission generator, the level density module, interface to the discrete level database, and so on. CGM can emit multiple neutrons, as long as the excitation energy of the compound nucleus is larger than the neutron separation energy. The γ-ray competition is always included at each compound decay stage, and the angular momentum and parity are conserved. Some calculations for a fission fragment 140Xe are shown as examples of the MCHF method, and the correlation between the neutron and γ-ray is discussed.

Monte Carlo method to characterize radioactive waste drums

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lima, Josenilson B.; Dellamano, Jose C.; Potiens Junior, Ademar J.

2013-01-01

Non-destructive methods for radioactive waste drums characterization have being developed in the Waste Management Department (GRR) at Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN. This study was conducted as part of the radioactive wastes characterization program in order to meet specifications and acceptance criteria for final disposal imposed by regulatory control by gamma spectrometry. One of the main difficulties in the detectors calibration process is to obtain the counting efficiencies that can be solved by the use of mathematical techniques. The aim of this work was to develop a methodology to characterize drums using gamma spectrometry and Monte Carlo method. Monte Carlo is a widely used mathematical technique, which simulates the radiation transport in the medium, thus obtaining the efficiencies calibration of the detector. The equipment used in this work is a heavily shielded Hyperpure Germanium (HPGe) detector coupled with an electronic setup composed of high voltage source, amplifier and multiport multichannel analyzer and MCNP software for Monte Carlo simulation. The developing of this methodology will allow the characterization of solid radioactive wastes packed in drums and stored at GRR. (author)

Monte Carlo calculations of electron transport on microcomputers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Manho; Jester, W.A.; Levine, S.H.; Foderaro, A.H.

1990-01-01

In the work described in this paper, the Monte Carlo program ZEBRA, developed by Berber and Buxton, was converted to run on the Macintosh computer using Microsoft BASIC to reduce the cost of Monte Carlo calculations using microcomputers. Then the Eltran2 program was transferred to an IBM-compatible computer. Turbo BASIC and Microsoft Quick BASIC have been used on the IBM-compatible Tandy 4000SX computer. The paper shows the running speed of the Monte Carlo programs on the different computers, normalized to one for Eltran2 on the Macintosh-SE or Macintosh-Plus computer. Higher values refer to faster running times proportionally. Since Eltran2 is a one-dimensional program, it calculates energy deposited in a semi-infinite multilayer slab. Eltran2 has been modified to a two-dimensional program called Eltran3 to computer more accurately the case with a point source, a small detector, and a short source-to-detector distance. The running time of Eltran3 is about twice as long as that of Eltran2 for a similar case

Is Monte Carlo embarrassingly parallel?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoogenboom, J. E. [Delft Univ. of Technology, Mekelweg 15, 2629 JB Delft (Netherlands); Delft Nuclear Consultancy, IJsselzoom 2, 2902 LB Capelle aan den IJssel (Netherlands)

2012-07-01

Monte Carlo is often stated as being embarrassingly parallel. However, running a Monte Carlo calculation, especially a reactor criticality calculation, in parallel using tens of processors shows a serious limitation in speedup and the execution time may even increase beyond a certain number of processors. In this paper the main causes of the loss of efficiency when using many processors are analyzed using a simple Monte Carlo program for criticality. The basic mechanism for parallel execution is MPI. One of the bottlenecks turn out to be the rendez-vous points in the parallel calculation used for synchronization and exchange of data between processors. This happens at least at the end of each cycle for fission source generation in order to collect the full fission source distribution for the next cycle and to estimate the effective multiplication factor, which is not only part of the requested results, but also input to the next cycle for population control. Basic improvements to overcome this limitation are suggested and tested. Also other time losses in the parallel calculation are identified. Moreover, the threading mechanism, which allows the parallel execution of tasks based on shared memory using OpenMP, is analyzed in detail. Recommendations are given to get the maximum efficiency out of a parallel Monte Carlo calculation. (authors)

Is Monte Carlo embarrassingly parallel?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoogenboom, J. E.

2012-01-01

Monte Carlo is often stated as being embarrassingly parallel. However, running a Monte Carlo calculation, especially a reactor criticality calculation, in parallel using tens of processors shows a serious limitation in speedup and the execution time may even increase beyond a certain number of processors. In this paper the main causes of the loss of efficiency when using many processors are analyzed using a simple Monte Carlo program for criticality. The basic mechanism for parallel execution is MPI. One of the bottlenecks turn out to be the rendez-vous points in the parallel calculation used for synchronization and exchange of data between processors. This happens at least at the end of each cycle for fission source generation in order to collect the full fission source distribution for the next cycle and to estimate the effective multiplication factor, which is not only part of the requested results, but also input to the next cycle for population control. Basic improvements to overcome this limitation are suggested and tested. Also other time losses in the parallel calculation are identified. Moreover, the threading mechanism, which allows the parallel execution of tasks based on shared memory using OpenMP, is analyzed in detail. Recommendations are given to get the maximum efficiency out of a parallel Monte Carlo calculation. (authors)

Gamma ray energy loss spectra simulation in NaI detectors with the Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vieira, W.J.

1982-01-01

With the aim of studying and applying the Monte Carlo method, a computer code was developed to calculate the pulse height spectra and detector efficiencies for gamma rays incident on NaI (Tl) crystals. The basic detector processes in NaI (Tl) detectors are given together with an outline of Monte Carlo methods and a general review of relevant published works. A detailed description of the application of Monte Carlo methods to ν-ray detection in NaI (Tl) detectors is given. Comparisons are made with published, calculated and experimental, data. (Author) [pt

A computer code package for electron transport Monte Carlo simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popescu, Lucretiu M.

1999-01-01

A computer code package was developed for solving various electron transport problems by Monte Carlo simulation. It is based on condensed history Monte Carlo algorithm. In order to get reliable results over wide ranges of electron energies and target atomic numbers, specific techniques of electron transport were implemented such as: Moliere multiscatter angular distributions, Blunck-Leisegang multiscatter energy distribution, sampling of electron-electron and Bremsstrahlung individual interactions. Path-length and lateral displacement corrections algorithms and the module for computing collision, radiative and total restricted stopping powers and ranges of electrons are also included. Comparisons of simulation results with experimental measurements are finally presented. (author)

Mean field simulation for Monte Carlo integration

CERN Document Server

Del Moral, Pierre

2013-01-01

In the last three decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of interacting particle methods as a powerful tool in real-world applications of Monte Carlo simulation in computational physics, population biology, computer sciences, and statistical machine learning. Ideally suited to parallel and distributed computation, these advanced particle algorithms include nonlinear interacting jump diffusions; quantum, diffusion, and resampled Monte Carlo methods; Feynman-Kac particle models; genetic and evolutionary algorithms; sequential Monte Carlo methods; adaptive and interacting Marko

Variational Variance Reduction for Monte Carlo Criticality Calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Densmore, Jeffery D.; Larsen, Edward W.

2001-01-01

A new variational variance reduction (VVR) method for Monte Carlo criticality calculations was developed. This method employs (a) a variational functional that is more accurate than the standard direct functional, (b) a representation of the deterministically obtained adjoint flux that is especially accurate for optically thick problems with high scattering ratios, and (c) estimates of the forward flux obtained by Monte Carlo. The VVR method requires no nonanalog Monte Carlo biasing, but it may be used in conjunction with Monte Carlo biasing schemes. Some results are presented from a class of criticality calculations involving alternating arrays of fuel and moderator regions

Monte Carlo Solutions for Blind Phase Noise Estimation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Çırpan Hakan

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the use of Monte Carlo sampling methods for phase noise estimation on additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN channels. The main contributions of the paper are (i the development of a Monte Carlo framework for phase noise estimation, with special attention to sequential importance sampling and Rao-Blackwellization, (ii the interpretation of existing Monte Carlo solutions within this generic framework, and (iii the derivation of a novel phase noise estimator. Contrary to the ad hoc phase noise estimators that have been proposed in the past, the estimators considered in this paper are derived from solid probabilistic and performance-determining arguments. Computer simulations demonstrate that, on one hand, the Monte Carlo phase noise estimators outperform the existing estimators and, on the other hand, our newly proposed solution exhibits a lower complexity than the existing Monte Carlo solutions.

ALICE EMCal Reconstructable Energy Non-Linearity From Test Beam Monte Carlo

CERN Document Server

Carter, Thomas Michael

2017-01-01

Calorimeters play many important roles in modern high energy physics detectors, such as event selection, triggering, and precision energy measurements. EMCal, in the case of the ALICE experiment provides triggering on high energy jets, improves jet quenching study measurement bias and jet energy resolution, and improves electron and photon measurements [3]. With the EMCal detector in the ALICE experiment taking on so many important roles, it is important to fully understand, characterize and model its interactions with particles. In 2010 SPS and PS electron test beam measurements were performed on an EMCal mini-module [2]. Alongside this, the test beam setup and geometry was recreated in Geant4 by Nico [1]. Figure 1 shows the reconstructable energy linearity for the SPS test beam data and that obtained from the test beam monte carlo, indicating the amount of energy deposit as hits in the EMCal module. It can be seen that for energies above ∼ 100 GeV there is a significant drop in the reconstructableenergym...

Application of SN and Monte Carlo codes to the SHEBA critical assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Dell, R.D.

1993-01-01

The Solution High-Energy Burst Assembly (SHEBA) at Los Alamos is a low-enriched (4.95 wt. %) aqueous uranyl fluoride solution critical assembly. There are two SHEBA configurations, both consisting of right circular cylinders with a central control rod. The first configuration, hereafter called the old SHEBA, had a fuel solution diameter of 54.6 cm and a measured critical solution height of 36.5 cm. An improved modification, hereafter called the new SHEBA, has a fuel solution diameter of 48.9 cm but since it is not yet operational, the critical solution height has not yet been measured. In this presentation the application of the discrete-ordinates (S N ) code TWODANT using Hansen-Roach cross sections and the MCNP Monte Carlo code using continuous-energy cross sections for calculating the critical solution heights for both the old and new SHEBA assemblies is described. The code's predictions are compared and it is shown that a single calculation with a standard computer code may yield misleading results, especially when using a Monte Carlo code

Neutronic Analysis of the 3 MW TRIGA MARK II Research Reactor, Part I: Monte Carlo Simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huda, M.Q.; Chakrobortty, T.K.; Rahman, M.; Sarker, M.M.; Mahmood, M.S.

2003-05-01

This study deals with the neutronic analysis of the current core configuration of a 3 MW TRIGA MARK II research reactor at Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh and validation of the results by benchmarking with the experimental, operational and available Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) values. The three-dimensional continuous-energy Monte Carlo code MCNP4C was used to develop a versatile and accurate full-core model of the TRIGA core. The model represents in detail all components of the core with literally no physical approximation. All fresh fuel and control elements as well as the vicinity of the core were precisely described. Continuous energy cross-section data from ENDF/B-VI and S(α, β) scattering functions from the ENDF/B-V library were used. The validation of the model against benchmark experimental results is presented. The MCNP predictions and the experimentally determined values are found to be in very good agreement, which indicates that the Monte Carlo model is correctly simulating the TRIGA reactor. (author)

Benchmarking time-dependent neutron problems with Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Couet, B.; Loomis, W.A.

1990-01-01

Many nuclear logging tools measure the time dependence of a neutron flux in a geological formation to infer important properties of the formation. The complex geometry of the tool and the borehole within the formation does not permit an exact deterministic modelling of the neutron flux behaviour. While this exact simulation is possible with Monte Carlo methods the computation time does not facilitate quick turnaround of results useful for design and diagnostic purposes. Nonetheless a simple model based on the diffusion-decay equation for the flux of neutrons of a single energy group can be useful in this situation. A combination approach where a Monte Carlo calculation benchmarks a deterministic model in terms of the diffusion constants of the neutrons propagating in the media and their flux depletion rates thus offers the possibility of quick calculation with assurance as to accuracy. We exemplify this approach with the Monte Carlo benchmarking of a logging tool problem, showing standoff and bedding response. (author)

Scouting the feasibility of Monte Carlo reactor dynamics simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Legrady, David; Hoogenboom, J. Eduard

2008-01-01

In this paper we present an overview of the methodological questions related to Monte Carlo simulation of time dependent power transients in nuclear reactors. Investigations using a small fictional 3D reactor with isotropic scattering and a single energy group we have performed direct Monte Carlo transient calculations with simulation of delayed neutrons and with and without thermal feedback. Using biased delayed neutron sampling and population control at time step boundaries calculation times were kept reasonably low. We have identified the initial source determination and the prompt chain simulations as key issues that require most attention. (authors)

Scouting the feasibility of Monte Carlo reactor dynamics simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Legrady, David [Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden (Germany); Hoogenboom, J. Eduard [Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands)

2008-07-01

In this paper we present an overview of the methodological questions related to Monte Carlo simulation of time dependent power transients in nuclear reactors. Investigations using a small fictional 3D reactor with isotropic scattering and a single energy group we have performed direct Monte Carlo transient calculations with simulation of delayed neutrons and with and without thermal feedback. Using biased delayed neutron sampling and population control at time step boundaries calculation times were kept reasonably low. We have identified the initial source determination and the prompt chain simulations as key issues that require most attention. (authors)

Monte Carlo Simulations of Phosphate Polyhedron Connectivity in Glasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

ALAM,TODD M.

1999-12-21

Monte Carlo simulations of phosphate tetrahedron connectivity distributions in alkali and alkaline earth phosphate glasses are reported. By utilizing a discrete bond model, the distribution of next-nearest neighbor connectivities between phosphate polyhedron for random, alternating and clustering bonding scenarios was evaluated as a function of the relative bond energy difference. The simulated distributions are compared to experimentally observed connectivities reported for solid-state two-dimensional exchange and double-quantum NMR experiments of phosphate glasses. These Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the polyhedron connectivity is best described by a random distribution in lithium phosphate and calcium phosphate glasses.

Molecular physics and chemistry applications of quantum Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reynolds, P.J.; Barnett, R.N.; Hammond, B.L.; Lester, W.A. Jr.

1985-09-01

We discuss recent work with the diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method in its application to molecular systems. The formal correspondence of the imaginary time Schroedinger equation to a diffusion equation allows one to calculate quantum mechanical expectation values as Monte Carlo averages over an ensemble of random walks. We report work on atomic and molecular total energies, as well as properties including electron affinities, binding energies, reaction barriers, and moments of the electronic charge distribution. A brief discussion is given on how standard QMC must be modified for calculating properties. Calculated energies and properties are presented for a number of molecular systems, including He, F, F - , H 2 , N, and N 2 . Recent progress in extending the basic QMC approach to the calculation of ''analytic'' (as opposed to finite-difference) derivatives of the energy is presented, together with an H 2 potential-energy curve obtained using analytic derivatives. 39 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs

Comparison of analytical and Monte Carlo calculations of multi-photon effects in bremsstrahlung emission by high-energy electrons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mangiarotti, Alessio; Sona, Pietro; Ballestrero, Sergio

2012-01-01

Approximate analytical calculations of multi-photon effects in the spectrum of total radiated energy by high-energy electrons crossing thin targets are compared to the results of Monte Carlo type simulations. The limits of validity of the analytical expressions found in the literature are establi...

Monte Carlo simulations used to calculate the energy deposited in the coronary artery lumen as a function of iodine concentration and photon energy.

Science.gov (United States)

Hocine, Nora; Meignan, Michel; Masset, Hélène

2018-04-01

To better understand the risks of cumulative medical X-ray investigations and the possible causal role of contrast agent on the coronary artery wall, the correlation between iodinated contrast media and the increase of energy deposited in the coronary artery lumen as a function of iodine concentration and photon energy is investigated. The calculations of energy deposition have been performed using Monte Carlo (MC) simulation codes, namely PENetration and Energy LOss of Positrons and Electrons (PENELOPE) and Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended (MCNPX). Exposure of a cylinder phantom, artery and a metal stent (AISI 316L) to several X-ray photon beams were simulated. For the energies used in cardiac imaging the energy deposited in the coronary artery lumen increases with the quantity of iodine. Monte Carlo calculations indicate a strong dependence of the energy enhancement factor (EEF) on photon energy and iodine concentration. The maximum value of EEF is equal to 25; this factor is showed for 83 keV and for 400 mg Iodine/mL. No significant impact of the stent is observed on the absorbed dose in the artery for incident X-ray beams with mean energies of 44, 48, 52 and 55 keV. A strong correlation was shown between the increase in the concentration of iodine and the energy deposited in the coronary artery lumen for the energies used in cardiac imaging and over the energy range between 44 and 55 keV. The data provided by this study could be useful for creating new medical imaging protocols to obtain better diagnostic information with a lower level of radiation exposure.

Monte Carlo simulation: tool for the calibration in analytical determination of radionuclides; Simulacion Monte Carlo: herramienta para la calibracion en determinaciones analiticas de radionucleidos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez, Jorge A. Carrazana; Ferrera, Eduardo A. Capote; Gomez, Isis M. Fernandez; Castro, Gloria V. Rodriguez; Ricardo, Niury Martinez, E-mail: cphr@cphr.edu.cu [Centro de Proteccion e Higiene de las Radiaciones (CPHR), La Habana (Cuba)

2013-07-01

This work shows how is established the traceability of the analytical determinations using this calibration method. Highlights the advantages offered by Monte Carlo simulation for the application of corrections by differences in chemical composition, density and height of the samples analyzed. Likewise, the results obtained by the LVRA in two exercises organized by the International Agency for Atomic Energy (IAEA) are presented. In these exercises (an intercomparison and a proficiency test) all reported analytical results were obtained based on calibrations in efficiency by Monte Carlo simulation using the DETEFF program.

A Monte Carlo method for nuclear evaporation and fission at intermediate energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deppman, A.; Likhachev, V.P.; Mesa, J.; Pina, S.R. de; Arruda-Neto, J.D.T.; Goncalves, M.; Rodriguez, O.

2003-04-01

We describe a Monte Carlo method to calculate the characteristics of the competition between particle evaporation and nuclear fission processes taking place in the compound nucleus formed after the intranuclear cascade following the absorption of intermediate energy photons by the nucleus. In this version we include not only neutrons, but also protons and alphas as possible evaporating particles. However, this method allows an ease inclusion of other evaporating particles, as deuteron or heavier clusters. Some results for 237 Np, 238 U, and 232 Th are shown. (author)

KAMCCO, a reactor physics Monte Carlo neutron transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnecke, G.; Borgwaldt, H.; Brandl, V.; Lalovic, M.

1976-06-01

KAMCCO is a 3-dimensional reactor Monte Carlo code for fast neutron physics problems. Two options are available for the solution of 1) the inhomogeneous time-dependent neutron transport equation (census time scheme), and 2) the homogeneous static neutron transport equation (generation cycle scheme). The user defines the desired output, e.g. estimates of reaction rates or neutron flux integrated over specified volumes in phase space and time intervals. Such primary quantities can be arbitrarily combined, also ratios of these quantities can be estimated with their errors. The Monte Carlo techniques are mostly analogue (exceptions: Importance sampling for collision processes, ELP/MELP, Russian roulette and splitting). Estimates are obtained from the collision and track length estimators. Elastic scattering takes into account first order anisotropy in the center of mass system. Inelastic scattering is processed via the evaporation model or via the excitation of discrete levels. For the calculation of cross sections, the energy is treated as a continuous variable. They are computed by a) linear interpolation, b) from optionally Doppler broadened single level Breit-Wigner resonances or c) from probability tables (in the region of statistically distributed resonances). (orig.) [de

Monte Carlo perturbation theory in neutron transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, M.C.G.

1980-01-01

The need to obtain sensitivities in complicated geometrical configurations has resulted in the development of Monte Carlo sensitivity estimation. A new method has been developed to calculate energy-dependent sensitivities of any number of responses in a single Monte Carlo calculation with a very small time penalty. This estimation typically increases the tracking time per source particle by about 30%. The method of estimation is explained. Sensitivities obtained are compared with those calculated by discrete ordinates methods. Further theoretical developments, such as second-order perturbation theory and application to k/sub eff/ calculations, are discussed. The application of the method to uncertainty analysis and to the analysis of benchmark experiments is illustrated. 5 figures

Proceedings of the conference on frontiers of Quantum Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gubernatis, J.E.

1986-01-01

This journal of conference proceedings includes papers on topics such as: computers and science; Quantum Monte Carlo; condensed matter physics (with papers including the statistical error of Green's Function Monte Carlo, a study of Trotter-like approximations, simulations of the Hubbard model, and stochastic simulation of fermions); chemistry (including papers on quantum simulations of aqueous systems, fourier path integral methods, and a study of electron solvation in polar solvents using path integral calculations); atomic molecular and nuclear physics; high-energy physics, and advanced computer designs

Toward a Monte Carlo program for simulating vapor-liquid phase equilibria from first principles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McGrath, M; Siepmann, J I; Kuo, I W; Mundy, C J; Vandevondele, J; Sprik, M; Hutter, J; Mohamed, F; Krack, M; Parrinello, M

2004-10-20

Efficient Monte Carlo algorithms are combined with the Quickstep energy routines of CP2K to develop a program that allows for Monte Carlo simulations in the canonical, isobaric-isothermal, and Gibbs ensembles using a first principles description of the physical system. Configurational-bias Monte Carlo techniques and pre-biasing using an inexpensive approximate potential are employed to increase the sampling efficiency and to reduce the frequency of expensive ab initio energy evaluations. The new Monte Carlo program has been validated through extensive comparison with molecular dynamics simulations using the programs CPMD and CP2K. Preliminary results for the vapor-liquid coexistence properties (T = 473 K) of water using the Becke-Lee-Yang-Parr exchange and correlation energy functionals, a triple-zeta valence basis set augmented with two sets of d-type or p-type polarization functions, and Goedecker-Teter-Hutter pseudopotentials are presented. The preliminary results indicate that this description of water leads to an underestimation of the saturated liquid density and heat of vaporization and, correspondingly, an overestimation of the saturated vapor pressure.

Flat-histogram methods in quantum Monte Carlo simulations: Application to the t-J model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diamantis, Nikolaos G.; Manousakis, Efstratios

2016-01-01

We discuss that flat-histogram techniques can be appropriately applied in the sampling of quantum Monte Carlo simulation in order to improve the statistical quality of the results at long imaginary time or low excitation energy. Typical imaginary-time correlation functions calculated in quantum Monte Carlo are subject to exponentially growing errors as the range of imaginary time grows and this smears the information on the low energy excitations. We show that we can extract the low energy physics by modifying the Monte Carlo sampling technique to one in which configurations which contribute to making the histogram of certain quantities flat are promoted. We apply the diagrammatic Monte Carlo (diag-MC) method to the motion of a single hole in the t-J model and we show that the implementation of flat-histogram techniques allows us to calculate the Green's function in a wide range of imaginary-time. In addition, we show that applying the flat-histogram technique alleviates the “sign”-problem associated with the simulation of the single-hole Green's function at long imaginary time. (paper)

Computer system for Monte Carlo experimentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grier, D.A.

1986-01-01

A new computer system for Monte Carlo Experimentation is presented. The new system speeds and simplifies the process of coding and preparing a Monte Carlo Experiment; it also encourages the proper design of Monte Carlo Experiments, and the careful analysis of the experimental results. A new functional language is the core of this system. Monte Carlo Experiments, and their experimental designs, are programmed in this new language; those programs are compiled into Fortran output. The Fortran output is then compiled and executed. The experimental results are analyzed with a standard statistics package such as Si, Isp, or Minitab or with a user-supplied program. Both the experimental results and the experimental design may be directly loaded into the workspace of those packages. The new functional language frees programmers from many of the details of programming an experiment. Experimental designs such as factorial, fractional factorial, or latin square are easily described by the control structures and expressions of the language. Specific mathematical modes are generated by the routines of the language

Characterization of an extrapolation chamber for low-energy X-rays: Experimental and Monte Carlo preliminary results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neves, Lucio P., E-mail: lpneves@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN-CNEN), Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 2242, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Silva, Eric A.B., E-mail: ebrito@usp.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN-CNEN), Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 2242, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Perini, Ana P., E-mail: aperini@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN-CNEN), Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 2242, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Maidana, Nora L., E-mail: nmaidana@if.usp.br [Universidade de Sao Paulo, Instituto de Fisica, Travessa R 187, 05508-900 Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Caldas, Linda V.E., E-mail: lcaldas@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN-CNEN), Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 2242, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2012-07-15

The extrapolation chamber is a parallel-plate ionization chamber that allows variation of its air-cavity volume. In this work, an experimental study and MCNP-4C Monte Carlo code simulations of an ionization chamber designed and constructed at the Calibration Laboratory at IPEN to be used as a secondary dosimetry standard for low-energy X-rays are reported. The results obtained were within the international recommendations, and the simulations showed that the components of the extrapolation chamber may influence its response up to 11.0%. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A homemade extrapolation chamber was studied experimentally and with Monte Carlo. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer It was characterized as a secondary dosimetry standard, for low energy X-rays. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Several characterization tests were performed and the results were satisfactory. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Simulation showed that its components may influence the response up to 11.0%. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer This chamber may be used as a secondary standard at our laboratory.

Installation of Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport code system MCNP4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takano, Makoto; Sasaki, Mikio; Kaneko, Toshiyuki; Yamazaki, Takao.

1993-03-01

The continuous energy Monte Carlo code MCNP-4 including its graphic functions has been installed on the Sun-4 sparc-2 work station with minor corrections. In order to validate the installed MCNP-4 code, 25 sample problems have been executed on the work station and these results have been compared with the original ones. And, the most of the graphic functions have been demonstrated by using 3 sample problems. Further, additional 14 nuclides have been included to the continuous cross section library edited from JENDL-3. (author)

Random Numbers and Monte Carlo Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Scherer, Philipp O. J.

Many-body problems often involve the calculation of integrals of very high dimension which cannot be treated by standard methods. For the calculation of thermodynamic averages Monte Carlo methods are very useful which sample the integration volume at randomly chosen points. After summarizing some basic statistics, we discuss algorithms for the generation of pseudo-random numbers with given probability distribution which are essential for all Monte Carlo methods. We show how the efficiency of Monte Carlo integration can be improved by sampling preferentially the important configurations. Finally the famous Metropolis algorithm is applied to classical many-particle systems. Computer experiments visualize the central limit theorem and apply the Metropolis method to the traveling salesman problem.

Understanding quantum tunneling using diffusion Monte Carlo simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Inack, E. M.; Giudici, G.; Parolini, T.; Santoro, G.; Pilati, S.

2018-03-01

In simple ferromagnetic quantum Ising models characterized by an effective double-well energy landscape the characteristic tunneling time of path-integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) simulations has been shown to scale as the incoherent quantum-tunneling time, i.e., as 1 /Δ2 , where Δ is the tunneling gap. Since incoherent quantum tunneling is employed by quantum annealers (QAs) to solve optimization problems, this result suggests that there is no quantum advantage in using QAs with respect to quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations. A counterexample is the recently introduced shamrock model (Andriyash and Amin, arXiv:1703.09277), where topological obstructions cause an exponential slowdown of the PIMC tunneling dynamics with respect to incoherent quantum tunneling, leaving open the possibility for potential quantum speedup, even for stoquastic models. In this work we investigate the tunneling time of projective QMC simulations based on the diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) algorithm without guiding functions, showing that it scales as 1 /Δ , i.e., even more favorably than the incoherent quantum-tunneling time, both in a simple ferromagnetic system and in the more challenging shamrock model. However, a careful comparison between the DMC ground-state energies and the exact solution available for the transverse-field Ising chain indicates an exponential scaling of the computational cost required to keep a fixed relative error as the system size increases.

LCG Monte-Carlo Data Base

CERN Document Server

Bartalini, P.; Kryukov, A.; Selyuzhenkov, Ilya V.; Sherstnev, A.; Vologdin, A.

2004-01-01

We present the Monte-Carlo events Data Base (MCDB) project and its development plans. MCDB facilitates communication between authors of Monte-Carlo generators and experimental users. It also provides a convenient book-keeping and an easy access to generator level samples. The first release of MCDB is now operational for the CMS collaboration. In this paper we review the main ideas behind MCDB and discuss future plans to develop this Data Base further within the CERN LCG framework.

Variational Monte Carlo calculations of few-body nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiringa, R.B.

1986-01-01

The variational Monte Carlo method is described. Results for the binding energies, density distributions, momentum distributions, and static longitudinal structure functions of the /sup 3/H, /sup 3/He, and /sup 4/He ground states, and for the energies of the low-lying scattering states in /sup 4/He are presented. 25 refs., 3 figs.

Alternative implementations of the Monte Carlo power method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blomquist, R.N.; Gelbard, E.M.

2002-01-01

We compare nominal efficiencies, i.e. variances in power shapes for equal running time, of different versions of the Monte Carlo eigenvalue computation, as applied to criticality safety analysis calculations. The two main methods considered here are ''conventional'' Monte Carlo and the superhistory method, and both are used in criticality safety codes. Within each of these major methods, different variants are available for the main steps of the basic Monte Carlo algorithm. Thus, for example, different treatments of the fission process may vary in the extent to which they follow, in analog fashion, the details of real-world fission, or may vary in details of the methods by which they choose next-generation source sites. In general the same options are available in both the superhistory method and conventional Monte Carlo, but there seems not to have been much examination of the special properties of the two major methods and their minor variants. We find, first, that the superhistory method is just as efficient as conventional Monte Carlo and, secondly, that use of different variants of the basic algorithms may, in special cases, have a surprisingly large effect on Monte Carlo computational efficiency

The application of Monte Carlo method to electron and photon beams transport; Zastosowanie metody Monte Carlo do analizy transportu elektronow i fotonow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zychor, I. [Soltan Inst. for Nuclear Studies, Otwock-Swierk (Poland)

1994-12-31

The application of a Monte Carlo method to study a transport in matter of electron and photon beams is presented, especially for electrons with energies up to 18 MeV. The SHOWME Monte Carlo code, a modified version of GEANT3 code, was used on the CONVEX C3210 computer at Swierk. It was assumed that an electron beam is mono directional and monoenergetic. Arbitrary user-defined, complex geometries made of any element or material can be used in calculation. All principal phenomena occurring when electron beam penetrates the matter are taken into account. The use of calculation for a therapeutic electron beam collimation is presented. (author). 20 refs, 29 figs.

Igo - A Monte Carlo Code For Radiotherapy Planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldstein, M.; Regev, D.

1999-01-01

The goal of radiation therapy is to deliver a lethal dose to the tumor, while minimizing the dose to normal tissues and vital organs. To carry out this task, it is critical to calculate correctly the 3-D dose delivered. Monte Carlo transport methods (especially the Adjoint Monte Carlo have the potential to provide more accurate predictions of the 3-D dose the currently used methods. IG0 is a Monte Carlo code derived from the general Monte Carlo Program - MCNP, tailored specifically for calculating the effects of radiation therapy. This paper describes the IG0 transport code, the PIG0 interface and some preliminary results

Monte Carlo techniques for analyzing deep-penetration problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cramer, S.N.; Gonnord, J.; Hendricks, J.S.

1986-01-01

Current methods and difficulties in Monte Carlo deep-penetration calculations are reviewed, including statistical uncertainty and recent adjoint optimization of splitting, Russian roulette, and exponential transformation biasing. Other aspects of the random walk and estimation processes are covered, including the relatively new DXANG angular biasing technique. Specific items summarized are albedo scattering, Monte Carlo coupling techniques with discrete ordinates and other methods, adjoint solutions, and multigroup Monte Carlo. The topic of code-generated biasing parameters is presented, including the creation of adjoint importance functions from forward calculations. Finally, current and future work in the area of computer learning and artificial intelligence is discussed in connection with Monte Carlo applications

Odd-flavor Simulations by the Hybrid Monte Carlo

CERN Document Server

Takaishi, Tetsuya; Takaishi, Tetsuya; De Forcrand, Philippe

2001-01-01

The standard hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm is known to simulate even flavors QCD only. Simulations of odd flavors QCD, however, can be also performed in the framework of the hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm where the inverse of the fermion matrix is approximated by a polynomial. In this exploratory study we perform three flavors QCD simulations. We make a comparison of the hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm and the R-algorithm which also simulates odd flavors systems but has step-size errors. We find that results from our hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm are in agreement with those from the R-algorithm obtained at very small step-size.

A sequential Monte Carlo model of the combined GB gas and electricity network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaudry, Modassar; Wu, Jianzhong; Jenkins, Nick

2013-01-01

A Monte Carlo model of the combined GB gas and electricity network was developed to determine the reliability of the energy infrastructure. The model integrates the gas and electricity network into a single sequential Monte Carlo simulation. The model minimises the combined costs of the gas and electricity network, these include gas supplies, gas storage operation and electricity generation. The Monte Carlo model calculates reliability indices such as loss of load probability and expected energy unserved for the combined gas and electricity network. The intention of this tool is to facilitate reliability analysis of integrated energy systems. Applications of this tool are demonstrated through a case study that quantifies the impact on the reliability of the GB gas and electricity network given uncertainties such as wind variability, gas supply availability and outages to energy infrastructure assets. Analysis is performed over a typical midwinter week on a hypothesised GB gas and electricity network in 2020 that meets European renewable energy targets. The efficacy of doubling GB gas storage capacity on the reliability of the energy system is assessed. The results highlight the value of greater gas storage facilities in enhancing the reliability of the GB energy system given various energy uncertainties. -- Highlights: •A Monte Carlo model of the combined GB gas and electricity network was developed. •Reliability indices are calculated for the combined GB gas and electricity system. •The efficacy of doubling GB gas storage capacity on reliability of the energy system is assessed. •Integrated reliability indices could be used to assess the impact of investment in energy assets

Quantum Monte Carlo approaches for correlated systems

CERN Document Server

Becca, Federico

2017-01-01

Over the past several decades, computational approaches to studying strongly-interacting systems have become increasingly varied and sophisticated. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to state-of-the-art quantum Monte Carlo techniques relevant for applications in correlated systems. Providing a clear overview of variational wave functions, and featuring a detailed presentation of stochastic samplings including Markov chains and Langevin dynamics, which are developed into a discussion of Monte Carlo methods. The variational technique is described, from foundations to a detailed description of its algorithms. Further topics discussed include optimisation techniques, real-time dynamics and projection methods, including Green's function, reptation and auxiliary-field Monte Carlo, from basic definitions to advanced algorithms for efficient codes, and the book concludes with recent developments on the continuum space. Quantum Monte Carlo Approaches for Correlated Systems provides an extensive reference ...

Non statistical Monte-Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mercier, B.

1985-04-01

We have shown that the transport equation can be solved with particles, like the Monte-Carlo method, but without random numbers. In the Monte-Carlo method, particles are created from the source, and are followed from collision to collision until either they are absorbed or they leave the spatial domain. In our method, particles are created from the original source, with a variable weight taking into account both collision and absorption. These particles are followed until they leave the spatial domain, and we use them to determine a first collision source. Another set of particles is then created from this first collision source, and tracked to determine a second collision source, and so on. This process introduces an approximation which does not exist in the Monte-Carlo method. However, we have analyzed the effect of this approximation, and shown that it can be limited. Our method is deterministic, gives reproducible results. Furthermore, when extra accuracy is needed in some region, it is easier to get more particles to go there. It has the same kind of applications: rather problems where streaming is dominant than collision dominated problems

Simulating the reactions of CO2 in aqueous monoethanolamine solution by reaction ensemble Monte Carlo using the continuous fractional component method

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Balaji, S.P.; Gangarapu, S.; Ramdin, M.; Torres-Knoop, A.; Zuilhof, H.; Goetheer, E.L.V.; Dubbeldam, D.; Vlugt, T.J.H.

2015-01-01

Molecular simulations were used to compute the equilibrium concentrations of the different species in CO2/monoethanolamine solutions for different CO2 loadings. Simulations were performed in the Reaction Ensemble using the continuous fractional component Monte Carlo method at temperatures of 293,

Exact Dynamics via Poisson Process: a unifying Monte Carlo paradigm

Science.gov (United States)

Gubernatis, James

2014-03-01

A common computational task is solving a set of ordinary differential equations (o.d.e.'s). A little known theorem says that the solution of any set of o.d.e.'s is exactly solved by the expectation value over a set of arbitary Poisson processes of a particular function of the elements of the matrix that defines the o.d.e.'s. The theorem thus provides a new starting point to develop real and imaginary-time continous-time solvers for quantum Monte Carlo algorithms, and several simple observations enable various quantum Monte Carlo techniques and variance reduction methods to transfer to a new context. I will state the theorem, note a transformation to a very simple computational scheme, and illustrate the use of some techniques from the directed-loop algorithm in context of the wavefunction Monte Carlo method that is used to solve the Lindblad master equation for the dynamics of open quantum systems. I will end by noting that as the theorem does not depend on the source of the o.d.e.'s coming from quantum mechanics, it also enables the transfer of continuous-time methods from quantum Monte Carlo to the simulation of various classical equations of motion heretofore only solved deterministically.

Improved cache performance in Monte Carlo transport calculations using energy banding

Science.gov (United States)

Siegel, A.; Smith, K.; Felker, K.; Romano, P.; Forget, B.; Beckman, P.

2014-04-01

We present an energy banding algorithm for Monte Carlo (MC) neutral particle transport simulations which depend on large cross section lookup tables. In MC codes, read-only cross section data tables are accessed frequently, exhibit poor locality, and are typically too much large to fit in fast memory. Thus, performance is often limited by long latencies to RAM, or by off-node communication latencies when the data footprint is very large and must be decomposed on a distributed memory machine. The proposed energy banding algorithm allows maximal temporal reuse of data in band sizes that can flexibly accommodate different architectural features. The energy banding algorithm is general and has a number of benefits compared to the traditional approach. In the present analysis we explore its potential to achieve improvements in time-to-solution on modern cache-based architectures.

Introduction to the Monte Carlo methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uzhinskij, V.V.

1993-01-01

Codes illustrating the use of Monte Carlo methods in high energy physics such as the inverse transformation method, the ejection method, the particle propagation through the nucleus, the particle interaction with the nucleus, etc. are presented. A set of useful algorithms of random number generators is given (the binomial distribution, the Poisson distribution, β-distribution, γ-distribution and normal distribution). 5 figs., 1 tab

Monte Carlo calculations of energy and angular distributions of transmitted and backscattered neutrons of 15 MeV incident energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaber, M.; Faied, A.

1994-01-01

The Monte Carlo technique was used to generate both energy and angular distributions of transmitted and backscattered neutrons incident on infinite graphite slabs of thicknesses ranging from 1-90 cm. Point isotropic and parallel beams of 15 MeV neutrons were used. A computer program was developed to simulate collisions by fast neutrons. (author)

A Monte Carlo method for nuclear evaporation and fission at intermediate energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deppman, A.; Tavares, O.A.P.; Duarte, S.B.; Arruda-Neto, J.D.T.; Goncalves, M.; Likhachev, V.P.; Mesa, J.; Oliveira, E.C. de; Pina, S.R. de; Rodriguez, O.

2003-01-01

We describe a Monte Carlo method to calculate the characteristics of the competition between particle evaporation and nuclear fission processes taking place in the compound nucleus formed after the intranuclear cascade following the absorption of intermediate energy photons by the nucleus. In this version we include not only neutrons, but also protons and alphas as possible evaporating particles. The present method allows the easy inclusion of other evaporating particles, such as deuteron or heavier clusters. Some fissility results are discussed for the target nuclei 237 Np, 238 U and 232 Th

Monte Carlo simulations of the Galileo energetic particle detector

CERN Document Server

Jun, I; Garrett, H B; McEntire, R W

2002-01-01

Monte Carlo radiation transport studies have been performed for the Galileo spacecraft energetic particle detector (EPD) in order to study its response to energetic electrons and protons. Three-dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transport codes, MCNP version 4B (for electrons) and MCNPX version 2.2.3 (for protons), were used throughout the study. The results are presented in the form of 'geometric factors' for the high-energy channels studied in this paper: B1, DC2, and DC3 for electrons and B0, DC0, and DC1 for protons. The geometric factor is the energy-dependent detector response function that relates the incident particle fluxes to instrument count rates. The trend of actual data measured by the EPD was successfully reproduced using the geometric factors obtained in this study.

Monte Carlo simulations of the Galileo energetic particle detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jun, I.; Ratliff, J.M.; Garrett, H.B.; McEntire, R.W.

2002-01-01

Monte Carlo radiation transport studies have been performed for the Galileo spacecraft energetic particle detector (EPD) in order to study its response to energetic electrons and protons. Three-dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transport codes, MCNP version 4B (for electrons) and MCNPX version 2.2.3 (for protons), were used throughout the study. The results are presented in the form of 'geometric factors' for the high-energy channels studied in this paper: B1, DC2, and DC3 for electrons and B0, DC0, and DC1 for protons. The geometric factor is the energy-dependent detector response function that relates the incident particle fluxes to instrument count rates. The trend of actual data measured by the EPD was successfully reproduced using the geometric factors obtained in this study

Perturbative expansions from Monte Carlo simulations at weak coupling: Wilson loops and the static-quark self-energy

Science.gov (United States)

Trottier, H. D.; Shakespeare, N. H.; Lepage, G. P.; MacKenzie, P. B.

2002-05-01

Perturbative coefficients for Wilson loops and the static-quark self-energy are extracted from Monte Carlo simulations at weak coupling. The lattice volumes and couplings are chosen to ensure that the lattice momenta are all perturbative. Twisted boundary conditions are used to eliminate the effects of lattice zero modes and to suppress nonperturbative finite-volume effects due to Z(3) phases. Simulations of the Wilson gluon action are done with both periodic and twisted boundary conditions, and over a wide range of lattice volumes (from 34 to 164) and couplings (from β~9 to β~60). A high precision comparison is made between the simulation data and results from finite-volume lattice perturbation theory. The Monte Carlo results are shown to be in excellent agreement with perturbation theory through second order. New results for third-order coefficients for a number of Wilson loops and the static-quark self-energy are reported.

Monte Carlo techniques for analyzing deep penetration problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cramer, S.N.; Gonnord, J.; Hendricks, J.S.

1985-01-01

A review of current methods and difficulties in Monte Carlo deep-penetration calculations is presented. Statistical uncertainty is discussed, and recent adjoint optimization of splitting, Russian roulette, and exponential transformation biasing is reviewed. Other aspects of the random walk and estimation processes are covered, including the relatively new DXANG angular biasing technique. Specific items summarized are albedo scattering, Monte Carlo coupling techniques with discrete ordinates and other methods, adjoint solutions, and multi-group Monte Carlo. The topic of code-generated biasing parameters is presented, including the creation of adjoint importance functions from forward calculations. Finally, current and future work in the area of computer learning and artificial intelligence is discussed in connection with Monte Carlo applications

Monte Carlo techniques for analyzing deep penetration problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cramer, S.N.; Gonnord, J.; Hendricks, J.S.

1985-01-01

A review of current methods and difficulties in Monte Carlo deep-penetration calculations is presented. Statistical uncertainty is discussed, and recent adjoint optimization of splitting, Russian roulette, and exponential transformation biasing is reviewed. Other aspects of the random walk and estimation processes are covered, including the relatively new DXANG angular biasing technique. Specific items summarized are albedo scattering, Monte Carlo coupling techniques with discrete ordinates and other methods, adjoint solutions, and multi-group Monte Carlo. The topic of code-generated biasing parameters is presented, including the creation of adjoint importance functions from forward calculations. Finally, current and future work in the area of computer learning and artificial intelligence is discussed in connection with Monte Carlo applications. 29 refs

The Monte Carlo applied for calculation dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peixoto, J.E.

1988-01-01

The Monte Carlo method is showed for the calculation of absorbed dose. The trajectory of the photon is traced simulating sucessive interaction between the photon and the substance that consist the human body simulator. The energy deposition in each interaction of the simulator organ or tissue per photon is also calculated. (C.G.C.) [pt

MONTE CARLO CALCULATION OF THE ENERGY RESPONSE OF THE NARF HURST-TYPE FAST- NEUTRON DOSIMETER

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Vries, T. W.

1963-06-15

The response function for the fast-neutron dosimeter was calculated by the Monte Carlo technique (Code K-52) and compared with a calculation based on the Bragg-Gray principle. The energy deposition spectra so obtained show that the response spectra become softer with increased incident neutron energy ahove 3 Mev. The K-52 calculated total res nu onse is more nearly constant with energy than the BraggGray response. The former increases 70 percent from 1 Mev to 14 Mev while the latter increases 135 percent over this energy range. (auth)

Extending the alias Monte Carlo sampling method to general distributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edwards, A.L.; Rathkopf, J.A.; Smidt, R.K.

1991-01-01

The alias method is a Monte Carlo sampling technique that offers significant advantages over more traditional methods. It equals the accuracy of table lookup and the speed of equal probable bins. The original formulation of this method sampled from discrete distributions and was easily extended to histogram distributions. We have extended the method further to applications more germane to Monte Carlo particle transport codes: continuous distributions. This paper presents the alias method as originally derived and our extensions to simple continuous distributions represented by piecewise linear functions. We also present a method to interpolate accurately between distributions tabulated at points other than the point of interest. We present timing studies that demonstrate the method's increased efficiency over table lookup and show further speedup achieved through vectorization. 6 refs., 12 figs., 2 tabs

Assessment of probabilistic distributed factors influencing renewable energy supply for hotels using Monte-Carlo methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meschede, Henning; Dunkelberg, Heiko; Stöhr, Fabian; Peesel, Ron-Hendrik; Hesselbach, Jens

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the use of renewable energies to supply hotels in island regions. The aim is to evaluate the effect of weather and occupancy fluctuations on the sensitivity of investment criteria. The sensitivity of the chosen energy system is examined using a Monte Carlo simulation considering stochastic weather data, occupancy rates and energy needs. For this purpose, algorithms based on measured data are developed and applied to a case study on the Canary Islands. The results underline that electricity use in hotels is by far the largest contributor to their overall energy cost. For the invested hotel on the Canary Islands, the optimal share of renewable electricity generation is found to be 63%, split into 67% photovoltaic and 33% wind power. Furthermore, a battery is used to balance the differences between day and night. It is found, that the results are sensitive to weather fluctuations as well as economic parameters to about the same degree. The results underline the risk caused by using reference time series for designing energy systems. The Monte Carlo method helps to define the mean of the annuity more precisely and to rate the risk of fluctuating weather and occupancy better. - Highlights: • An approach to generate synthetic weather data was pointed out. • A methodology to create synthetic energy demand data for hotels was developed. • The influence to the sensitivity of renewable energy systems was analysed. • Fluctuations in weather data have a greater impact on the economy than occupancy.

Parameter uncertainty and model predictions: a review of Monte Carlo results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gardner, R.H.; O'Neill, R.V.

1979-01-01

Studies of parameter variability by Monte Carlo analysis are reviewed using repeated simulations of the model with randomly selected parameter values. At the beginning of each simulation, parameter values are chosen from specific frequency distributions. This process is continued for a number of iterations sufficient to converge on an estimate of the frequency distribution of the output variables. The purpose was to explore the general properties of error propagaton in models. Testing the implicit assumptions of analytical methods and pointing out counter-intuitive results produced by the Monte Carlo approach are additional points covered

A hybrid transport-diffusion method for Monte Carlo radiative-transfer simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Densmore, Jeffery D.; Urbatsch, Todd J.; Evans, Thomas M.; Buksas, Michael W.

2007-01-01

Discrete Diffusion Monte Carlo (DDMC) is a technique for increasing the efficiency of Monte Carlo particle-transport simulations in diffusive media. If standard Monte Carlo is used in such media, particle histories will consist of many small steps, resulting in a computationally expensive calculation. In DDMC, particles take discrete steps between spatial cells according to a discretized diffusion equation. Each discrete step replaces many small Monte Carlo steps, thus increasing the efficiency of the simulation. In addition, given that DDMC is based on a diffusion equation, it should produce accurate solutions if used judiciously. In practice, DDMC is combined with standard Monte Carlo to form a hybrid transport-diffusion method that can accurately simulate problems with both diffusive and non-diffusive regions. In this paper, we extend previously developed DDMC techniques in several ways that improve the accuracy and utility of DDMC for nonlinear, time-dependent, radiative-transfer calculations. The use of DDMC in these types of problems is advantageous since, due to the underlying linearizations, optically thick regions appear to be diffusive. First, we employ a diffusion equation that is discretized in space but is continuous in time. Not only is this methodology theoretically more accurate than temporally discretized DDMC techniques, but it also has the benefit that a particle's time is always known. Thus, there is no ambiguity regarding what time to assign a particle that leaves an optically thick region (where DDMC is used) and begins transporting by standard Monte Carlo in an optically thin region. Also, we treat the interface between optically thick and optically thin regions with an improved method, based on the asymptotic diffusion-limit boundary condition, that can produce accurate results regardless of the angular distribution of the incident Monte Carlo particles. Finally, we develop a technique for estimating radiation momentum deposition during the

Biases in Monte Carlo eigenvalue calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gelbard, E.M.

1992-12-01

The Monte Carlo method has been used for many years to analyze the neutronics of nuclear reactors. In fact, as the power of computers has increased the importance of Monte Carlo in neutronics has also increased, until today this method plays a central role in reactor analysis and design. Monte Carlo is used in neutronics for two somewhat different purposes, i.e., (a) to compute the distribution of neutrons in a given medium when the neutron source-density is specified, and (b) to compute the neutron distribution in a self-sustaining chain reaction, in which case the source is determined as the eigenvector of a certain linear operator. In (b), then, the source is not given, but must be computed. In the first case (the ``fixed-source`` case) the Monte Carlo calculation is unbiased. That is to say that, if the calculation is repeated (``replicated``) over and over, with independent random number sequences for each replica, then averages over all replicas will approach the correct neutron distribution as the number of replicas goes to infinity. Unfortunately, the computation is not unbiased in the second case, which we discuss here.

Biases in Monte Carlo eigenvalue calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gelbard, E.M.

1992-01-01

The Monte Carlo method has been used for many years to analyze the neutronics of nuclear reactors. In fact, as the power of computers has increased the importance of Monte Carlo in neutronics has also increased, until today this method plays a central role in reactor analysis and design. Monte Carlo is used in neutronics for two somewhat different purposes, i.e., (a) to compute the distribution of neutrons in a given medium when the neutron source-density is specified, and (b) to compute the neutron distribution in a self-sustaining chain reaction, in which case the source is determined as the eigenvector of a certain linear operator. In (b), then, the source is not given, but must be computed. In the first case (the fixed-source'' case) the Monte Carlo calculation is unbiased. That is to say that, if the calculation is repeated ( replicated'') over and over, with independent random number sequences for each replica, then averages over all replicas will approach the correct neutron distribution as the number of replicas goes to infinity. Unfortunately, the computation is not unbiased in the second case, which we discuss here.

Biases in Monte Carlo eigenvalue calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gelbard, E.M.

1992-01-01

The Monte Carlo method has been used for many years to analyze the neutronics of nuclear reactors. In fact, as the power of computers has increased the importance of Monte Carlo in neutronics has also increased, until today this method plays a central role in reactor analysis and design. Monte Carlo is used in neutronics for two somewhat different purposes, i.e., (a) to compute the distribution of neutrons in a given medium when the neutron source-density is specified, and (b) to compute the neutron distribution in a self-sustaining chain reaction, in which case the source is determined as the eigenvector of a certain linear operator. In (b), then, the source is not given, but must be computed. In the first case (the ''fixed-source'' case) the Monte Carlo calculation is unbiased. That is to say that, if the calculation is repeated (''replicated'') over and over, with independent random number sequences for each replica, then averages over all replicas will approach the correct neutron distribution as the number of replicas goes to infinity. Unfortunately, the computation is not unbiased in the second case, which we discuss here

Continuum variational and diffusion quantum Monte Carlo calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Needs, R J; Towler, M D; Drummond, N D; Lopez RIos, P

2010-01-01

This topical review describes the methodology of continuum variational and diffusion quantum Monte Carlo calculations. These stochastic methods are based on many-body wavefunctions and are capable of achieving very high accuracy. The algorithms are intrinsically parallel and well suited to implementation on petascale computers, and the computational cost scales as a polynomial in the number of particles. A guide to the systems and topics which have been investigated using these methods is given. The bulk of the article is devoted to an overview of the basic quantum Monte Carlo methods, the forms and optimization of wavefunctions, performing calculations under periodic boundary conditions, using pseudopotentials, excited-state calculations, sources of calculational inaccuracy, and calculating energy differences and forces. (topical review)

Use of Monte Carlo method in low-energy gamma radiation applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sulc, J.

1982-01-01

Modelling based on the Monte Carlo method is described in detail of the interaction of low-energy gamma radiation resulting in characteristic radiation of the K series of a pure element. The modelled system corresponds to the usual configuration of the measuring part of a radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analyzer. The accuracy of determination of the mean probability of impingement of characteristic radiation on the detector increases with the number of events. The number of events was selected with regard to the required accuracy, the demand on computer time and the accuracy of input parameters. The results of a comparison of computation and experiment are yet to be published. (M.D.)

Positron stopping in elemental systems: Monte Carlo calculations and scaling properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, V.J.; Aers, G.C.

1995-01-01

The scaling of positron-implantation (stopping) profiles has been reported by Ghosh et al., who used the BNL Monte Carlo scheme to generate stopping profiles in semi-infinite elemental metals. A simple scaling relationship reduced the stopping profiles of positrons implanted at different energies (ranging from 1--10 keV) onto a single universal curve for that particular metal. We have confirmed that the scaling relationship also applies to the quite different Jensen and Walker Monte Carlo scheme, for more materials, and over an expanded energy range of 1--25 keV. The mean depths of the stopping profiles calculated by the two Monte Carlo schemes are found to be different, mainly due to differences in the inelastic mean free paths and the energy-loss functions. However, after scaling, the profiles generated by the two schemes can be superimposed onto a single curve which can be appropriately parametrized. The scaled profiles are found to be only weakly material dependent. The mean depths, backscattered fractions, and scaled stopping profiles are fitted to simple parametric functions, and the values of these parameters are obtained for several elements

A New Approach to Monte Carlo Simulations in Statistical Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Landau, David P.

2002-08-01

Monte Carlo simulations [1] have become a powerful tool for the study of diverse problems in statistical/condensed matter physics. Standard methods sample the probability distribution for the states of the system, most often in the canonical ensemble, and over the past several decades enormous improvements have been made in performance. Nonetheless, difficulties arise near phase transitions-due to critical slowing down near 2nd order transitions and to metastability near 1st order transitions, and these complications limit the applicability of the method. We shall describe a new Monte Carlo approach [2] that uses a random walk in energy space to determine the density of states directly. Once the density of states is known, all thermodynamic properties can be calculated. This approach can be extended to multi-dimensional parameter spaces and should be effective for systems with complex energy landscapes, e.g., spin glasses, protein folding models, etc. Generalizations should produce a broadly applicable optimization tool. 1. A Guide to Monte Carlo Simulations in Statistical Physics, D. P. Landau and K. Binder (Cambridge U. Press, Cambridge, 2000). 2. Fugao Wang and D. P. Landau, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2050 (2001); Phys. Rev. E64, 056101-1 (2001).

Advanced Computational Methods for Monte Carlo Calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, Forrest B. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2018-01-12

This course is intended for graduate students who already have a basic understanding of Monte Carlo methods. It focuses on advanced topics that may be needed for thesis research, for developing new state-of-the-art methods, or for working with modern production Monte Carlo codes.

Full Wave Function Optimization with Quantum Monte Carlo and Its Effect on the Dissociation Energy of FeS.

Science.gov (United States)

Haghighi Mood, Kaveh; Lüchow, Arne

2017-08-17

Diffusion quantum Monte Carlo calculations with partial and full optimization of the guide function are carried out for the dissociation of the FeS molecule. For the first time, quantum Monte Carlo orbital optimization for transition metal compounds is performed. It is demonstrated that energy optimization of the orbitals of a complete active space wave function in the presence of a Jastrow correlation function is required to obtain agreement with the experimental dissociation energy. Furthermore, it is shown that orbital optimization leads to a 5 Δ ground state, in agreement with experiments but in disagreement with other high-level ab initio wave function calculations which all predict a 5 Σ + ground state. The role of the Jastrow factor in DMC calculations with pseudopotentials is investigated. The results suggest that a large Jastrow factor may improve the DMC accuracy substantially at small additional cost.

Prospect on general software of Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pei Lucheng

1992-01-01

This is a short paper on the prospect of Monte Carlo general software. The content consists of cluster sampling method, zero variance technique, self-improved method, and vectorized Monte Carlo method

Strategije drevesnega preiskovanja Monte Carlo

OpenAIRE

VODOPIVEC, TOM

2018-01-01

Po preboju pri igri go so metode drevesnega preiskovanja Monte Carlo (ang. Monte Carlo tree search – MCTS) sprožile bliskovit napredek agentov za igranje iger: raziskovalna skupnost je od takrat razvila veliko variant in izboljšav algoritma MCTS ter s tem zagotovila napredek umetne inteligence ne samo pri igrah, ampak tudi v številnih drugih domenah. Čeprav metode MCTS združujejo splošnost naključnega vzorčenja z natančnostjo drevesnega preiskovanja, imajo lahko v praksi težave s počasno konv...

Alpha particle density and energy distributions in tandem mirrors using Monte-Carlo techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kerns, J.A.

1986-05-01

We have simulated the alpha thermalization process using a Monte-Carlo technique, in which the alpha guiding center is followed between simulated collisions and Spitzer's collision model is used for the alpha-plasma interaction. Monte-Carlo techniques are used to determine the alpha radial birth position, the alpha particle position at a collision, and the angle scatter and dispersion at a collision. The plasma is modeled as a hot reacting core, surrounded by a cold halo plasma (T approx.50 eV). Alpha orbits that intersect the halo lose 90% of their energy to the halo electrons because of the halo drag, which is ten times greater than the drag in the core. The uneven drag across the alpha orbit also produces an outward, radial, guiding center drift. This drag drift is dependent on the plasma density and temperature radial profiles. We have modeled these profiles and have specifically studied a single-scale-length model, in which the density scale length (r/sub pD/) equals the temperature scale length (r/sub pT/), and a two-scale-length model, in which r/sub pD//r/sub pT/ = 1.1

On-the-fly doppler broadening for Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yesilyurt, G.; Martin, W. R.; Brown, F. B.

2009-01-01

A methodology to allow on-the-fly Doppler broadening of neutron cross sections for use in Monte Carlo codes has been developed. The Monte Carlo code only needs to store 0 K cross sections for each isotope and the method will broaden the 0 K cross sections for any isotope in the library to any temperature in the range 77 K-3200 K. The methodology is based on a combination of Taylor series expansions and asymptotic series expansions. The type of series representation was determined by investigating the temperature dependence of U3o8 resonance cross sections in three regions: near the resonance peaks, mid-resonance, and the resonance wings. The coefficients for these series expansions were determined by a regression over the energy and temperature range of interest. Since the resonance parameters are a function of the neutron energy and target nuclide, the ψ and χ functions in the Adler-Adler multi-level resonance model can be represented by series expansions in temperature only, allowing the least number of terms to approximate the temperature dependent cross sections within a given accuracy. The comparison of the broadened cross sections using this methodology with the NJOY cross sections was excellent over the entire temperature range (77 K-3200 K) and energy range. A Monte Carlo code was implemented to apply the combined regression model and used to estimate the additional computing cost which was found to be less than <1%. (authors)

Monte Carlo Numerical Models for Nuclear Logging Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fusheng Li

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Nuclear logging is one of most important logging services provided by many oil service companies. The main parameters of interest are formation porosity, bulk density, and natural radiation. Other services are also provided from using complex nuclear logging tools, such as formation lithology/mineralogy, etc. Some parameters can be measured by using neutron logging tools and some can only be measured by using a gamma ray tool. To understand the response of nuclear logging tools, the neutron transport/diffusion theory and photon diffusion theory are needed. Unfortunately, for most cases there are no analytical answers if complex tool geometry is involved. For many years, Monte Carlo numerical models have been used by nuclear scientists in the well logging industry to address these challenges. The models have been widely employed in the optimization of nuclear logging tool design, and the development of interpretation methods for nuclear logs. They have also been used to predict the response of nuclear logging systems for forward simulation problems. In this case, the system parameters including geometry, materials and nuclear sources, etc., are pre-defined and the transportation and interactions of nuclear particles (such as neutrons, photons and/or electrons in the regions of interest are simulated according to detailed nuclear physics theory and their nuclear cross-section data (probability of interacting. Then the deposited energies of particles entering the detectors are recorded and tallied and the tool responses to such a scenario are generated. A general-purpose code named Monte Carlo N– Particle (MCNP has been the industry-standard for some time. In this paper, we briefly introduce the fundamental principles of Monte Carlo numerical modeling and review the physics of MCNP. Some of the latest developments of Monte Carlo Models are also reviewed. A variety of examples are presented to illustrate the uses of Monte Carlo numerical models

A fully coupled Monte Carlo/discrete ordinates solution to the neutron transport equation. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baker, Randal Scott [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)

1990-01-01

The neutron transport equation is solved by a hybrid method that iteratively couples regions where deterministic (S_N) and stochastic (Monte Carlo) methods are applied. Unlike previous hybrid methods, the Monte Carlo and S_N regions are fully coupled in the sense that no assumption is made about geometrical separation or decoupling. The hybrid method provides a new means of solving problems involving both optically thick and optically thin regions that neither Monte Carlo nor S_N is well suited for by themselves. The fully coupled Monte Carlo/S_N technique consists of defining spatial and/or energy regions of a problem in which either a Monte Carlo calculation or an S_N calculation is to be performed. The Monte Carlo region may comprise the entire spatial region for selected energy groups, or may consist of a rectangular area that is either completely or partially embedded in an arbitrary S_N region. The Monte Carlo and S_N regions are then connected through the common angular boundary fluxes, which are determined iteratively using the response matrix technique, and volumetric sources. The hybrid method has been implemented in the S_N code TWODANT by adding special-purpose Monte Carlo subroutines to calculate the response matrices and volumetric sources, and linkage subrountines to carry out the interface flux iterations. The common angular boundary fluxes are included in the S_N code as interior boundary sources, leaving the logic for the solution of the transport flux unchanged, while, with minor modifications, the diffusion synthetic accelerator remains effective in accelerating S_N calculations. The special-purpose Monte Carlo routines used are essentially analog, with few variance reduction techniques employed. However, the routines have been successfully vectorized, with approximately a factor of five increase in speed over the non-vectorized version.

Monte Carlo modeling of a High-Sensitivity MOSFET dosimeter for low- and medium-energy photon sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Brian; Kim, C.-H.; Xu, X. George

2004-01-01

Metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) dosimeters are increasingly utilized in radiation therapy and diagnostic radiology. While it is difficult to characterize the dosimeter responses for monoenergetic sources by experiments, this paper reports a detailed Monte Carlo simulation model of the High-Sensitivity MOSFET dosimeter using Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) 4C. A dose estimator method was used to calculate the dose in the extremely thin sensitive volume. Efforts were made to validate the MCNP model using three experiments: (1) comparison of the simulated dose with the measurement of a Cs-137 source, (2) comparison of the simulated dose with analytical values, and (3) comparison of the simulated energy dependence with theoretical values. Our simulation results show that the MOSFET dosimeter has a maximum response at about 40 keV of photon energy. The energy dependence curve is also found to agree with the predicted value from theory within statistical uncertainties. The angular dependence study shows that the MOSFET dosimeter has a higher response (about 8%) when photons come from the epoxy side, compared with the kapton side for the Cs-137 source

Monte Carlo method for array criticality calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickinson, D.; Whitesides, G.E.

1976-01-01

The Monte Carlo method for solving neutron transport problems consists of mathematically tracing paths of individual neutrons collision by collision until they are lost by absorption or leakage. The fate of the neutron after each collision is determined by the probability distribution functions that are formed from the neutron cross-section data. These distributions are sampled statistically to establish the successive steps in the neutron's path. The resulting data, accumulated from following a large number of batches, are analyzed to give estimates of k/sub eff/ and other collision-related quantities. The use of electronic computers to produce the simulated neutron histories, initiated at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, made the use of the Monte Carlo method practical for many applications. In analog Monte Carlo simulation, the calculation follows the physical events of neutron scattering, absorption, and leakage. To increase calculational efficiency, modifications such as the use of statistical weights are introduced. The Monte Carlo method permits the use of a three-dimensional geometry description and a detailed cross-section representation. Some of the problems in using the method are the selection of the spatial distribution for the initial batch, the preparation of the geometry description for complex units, and the calculation of error estimates for region-dependent quantities such as fluxes. The Monte Carlo method is especially appropriate for criticality safety calculations since it permits an accurate representation of interacting units of fissile material. Dissimilar units, units of complex shape, moderators between units, and reflected arrays may be calculated. Monte Carlo results must be correlated with relevant experimental data, and caution must be used to ensure that a representative set of neutron histories is produced

Application of the Monte Carlo method in calculation of energy-time distribution from a pulsed photon source in homogeneous air environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ilic, R.D.; Vojvodic, V.I.; Orlic, M.P.

1981-01-01

The stochastic nature of photon interactions with matter and the characteristics of photon transport through real materials, are very well suited for applications of the Monte Carlo method in calculations of the energy-space distribution of photons. Starting from general principles of the Monte Carlo method, physical-mathematical model of photon transport from a pulsed source is given for the homogeneous air environment. Based on that model, a computer program is written which is applied in calculations of scattered photons delay spectra and changes of the photon energy spectrum. Obtained results provide the estimation of the timespace function of the electromagnetic field generated by photon from a pulsed source. (author)

Bayesian Optimal Experimental Design Using Multilevel Monte Carlo

KAUST Repository

Ben Issaid, Chaouki; Long, Quan; Scavino, Marco; Tempone, Raul

2015-01-01

Experimental design is very important since experiments are often resource-exhaustive and time-consuming. We carry out experimental design in the Bayesian framework. To measure the amount of information, which can be extracted from the data in an experiment, we use the expected information gain as the utility function, which specifically is the expected logarithmic ratio between the posterior and prior distributions. Optimizing this utility function enables us to design experiments that yield the most informative data for our purpose. One of the major difficulties in evaluating the expected information gain is that the integral is nested and can be high dimensional. We propose using Multilevel Monte Carlo techniques to accelerate the computation of the nested high dimensional integral. The advantages are twofold. First, the Multilevel Monte Carlo can significantly reduce the cost of the nested integral for a given tolerance, by using an optimal sample distribution among different sample averages of the inner integrals. Second, the Multilevel Monte Carlo method imposes less assumptions, such as the concentration of measures, required by Laplace method. We test our Multilevel Monte Carlo technique using a numerical example on the design of sensor deployment for a Darcy flow problem governed by one dimensional Laplace equation. We also compare the performance of the Multilevel Monte Carlo, Laplace approximation and direct double loop Monte Carlo.

Bayesian Optimal Experimental Design Using Multilevel Monte Carlo

KAUST Repository

Ben Issaid, Chaouki

2015-01-07

Experimental design is very important since experiments are often resource-exhaustive and time-consuming. We carry out experimental design in the Bayesian framework. To measure the amount of information, which can be extracted from the data in an experiment, we use the expected information gain as the utility function, which specifically is the expected logarithmic ratio between the posterior and prior distributions. Optimizing this utility function enables us to design experiments that yield the most informative data for our purpose. One of the major difficulties in evaluating the expected information gain is that the integral is nested and can be high dimensional. We propose using Multilevel Monte Carlo techniques to accelerate the computation of the nested high dimensional integral. The advantages are twofold. First, the Multilevel Monte Carlo can significantly reduce the cost of the nested integral for a given tolerance, by using an optimal sample distribution among different sample averages of the inner integrals. Second, the Multilevel Monte Carlo method imposes less assumptions, such as the concentration of measures, required by Laplace method. We test our Multilevel Monte Carlo technique using a numerical example on the design of sensor deployment for a Darcy flow problem governed by one dimensional Laplace equation. We also compare the performance of the Multilevel Monte Carlo, Laplace approximation and direct double loop Monte Carlo.

Perturbative expansions from Monte Carlo simulations at weak coupling: Wilson loops and the static-quark self-energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trottier, H.D.; Shakespeare, N.H.; Lepage, G.P.; Mackenzie, P.B.

2002-01-01

Perturbative coefficients for Wilson loops and the static-quark self-energy are extracted from Monte Carlo simulations at weak coupling. The lattice volumes and couplings are chosen to ensure that the lattice momenta are all perturbative. Twisted boundary conditions are used to eliminate the effects of lattice zero modes and to suppress nonperturbative finite-volume effects due to Z(3) phases. Simulations of the Wilson gluon action are done with both periodic and twisted boundary conditions, and over a wide range of lattice volumes (from 3 4 to 16 4 ) and couplings (from β≅9 to β≅60). A high precision comparison is made between the simulation data and results from finite-volume lattice perturbation theory. The Monte Carlo results are shown to be in excellent agreement with perturbation theory through second order. New results for third-order coefficients for a number of Wilson loops and the static-quark self-energy are reported

Range uncertainties in proton therapy and the role of Monte Carlo simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paganetti, Harald

2012-01-01

The main advantages of proton therapy are the reduced total energy deposited in the patient as compared to photon techniques and the finite range of the proton beam. The latter adds an additional degree of freedom to treatment planning. The range in tissue is associated with considerable uncertainties caused by imaging, patient setup, beam delivery and dose calculation. Reducing the uncertainties would allow a reduction of the treatment volume and thus allow a better utilization of the advantages of protons. This paper summarizes the role of Monte Carlo simulations when aiming at a reduction of range uncertainties in proton therapy. Differences in dose calculation when comparing Monte Carlo with analytical algorithms are analyzed as well as range uncertainties due to material constants and CT conversion. Range uncertainties due to biological effects and the role of Monte Carlo for in vivo range verification are discussed. Furthermore, the current range uncertainty recipes used at several proton therapy facilities are revisited. We conclude that a significant impact of Monte Carlo dose calculation can be expected in complex geometries where local range uncertainties due to multiple Coulomb scattering will reduce the accuracy of analytical algorithms. In these cases Monte Carlo techniques might reduce the range uncertainty by several mm. (topical review)

A Benchmarking Study of High Energy Carbon Ion Induced Neutron Using Several Monte Carlo Codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, D. H.; Oh, J. H.; Jung, N. S.; Lee, H. S. [Pohang Accelerator Laboratory, Pohang (Korea, Republic of); Shin, Y. S.; Kwon, D. Y.; Kim, Y. M. [Catholic Univ., Gyeongsan (Korea, Republic of); Oranj, L. Mokhtari [POSTECH, Pohang (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

In this study, the benchmarking study was done for the representative particle interaction of the heavy ion accelerator, especially carbon-induced reaction. The secondary neutron is an important particle in the shielding analysis to define the source term and penetration ability of radiation fields. The performance of each Monte Carlo codes were verified for selected codes: MCNPX 2.7, PHITS 2.64 and FLUKA 2011.2b.6. For this benchmarking study, the experimental data of Kurosawa et al. in the SINBAD database of NEA was applied. The calculated results of the differential neutron yield produced from several materials irradiated by high energy carbon beam reproduced the experimental data well in small uncertainty. But the MCNPX results showed large discrepancy with experimental data, especially at the forward angle. The calculated results were lower a little than the experimental and it was clear in the cases of lower incident carbon energy, thinner target and forward angle. As expected, the influence of different model was found clearly at forward direction. In the shielding analysis, these characteristics of each Monte Carlo codes should be considered and utilized to determine the safety margin of a shield thickness.

A Benchmarking Study of High Energy Carbon Ion Induced Neutron Using Several Monte Carlo Codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, D. H.; Oh, J. H.; Jung, N. S.; Lee, H. S.; Shin, Y. S.; Kwon, D. Y.; Kim, Y. M.; Oranj, L. Mokhtari

2014-01-01

In this study, the benchmarking study was done for the representative particle interaction of the heavy ion accelerator, especially carbon-induced reaction. The secondary neutron is an important particle in the shielding analysis to define the source term and penetration ability of radiation fields. The performance of each Monte Carlo codes were verified for selected codes: MCNPX 2.7, PHITS 2.64 and FLUKA 2011.2b.6. For this benchmarking study, the experimental data of Kurosawa et al. in the SINBAD database of NEA was applied. The calculated results of the differential neutron yield produced from several materials irradiated by high energy carbon beam reproduced the experimental data well in small uncertainty. But the MCNPX results showed large discrepancy with experimental data, especially at the forward angle. The calculated results were lower a little than the experimental and it was clear in the cases of lower incident carbon energy, thinner target and forward angle. As expected, the influence of different model was found clearly at forward direction. In the shielding analysis, these characteristics of each Monte Carlo codes should be considered and utilized to determine the safety margin of a shield thickness

Visual Monte Carlo and its application to internal and external dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunt, J.G.; Silva, F.C. da; Souza-Santos, D. de; Dantas, B.M.; Azeredo, A.; Malatova, I.; Foltanova, S.; Isakson, M.

2001-01-01

The program visual Monte Carlo (VMC), combined with voxel phantoms, and its application to three areas of radiation protection: calibration of in vivo measurement systems, dose calculations due to external sources of radiation, and the calculation of Specific Effective Energies is described in this paper. The simulation of photon transport through a voxel phantom requires a Monte Carlo program adapted to voxel geometries. VMC is written in Visual Basic trademark, a Microsoft Windows based program, which is easy to use and has an extensive graphic output. (orig.)

Evaluation of CASMO-3 and HELIOS for Fuel Assembly Analysis from Monte Carlo Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shim, Hyung Jin; Song, Jae Seung; Lee, Chung Chan

2007-05-15

This report presents a study comparing deterministic lattice physics calculations with Monte Carlo calculations for LWR fuel pin and assembly problems. The study has focused on comparing results from the lattice physics code CASMO-3 and HELIOS against those from the continuous-energy Monte Carlo code McCARD. The comparisons include k{sub inf}, isotopic number densities, and pin power distributions. The CASMO-3 and HELIOS calculations for the k{sub inf}'s of the LWR fuel pin problems show good agreement with McCARD within 956pcm and 658pcm, respectively. For the assembly problems with Gadolinia burnable poison rods, the largest difference between the k{sub inf}'s is 1463pcm with CASMO-3 and 1141pcm with HELIOS. RMS errors for the pin power distributions of CASMO-3 and HELIOS are within 1.3% and 1.5%, respectively.

Monte Carlo based radial shield design of typical PWR reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gul, Anas; Khan, Rustam; Qureshi, M. Ayub; Azeem, Muhammad Waqar; Raza, S.A. [Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Islamabad (Pakistan). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering; Stummer, Thomas [Technische Univ. Wien (Austria). Atominst.

2016-11-15

Neutron and gamma flux and dose equivalent rate distribution are analysed in radial and shields of a typical PWR type reactor based on the Monte Carlo radiation transport computer code MCNP5. The ENDF/B-VI continuous energy cross-section library has been employed for the criticality and shielding analysis. The computed results are in good agreement with the reference results (maximum difference is less than 56 %). It implies that MCNP5 a good tool for accurate prediction of neutron and gamma flux and dose rates in radial shield around the core of PWR type reactors.

Monte Carlo analysis of Musashi TRIGA mark II reactor core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, Tetsuo

1999-01-01

The analysis of the TRIGA-II core at the Musashi Institute of Technology Research Reactor (Musashi reactor, 100 kW) was performed by the three-dimensional continuous-energy Monte Carlo code (MCNP4A). Effective multiplication factors (k eff ) for the several fuel-loading patterns including the initial core criticality experiment, the fuel element and control rod reactivity worth as well as the neutron flux measurements were used in the validation process of the physical model and neutron cross section data from the ENDF/B-V evaluation. The calculated k eff overestimated the experimental data by about 1.0%Δk/k for both the initial core and the several fuel-loading arrangements. The calculated reactivity worths of control rod and fuel element agree well the measured ones within the uncertainties. The comparison of neutron flux distribution was consistent with the experimental ones which were measured by activation methods at the sample irradiation tubes. All in all, the agreement between the MCNP predictions and the experimentally determined values is good, which indicated that the Monte Carlo model is enough to simulate the Musashi TRIGA-II reactor core. (author)

A Monte Carlo track structure code for low energy protons

CERN Document Server

Endo, S; Nikjoo, H; Uehara, S; Hoshi, M; Ishikawa, M; Shizuma, K

2002-01-01

A code is described for simulation of protons (100 eV to 10 MeV) track structure in water vapor. The code simulates molecular interaction by interaction for the transport of primary ions and secondary electrons in the form of ionizations and excitations. When a low velocity ion collides with the atoms or molecules of a target, the ion may also capture or lose electrons. The probabilities for these processes are described by the quantity cross-section. Although proton track simulation at energies above Bragg peak (>0.3 MeV) has been achieved to a high degree of precision, simulations at energies near or below the Bragg peak have only been attempted recently because of the lack of relevant cross-section data. As the hydrogen atom has a different ionization cross-section from that of a proton, charge exchange processes need to be considered in order to calculate stopping power for low energy protons. In this paper, we have used state-of-the-art Monte Carlo track simulation techniques, in conjunction with the pub...

Monte Carlo treatment planning with modulated electron radiotherapy: framework development and application

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Andrew William

Within the field of medical physics, Monte Carlo radiation transport simulations are considered to be the most accurate method for the determination of dose distributions in patients. The McGill Monte Carlo treatment planning system (MMCTP), provides a flexible software environment to integrate Monte Carlo simulations with current and new treatment modalities. A developing treatment modality called energy and intensity modulated electron radiotherapy (MERT) is a promising modality, which has the fundamental capabilities to enhance the dosimetry of superficial targets. An objective of this work is to advance the research and development of MERT with the end goal of clinical use. To this end, we present the MMCTP system with an integrated toolkit for MERT planning and delivery of MERT fields. Delivery is achieved using an automated "few leaf electron collimator" (FLEC) and a controller. Aside from the MERT planning toolkit, the MMCTP system required numerous add-ons to perform the complex task of large-scale autonomous Monte Carlo simulations. The first was a DICOM import filter, followed by the implementation of DOSXYZnrc as a dose calculation engine and by logic methods for submitting and updating the status of Monte Carlo simulations. Within this work we validated the MMCTP system with a head and neck Monte Carlo recalculation study performed by a medical dosimetrist. The impact of MMCTP lies in the fact that it allows for systematic and platform independent large-scale Monte Carlo dose calculations for different treatment sites and treatment modalities. In addition to the MERT planning tools, various optimization algorithms were created external to MMCTP. The algorithms produced MERT treatment plans based on dose volume constraints that employ Monte Carlo pre-generated patient-specific kernels. The Monte Carlo kernels are generated from patient-specific Monte Carlo dose distributions within MMCTP. The structure of the MERT planning toolkit software and

Bayesian phylogeny analysis via stochastic approximation Monte Carlo

KAUST Repository

Cheon, Sooyoung; Liang, Faming

2009-01-01

in simulating from the posterior distribution of phylogenetic trees, rendering the inference ineffective. In this paper, we apply an advanced Monte Carlo algorithm, the stochastic approximation Monte Carlo algorithm, to Bayesian phylogeny analysis. Our method

Assesment of advanced step models for steady state Monte Carlo burnup calculations in application to prismatic HTGR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kępisty Grzegorz

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we compare the methodology of different time-step models in the context of Monte Carlo burnup calculations for nuclear reactors. We discuss the differences between staircase step model, slope model, bridge scheme and stochastic implicit Euler method proposed in literature. We focus on the spatial stability of depletion procedure and put additional emphasis on the problem of normalization of neutron source strength. Considered methodology has been implemented in our continuous energy Monte Carlo burnup code (MCB5. The burnup simulations have been performed using the simplified high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR system with and without modeling of control rod withdrawal. Useful conclusions have been formulated on the basis of results.

Reflections on early Monte Carlo calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spanier, J.

1992-01-01

Monte Carlo methods for solving various particle transport problems developed in parallel with the evolution of increasingly sophisticated computer programs implementing diffusion theory and low-order moments calculations. In these early years, Monte Carlo calculations and high-order approximations to the transport equation were seen as too expensive to use routinely for nuclear design but served as invaluable aids and supplements to design with less expensive tools. The earliest Monte Carlo programs were quite literal; i.e., neutron and other particle random walk histories were simulated by sampling from the probability laws inherent in the physical system without distoration. Use of such analogue sampling schemes resulted in a good deal of time being spent in examining the possibility of lowering the statistical uncertainties in the sample estimates by replacing simple, and intuitively obvious, random variables by those with identical means but lower variances

Cumulative percent energy deposition of photon beam incident on different targets, simulated by Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kandic, A.; Jevremovic, T.; Boreli, F.

1989-01-01

Monte Carlo simulation (without secondary radiation) of the standard photon interactions (Compton scattering, photoelectric absorption and pair protection) for the complex slab's geometry is used in numerical code ACCA. A typical ACCA run will yield: (a) transmission of primary photon radiation differential in energy, (b) the spectrum of energy deposited in the target as a function of position and (c) the cumulative percent energy deposition as a function of position. A cumulative percent energy deposition of photon monoenergetic beam incident on simplest and complexity tissue slab and Fe slab are presented in this paper. (author). 5 refs.; 2 figs

Modelling of electron contamination in clinical photon beams for Monte Carlo dose calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, J; Li, J S; Qin, L; Xiong, W; Ma, C-M

2004-01-01

The purpose of this work is to model electron contamination in clinical photon beams and to commission the source model using measured data for Monte Carlo treatment planning. In this work, a planar source is used to represent the contaminant electrons at a plane above the upper jaws. The source size depends on the dimensions of the field size at the isocentre. The energy spectra of the contaminant electrons are predetermined using Monte Carlo simulations for photon beams from different clinical accelerators. A 'random creep' method is employed to derive the weight of the electron contamination source by matching Monte Carlo calculated monoenergetic photon and electron percent depth-dose (PDD) curves with measured PDD curves. We have integrated this electron contamination source into a previously developed multiple source model and validated the model for photon beams from Siemens PRIMUS accelerators. The EGS4 based Monte Carlo user code BEAM and MCSIM were used for linac head simulation and dose calculation. The Monte Carlo calculated dose distributions were compared with measured data. Our results showed good agreement (less than 2% or 2 mm) for 6, 10 and 18 MV photon beams

Monte Carlo simulation of the microcanonical ensemble

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Creutz, M.

1984-01-01

We consider simulating statistical systems with a random walk on a constant energy surface. This combines features of deterministic molecular dynamics techniques and conventional Monte Carlo simulations. For discrete systems the method can be programmed to run an order of magnitude faster than other approaches. It does not require high quality random numbers and may also be useful for nonequilibrium studies. 10 references

Reconstruction of Monte Carlo replicas from Hessian parton distributions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hou, Tie-Jiun [Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University,Dallas, TX 75275-0181 (United States); Gao, Jun [INPAC, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Particle Physics and Cosmology,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory,Argonne, Illinois, 60439 (United States); Huston, Joey [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University,East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Nadolsky, Pavel [Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University,Dallas, TX 75275-0181 (United States); Schmidt, Carl; Stump, Daniel [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University,East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Wang, Bo-Ting; Xie, Ke Ping [Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University,Dallas, TX 75275-0181 (United States); Dulat, Sayipjamal [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University,East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); School of Physics Science and Technology, Xinjiang University,Urumqi, Xinjiang 830046 (China); Center for Theoretical Physics, Xinjiang University,Urumqi, Xinjiang 830046 (China); Pumplin, Jon; Yuan, C.P. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University,East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States)

2017-03-20

We explore connections between two common methods for quantifying the uncertainty in parton distribution functions (PDFs), based on the Hessian error matrix and Monte-Carlo sampling. CT14 parton distributions in the Hessian representation are converted into Monte-Carlo replicas by a numerical method that reproduces important properties of CT14 Hessian PDFs: the asymmetry of CT14 uncertainties and positivity of individual parton distributions. The ensembles of CT14 Monte-Carlo replicas constructed this way at NNLO and NLO are suitable for various collider applications, such as cross section reweighting. Master formulas for computation of asymmetric standard deviations in the Monte-Carlo representation are derived. A correction is proposed to address a bias in asymmetric uncertainties introduced by the Taylor series approximation. A numerical program is made available for conversion of Hessian PDFs into Monte-Carlo replicas according to normal, log-normal, and Watt-Thorne sampling procedures.

Sampling from a polytope and hard-disk Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kapfer, Sebastian C; Krauth, Werner

2013-01-01

The hard-disk problem, the statics and the dynamics of equal two-dimensional hard spheres in a periodic box, has had a profound influence on statistical and computational physics. Markov-chain Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics were first discussed for this model. Here we reformulate hard-disk Monte Carlo algorithms in terms of another classic problem, namely the sampling from a polytope. Local Markov-chain Monte Carlo, as proposed by Metropolis et al. in 1953, appears as a sequence of random walks in high-dimensional polytopes, while the moves of the more powerful event-chain algorithm correspond to molecular dynamics evolution. We determine the convergence properties of Monte Carlo methods in a special invariant polytope associated with hard-disk configurations, and the implications for convergence of hard-disk sampling. Finally, we discuss parallelization strategies for event-chain Monte Carlo and present results for a multicore implementation

Problems in radiation shielding calculations with Monte Carlo methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueki, Kohtaro

1985-01-01

The Monte Carlo method is a very useful tool for solving a large class of radiation transport problem. In contrast with deterministic method, geometric complexity is a much less significant problem for Monte Carlo calculations. However, the accuracy of Monte Carlo calculations is of course, limited by statistical error of the quantities to be estimated. In this report, we point out some typical problems to solve a large shielding system including radiation streaming. The Monte Carlo coupling technique was developed to settle such a shielding problem accurately. However, the variance of the Monte Carlo results using the coupling technique of which detectors were located outside the radiation streaming, was still not enough. So as to bring on more accurate results for the detectors located outside the streaming and also for a multi-legged-duct streaming problem, a practicable way of ''Prism Scattering technique'' is proposed in the study. (author)

Cluster monte carlo method for nuclear criticality safety calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pei Lucheng

1984-01-01

One of the most important applications of the Monte Carlo method is the calculation of the nuclear criticality safety. The fair source game problem was presented at almost the same time as the Monte Carlo method was applied to calculating the nuclear criticality safety. The source iteration cost may be reduced as much as possible or no need for any source iteration. This kind of problems all belongs to the fair source game prolems, among which, the optimal source game is without any source iteration. Although the single neutron Monte Carlo method solved the problem without the source iteration, there is still quite an apparent shortcoming in it, that is, it solves the problem without the source iteration only in the asymptotic sense. In this work, a new Monte Carlo method called the cluster Monte Carlo method is given to solve the problem further

HEPWEB - WEB-portal for Monte Carlo simulations in high-energy physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aleksandrov, E.I.; Kotov, V.M.; Uzhinsky, V.V.; Zrelov, P.V.

2011-01-01

A WEB-portal HepWeb allows users to perform the most popular calculations in high-energy physics - calculations of hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus interaction cross sections as well as calculations of secondary-particle characteristics in the interactions using Monte Carlo event generators. The list of the generators includes Dubna version of the intranuclear cascade model (CASCADE), FRITIOF model, ultrarelativistic quantum molecular dynamics model (UrQMD), HIJING model, and AMPT model. Setting up the colliding particles/nucleus properties (collision energy, mass numbers and charges of nuclei, impact parameters of interactions, and number of generated events) is realized by a WEB-interface. A query is processed by a server, and results are presented to the user as a WEB-page. Short descriptions of the installed generators, the WEB-interface implementation and the server operation are given

HEPWEB - WEB-portal for Monte Carlo simulations in high-energy physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aleksandrov, E I; Kotov, V M; Uzhinsky, V V; Zrelov, P V

2011-07-01

A WEB-portal HepWeb allows users to perform the most popular calculations in high-energy physics - calculations of hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus interaction cross sections as well as calculations of secondary-particle characteristics in the interactions using Monte Carlo event generators. The list of the generators includes Dubna version of the intranuclear cascade model (CASCADE), FRITIOF model, ultrarelativistic quantum molecular dynamics model (UrQMD), HIJING model, and AMPT model. Setting up the colliding particles/nucleus properties (collision energy, mass numbers and charges of nuclei, impact parameters of interactions, and number of generated events) is realized by a WEB-interface. A query is processed by a server, and results are presented to the user as a WEB-page. Short descriptions of the installed generators, the WEB-interface implementation and the server operation are given.

Wielandt acceleration for MCNP5 Monte Carlo eigenvalue calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, F.

2007-01-01

Monte Carlo criticality calculations use the power iteration method to determine the eigenvalue (k eff ) and eigenfunction (fission source distribution) of the fundamental mode. A recently proposed method for accelerating convergence of the Monte Carlo power iteration using Wielandt's method has been implemented in a test version of MCNP5. The method is shown to provide dramatic improvements in convergence rates and to greatly reduce the possibility of false convergence assessment. The method is effective and efficient, improving the Monte Carlo figure-of-merit for many problems. In addition, the method should eliminate most of the underprediction bias in confidence intervals for Monte Carlo criticality calculations. (authors)

Monte Carlo shielding analyses using an automated biasing procedure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, J.S.; Hoffman, T.J.

1988-01-01

A systematic and automated approach for biasing Monte Carlo shielding calculations is described. In particular, adjoint fluxes from a one-dimensional discrete ordinates calculation are used to generate biasing parameters for a Monte Carlo calculation. The entire procedure of adjoint calculation, biasing parameters generation, and Monte Carlo calculation has been automated. The automated biasing procedure has been applied to several realistic deep-penetration shipping cask problems. The results obtained for neutron and gamma-ray transport indicate that with the automated biasing procedure Monte Carlo shielding calculations of spent-fuel casks can be easily performed with minimum effort and that accurate results can be obtained at reasonable computing cost

Applications of the Monte Carlo method in radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkarni, R.N.; Prasad, M.A.

1999-01-01

This paper gives a brief introduction to the application of the Monte Carlo method in radiation protection. It may be noted that an exhaustive review has not been attempted. The special advantage of the Monte Carlo method has been first brought out. The fundamentals of the Monte Carlo method have next been explained in brief, with special reference to two applications in radiation protection. Some sample current applications have been reported in the end in brief as examples. They are, medical radiation physics, microdosimetry, calculations of thermoluminescence intensity and probabilistic safety analysis. The limitations of the Monte Carlo method have also been mentioned in passing. (author)

Pore-scale uncertainty quantification with multilevel Monte Carlo

KAUST Repository

Icardi, Matteo; Hoel, Haakon; Long, Quan; Tempone, Raul

2014-01-01

. Since there are no generic ways to parametrize the randomness in the porescale structures, Monte Carlo techniques are the most accessible to compute statistics. We propose a multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) technique to reduce the computational cost

Current and future applications of Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaidi, H.

2003-01-01

Full text: The use of radionuclides in medicine has a long history and encompasses a large area of applications including diagnosis and radiation treatment of cancer patients using either external or radionuclide radiotherapy. The 'Monte Carlo method'describes a very broad area of science, in which many processes, physical systems, and phenomena are simulated by statistical methods employing random numbers. The general idea of Monte Carlo analysis is to create a model, which is as similar as possible to the real physical system of interest, and to create interactions within that system based on known probabilities of occurrence, with random sampling of the probability density functions (pdfs). As the number of individual events (called 'histories') is increased, the quality of the reported average behavior of the system improves, meaning that the statistical uncertainty decreases. The use of the Monte Carlo method to simulate radiation transport has become the most accurate means of predicting absorbed dose distributions and other quantities of interest in the radiation treatment of cancer patients using either external or radionuclide radiotherapy. The same trend has occurred for the estimation of the absorbed dose in diagnostic procedures using radionuclides as well as the assessment of image quality and quantitative accuracy of radionuclide imaging. As a consequence of this generalized use, many questions are being raised primarily about the need and potential of Monte Carlo techniques, but also about how accurate it really is, what would it take to apply it clinically and make it available widely to the nuclear medicine community at large. Many of these questions will be answered when Monte Carlo techniques are implemented and used for more routine calculations and for in-depth investigations. In this paper, the conceptual role of the Monte Carlo method is briefly introduced and followed by a survey of its different applications in diagnostic and therapeutic

Transport calculation of medium-energy protons and neutrons by Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ban, Syuuichi; Hirayama, Hideo; Katoh, Kazuaki.

1978-09-01

A Monte Carlo transport code, ARIES, has been developed for protons and neutrons at medium energy (25 -- 500 MeV). Nuclear data provided by R.G. Alsmiller, Jr. were used for the calculation. To simulate the cascade development in the medium, each generation was represented by a single weighted particle and an average number of emitted particles was used as the weight. Neutron fluxes were stored by the collisions density method. The cutoff energy was set to 25 MeV. Neutrons below the cutoff were stored to be used as the source for the low energy neutron transport calculation upon the discrete ordinates method. Then transport calculations were performed for both low energy neutrons (thermal -- 25 MeV) and secondary gamma-rays. Energy spectra of emitted neutrons were calculated and compared with those of published experimental and calculated results. The agreement was good for the incident particles of energy between 100 and 500 MeV. (author)

Optimization of the energy response of radiographic films by Monte Carlo method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moslehi, A. [Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Arak University, Shariati Square, Arak 38156 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Hamidi, S., E-mail: s-hamidi@araku.ac.i [Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Arak University, Shariati Square, Arak 38156 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Raisali, G. [Radiation Application Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Gheshlaghi, F. [Film Badge Dosimetry Laboratory, National Radiation Protection Department, Iranian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2010-01-15

In the present work a simple model for calculation of the energy response of radiographic films was introduced. According to the model the energy response of a radiographic film is directly proportional to the optical density on the film and thus to the number of developed grains in the emulsion. The model was simulated by Monte Carlo method using MCNP code and the relative energy response of Kodak type 2 film under a few filters of A.E.R.E./R.P.S. film badge was calculated. The simulated responses were in agreement with the experimental data in the region of 30 keV-1.5 MeV. In the next stage a multi-element filter was simulated to optimize the energy response in the above energies. The energy response varied by 25% between 40 keV and 1.5 MeV. So the dose received by the film is equivalent to the desired true dose and there would be no need to the correction factors.

Optimization of the energy response of radiographic films by Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moslehi, A.; Hamidi, S.; Raisali, G.; Gheshlaghi, F.

2010-01-01

In the present work a simple model for calculation of the energy response of radiographic films was introduced. According to the model the energy response of a radiographic film is directly proportional to the optical density on the film and thus to the number of developed grains in the emulsion. The model was simulated by Monte Carlo method using MCNP code and the relative energy response of Kodak type 2 film under a few filters of A.E.R.E./R.P.S. film badge was calculated. The simulated responses were in agreement with the experimental data in the region of 30 keV-1.5 MeV. In the next stage a multi-element filter was simulated to optimize the energy response in the above energies. The energy response varied by 25% between 40 keV and 1.5 MeV. So the dose received by the film is equivalent to the desired true dose and there would be no need to the correction factors.

Evaluation of the Neutron Detector Response for Cosmic Ray Energy Spectrum by Monte Carlo Transport Simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pazianotto, Mauricio T.; Carlson, Brett V.; Federico, Claudio A.; Gonzalez, Odair L.

2011-01-01

Neutrons generated by the interaction of cosmic rays with the atmosphere make an important contribution to the dose accumulated in electronic circuits and aircraft crew members at flight altitude. High-energy neutrons are produced in spallation reactions and intranuclear cascade processes by primary cosmic-ray particle interactions with atoms in the atmosphere. These neutrons can produce secondary neutrons and also undergo a moderation process due to atmosphere interactions, resulting in a wider energy spectrum, ranging from thermal energies (0.025 eV) to energies of several hundreds of MeV. The Long-Counter (LC) detector is a widely used neutron detector designed to measure the directional flux of neutrons with about constant response over a wide energy range (thermal to 20 MeV). ). Its calibration process and the determination of its energy response for the wide-energy of cosmic ray induced neutron spectrum is a very difficult process due to the lack of installations with these capabilities. The goal of this study is to assess the behavior of the response of a Long Counter using the Monte Carlo (MC) computational code MCNPX (Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended). The dependence of the Long Counter response on the angle of incidence, as well as on the neutron energy, will be carefully investigated, compared with the experimental data previously obtained with 241 Am-Be and 252 Cf neutron sources and extended to the neutron spectrum produced by cosmic rays. (Author)

Ground state energy of an hydrogen atom confined in carbon nano-structures: a diffusion quantum Monte Carlo study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molayem, M.; Tayebi-Rad, Gh.; Esmaeli, L.; Namiranian, A.; Fouladvand, M. E.; Neek-Amal, M.

2006-01-01

Using the diffusion quantum monte Carlo method, the ground state energy of an Hydrogen atom confined in a carbon nano tube and a C60 molecule is calculated. For Hydrogen atom confined in small diameter tubes, the ground state energy shows significant deviation from a free Hydrogen atom, while with increasing the diameter this deviation tends to zero.

Quantum statistical Monte Carlo methods and applications to spin systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, M.

1986-01-01

A short review is given concerning the quantum statistical Monte Carlo method based on the equivalence theorem that d-dimensional quantum systems are mapped onto (d+1)-dimensional classical systems. The convergence property of this approximate tansformation is discussed in detail. Some applications of this general appoach to quantum spin systems are reviewed. A new Monte Carlo method, ''thermo field Monte Carlo method,'' is presented, which is an extension of the projection Monte Carlo method at zero temperature to that at finite temperatures

Electron energy and charge albedos - calorimetric measurement vs Monte Carlo theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lockwood, G.J.; Ruggles, L.E.; Miller, G.H.; Halbleib, J.A.

1981-11-01

A new calorimetric method has been employed to obtain saturated electron energy albedos for Be, C, Al, Ti, Mo, Ta, U, and UO 2 over the range of incident energies from 0.1 to 1.0 MeV. The technique was so designed to permit the simultaneous measurement of saturated charge albedos. In the cases of C, Al, Ta, and U the measurements were extended down to about 0.025 MeV. The angle of incidence was varied from 0 0 (normal) to 75 0 in steps of 15 0 , with selected measurements at 82.5 0 in Be and C. In each case, state-of-the-art predictions were obtained from a Monte Carlo model. The generally good agreement between theory and experiment over this extensive parameter space represents a strong validation of both the theoretical model and the new experimental method. Nevertheless, certain discrepancies at low incident energies, especially in high-atomic-number materials, and at all energies in the case of the U energy albedos are not completely understood

SPQR: a Monte Carlo reactor kinetics code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cramer, S.N.; Dodds, H.L.

1980-02-01

The SPQR Monte Carlo code has been developed to analyze fast reactor core accident problems where conventional methods are considered inadequate. The code is based on the adiabatic approximation of the quasi-static method. This initial version contains no automatic material motion or feedback. An existing Monte Carlo code is used to calculate the shape functions and the integral quantities needed in the kinetics module. Several sample problems have been devised and analyzed. Due to the large statistical uncertainty associated with the calculation of reactivity in accident simulations, the results, especially at later times, differ greatly from deterministic methods. It was also found that in large uncoupled systems, the Monte Carlo method has difficulty in handling asymmetric perturbations

Optix: A Monte Carlo scintillation light transport code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Safari, M.J., E-mail: mjsafari@aut.ac.ir [Department of Energy Engineering and Physics, Amir Kabir University of Technology, PO Box 15875-4413, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Afarideh, H. [Department of Energy Engineering and Physics, Amir Kabir University of Technology, PO Box 15875-4413, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Ghal-Eh, N. [School of Physics, Damghan University, PO Box 36716-41167, Damghan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Davani, F. Abbasi [Nuclear Engineering Department, Shahid Beheshti University, PO Box 1983963113, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2014-02-11

The paper reports on the capabilities of Monte Carlo scintillation light transport code Optix, which is an extended version of previously introduced code Optics. Optix provides the user a variety of both numerical and graphical outputs with a very simple and user-friendly input structure. A benchmarking strategy has been adopted based on the comparison with experimental results, semi-analytical solutions, and other Monte Carlo simulation codes to verify various aspects of the developed code. Besides, some extensive comparisons have been made against the tracking abilities of general-purpose MCNPX and FLUKA codes. The presented benchmark results for the Optix code exhibit promising agreements. -- Highlights: • Monte Carlo simulation of scintillation light transport in 3D geometry. • Evaluation of angular distribution of detected photons. • Benchmark studies to check the accuracy of Monte Carlo simulations.

Bayesian phylogeny analysis via stochastic approximation Monte Carlo

KAUST Repository

Cheon, Sooyoung

2009-11-01

Monte Carlo methods have received much attention in the recent literature of phylogeny analysis. However, the conventional Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms, such as the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, tend to get trapped in a local mode in simulating from the posterior distribution of phylogenetic trees, rendering the inference ineffective. In this paper, we apply an advanced Monte Carlo algorithm, the stochastic approximation Monte Carlo algorithm, to Bayesian phylogeny analysis. Our method is compared with two popular Bayesian phylogeny software, BAMBE and MrBayes, on simulated and real datasets. The numerical results indicate that our method outperforms BAMBE and MrBayes. Among the three methods, SAMC produces the consensus trees which have the highest similarity to the true trees, and the model parameter estimates which have the smallest mean square errors, but costs the least CPU time. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Present status and future prospects of neutronics Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gelbard, E.M.

1990-01-01

It is fair to say that the Monte Carlo method, over the last decade, has grown steadily more important as a neutronics computational tool. Apparently this has happened for assorted reasons. Thus, for example, as the power of computers has increased, the cost of the method has dropped, steadily becoming less and less of an obstacle to its use. In addition, more and more sophisticated input processors have now made it feasible to model extremely complicated systems routinely with really remarkable fidelity. Finally, as we demand greater and greater precision in reactor calculations, Monte Carlo is often found to be the only method accurate enough for use in benchmarking. Cross section uncertainties are now almost the only inherent limitations in our Monte Carlo capabilities. For this reason Monte Carlo has come to occupy a special position, interposed between experiment and other computational techniques. More and more often deterministic methods are tested by comparison with Monte Carlo, and cross sections are tested by comparing Monte Carlo with experiment. In this way one can distinguish very clearly between errors due to flaws in our numerical methods, and those due to deficiencies in cross section files. The special role of Monte Carlo as a benchmarking tool, often the only available benchmarking tool, makes it crucially important that this method should be polished to perfection. Problems relating to Eigenvalue calculations, variance reduction and the use of advanced computers are reviewed in this paper. (author)

Diffusion Monte Carlo approach versus adiabatic computation for local Hamiltonians

Science.gov (United States)

Bringewatt, Jacob; Dorland, William; Jordan, Stephen P.; Mink, Alan

2018-02-01

Most research regarding quantum adiabatic optimization has focused on stoquastic Hamiltonians, whose ground states can be expressed with only real non-negative amplitudes and thus for whom destructive interference is not manifest. This raises the question of whether classical Monte Carlo algorithms can efficiently simulate quantum adiabatic optimization with stoquastic Hamiltonians. Recent results have given counterexamples in which path-integral and diffusion Monte Carlo fail to do so. However, most adiabatic optimization algorithms, such as for solving MAX-k -SAT problems, use k -local Hamiltonians, whereas our previous counterexample for diffusion Monte Carlo involved n -body interactions. Here we present a 6-local counterexample which demonstrates that even for these local Hamiltonians there are cases where diffusion Monte Carlo cannot efficiently simulate quantum adiabatic optimization. Furthermore, we perform empirical testing of diffusion Monte Carlo on a standard well-studied class of permutation-symmetric tunneling problems and similarly find large advantages for quantum optimization over diffusion Monte Carlo.

A Monte Carlo Sampling Technique for Multi-phonon Processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoegberg, Thure

1961-12-15

A sampling technique for selecting scattering angle and energy gain in Monte Carlo calculations of neutron thermalization is described. It is supposed that the scattering is separated into processes involving different numbers of phonons. The number of phonons involved is first determined. Scattering angle and energy gain are then chosen by using special properties of the multi-phonon term.

Neutron point-flux calculation by Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eichhorn, M.

1986-04-01

A survey of the usual methods for estimating flux at a point is given. The associated variance-reducing techniques in direct Monte Carlo games are explained. The multigroup Monte Carlo codes MC for critical systems and PUNKT for point source-point detector-systems are represented, and problems in applying the codes to practical tasks are discussed. (author)

Frequency domain Monte Carlo simulation method for cross power spectral density driven by periodically pulsed spallation neutron source using complex-valued weight Monte Carlo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Toshihiro

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The cross power spectral density in ADS has correlated and uncorrelated components. • A frequency domain Monte Carlo method to calculate the uncorrelated one is developed. • The method solves the Fourier transformed transport equation. • The method uses complex-valued weights to solve the equation. • The new method reproduces well the CPSDs calculated with time domain MC method. - Abstract: In an accelerator driven system (ADS), pulsed spallation neutrons are injected at a constant frequency. The cross power spectral density (CPSD), which can be used for monitoring the subcriticality of the ADS, is composed of the correlated and uncorrelated components. The uncorrelated component is described by a series of the Dirac delta functions that occur at the integer multiples of the pulse repetition frequency. In the present paper, a Monte Carlo method to solve the Fourier transformed neutron transport equation with a periodically pulsed neutron source term has been developed to obtain the CPSD in ADSs. Since the Fourier transformed flux is a complex-valued quantity, the Monte Carlo method introduces complex-valued weights to solve the Fourier transformed equation. The Monte Carlo algorithm used in this paper is similar to the one that was developed by the author of this paper to calculate the neutron noise caused by cross section perturbations. The newly-developed Monte Carlo algorithm is benchmarked to the conventional time domain Monte Carlo simulation technique. The CPSDs are obtained both with the newly-developed frequency domain Monte Carlo method and the conventional time domain Monte Carlo method for a one-dimensional infinite slab. The CPSDs obtained with the frequency domain Monte Carlo method agree well with those with the time domain method. The higher order mode effects on the CPSD in an ADS with a periodically pulsed neutron source are discussed

Proton therapy Monte Carlo SRNA-VOX code

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilić Radovan D.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The most powerful feature of the Monte Carlo method is the possibility of simulating all individual particle interactions in three dimensions and performing numerical experiments with a preset error. These facts were the motivation behind the development of a general-purpose Monte Carlo SRNA program for proton transport simulation in technical systems described by standard geometrical forms (plane, sphere, cone, cylinder, cube. Some of the possible applications of the SRNA program are: (a a general code for proton transport modeling, (b design of accelerator-driven systems, (c simulation of proton scattering and degrading shapes and composition, (d research on proton detectors; and (e radiation protection at accelerator installations. This wide range of possible applications of the program demands the development of various versions of SRNA-VOX codes for proton transport modeling in voxelized geometries and has, finally, resulted in the ISTAR package for the calculation of deposited energy distribution in patients on the basis of CT data in radiotherapy. All of the said codes are capable of using 3-D proton sources with an arbitrary energy spectrum in an interval of 100 keV to 250 MeV.

Evaluation of Monte Carlo tools for high energy atmospheric physics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Rutjes

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The emerging field of high energy atmospheric physics (HEAP includes terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, electron–positron beams and gamma-ray glows from thunderstorms. Similar emissions of high energy particles occur in pulsed high voltage discharges. Understanding these phenomena requires appropriate models for the interaction of electrons, positrons and photons of up to 40 MeV energy with atmospheric air. In this paper, we benchmark the performance of the Monte Carlo codes Geant4, EGS5 and FLUKA developed in other fields of physics and of the custom-made codes GRRR and MC-PEPTITA against each other within the parameter regime relevant for high energy atmospheric physics. We focus on basic tests, namely on the evolution of monoenergetic and directed beams of electrons, positrons and photons with kinetic energies between 100 keV and 40 MeV through homogeneous air in the absence of electric and magnetic fields, using a low energy cutoff of 50 keV. We discuss important differences between the results of the different codes and provide plausible explanations. We also test the computational performance of the codes. The Supplement contains all results, providing a first benchmark for present and future custom-made codes that are more flexible in including electrodynamic interactions.

Experimental and Monte Carlo studies of fluence corrections for graphite calorimetry in low- and high-energy clinical proton beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lourenço, Ana; Thomas, Russell; Bouchard, Hugo; Kacperek, Andrzej; Vondracek, Vladimir; Royle, Gary; Palmans, Hugo

2016-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine fluence corrections necessary to convert absorbed dose to graphite, measured by graphite calorimetry, to absorbed dose to water. Fluence corrections were obtained from experiments and Monte Carlo simulations in low- and high-energy proton beams. Methods: Fluence corrections were calculated to account for the difference in fluence between water and graphite at equivalent depths. Measurements were performed with narrow proton beams. Plane-parallel-plate ionization chambers with a large collecting area compared to the beam diameter were used to intercept the whole beam. High- and low-energy proton beams were provided by a scanning and double scattering delivery system, respectively. A mathematical formalism was established to relate fluence corrections derived from Monte Carlo simulations, using the FLUKA code [A. Ferrari et al., “FLUKA: A multi-particle transport code,” in CERN 2005-10, INFN/TC 05/11, SLAC-R-773 (2005) and T. T. Böhlen et al., “The FLUKA Code: Developments and challenges for high energy and medical applications,” Nucl. Data Sheets 120, 211–214 (2014)], to partial fluence corrections measured experimentally. Results: A good agreement was found between the partial fluence corrections derived by Monte Carlo simulations and those determined experimentally. For a high-energy beam of 180 MeV, the fluence corrections from Monte Carlo simulations were found to increase from 0.99 to 1.04 with depth. In the case of a low-energy beam of 60 MeV, the magnitude of fluence corrections was approximately 0.99 at all depths when calculated in the sensitive area of the chamber used in the experiments. Fluence correction calculations were also performed for a larger area and found to increase from 0.99 at the surface to 1.01 at greater depths. Conclusions: Fluence corrections obtained experimentally are partial fluence corrections because they account for differences in the primary and part of the secondary

Experimental and Monte Carlo studies of fluence corrections for graphite calorimetry in low- and high-energy clinical proton beams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lourenço, Ana, E-mail: am.lourenco@ucl.ac.uk [Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom and Division of Acoustics and Ionising Radiation, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington TW11 0LW (United Kingdom); Thomas, Russell; Bouchard, Hugo [Division of Acoustics and Ionising Radiation, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington TW11 0LW (United Kingdom); Kacperek, Andrzej [National Eye Proton Therapy Centre, Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Wirral CH63 4JY (United Kingdom); Vondracek, Vladimir [Proton Therapy Center, Budinova 1a, Prague 8 CZ-180 00 (Czech Republic); Royle, Gary [Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Palmans, Hugo [Division of Acoustics and Ionising Radiation, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington TW11 0LW, United Kingdom and Medical Physics Group, EBG MedAustron GmbH, A-2700 Wiener Neustadt (Austria)

2016-07-15

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine fluence corrections necessary to convert absorbed dose to graphite, measured by graphite calorimetry, to absorbed dose to water. Fluence corrections were obtained from experiments and Monte Carlo simulations in low- and high-energy proton beams. Methods: Fluence corrections were calculated to account for the difference in fluence between water and graphite at equivalent depths. Measurements were performed with narrow proton beams. Plane-parallel-plate ionization chambers with a large collecting area compared to the beam diameter were used to intercept the whole beam. High- and low-energy proton beams were provided by a scanning and double scattering delivery system, respectively. A mathematical formalism was established to relate fluence corrections derived from Monte Carlo simulations, using the FLUKA code [A. Ferrari et al., “FLUKA: A multi-particle transport code,” in CERN 2005-10, INFN/TC 05/11, SLAC-R-773 (2005) and T. T. Böhlen et al., “The FLUKA Code: Developments and challenges for high energy and medical applications,” Nucl. Data Sheets 120, 211–214 (2014)], to partial fluence corrections measured experimentally. Results: A good agreement was found between the partial fluence corrections derived by Monte Carlo simulations and those determined experimentally. For a high-energy beam of 180 MeV, the fluence corrections from Monte Carlo simulations were found to increase from 0.99 to 1.04 with depth. In the case of a low-energy beam of 60 MeV, the magnitude of fluence corrections was approximately 0.99 at all depths when calculated in the sensitive area of the chamber used in the experiments. Fluence correction calculations were also performed for a larger area and found to increase from 0.99 at the surface to 1.01 at greater depths. Conclusions: Fluence corrections obtained experimentally are partial fluence corrections because they account for differences in the primary and part of the secondary

Non-relativistic electron transport in metals: a Monte Carlo approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahimi, F.; Ghal eh, N.

2001-01-01

A simple Monte Carlo procedure is described for simulating the multiple scattering and absorption of electrons with the incident energy in the range 1-50 keV moving through a slab of uniformly distributed material of given atomic number, density and thickness. The simulation is based on a screened Rutherford cross-section and Bethe continuous energy-loss equation. A FORTRAN program is written to determine backscattering, transmission and absorption coefficients, providing the user with a graphical output of the electron trajectories. The results of several simulations are presented by using various numbers of electrons, showing a good agreement with the experiment. The program is used to analyze the relation between the energy and the range of electron in the slab, the backscattering, absorption, transmission coefficients and the angular distribution

Shell model the Monte Carlo way

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ormand, W.E.

1995-01-01

The formalism for the auxiliary-field Monte Carlo approach to the nuclear shell model is presented. The method is based on a linearization of the two-body part of the Hamiltonian in an imaginary-time propagator using the Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation. The foundation of the method, as applied to the nuclear many-body problem, is discussed. Topics presented in detail include: (1) the density-density formulation of the method, (2) computation of the overlaps, (3) the sign of the Monte Carlo weight function, (4) techniques for performing Monte Carlo sampling, and (5) the reconstruction of response functions from an imaginary-time auto-correlation function using MaxEnt techniques. Results obtained using schematic interactions, which have no sign problem, are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the method, while an extrapolation method for realistic Hamiltonians is presented. In addition, applications at finite temperature are outlined

Shell model the Monte Carlo way

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ormand, W.E.

1995-03-01

The formalism for the auxiliary-field Monte Carlo approach to the nuclear shell model is presented. The method is based on a linearization of the two-body part of the Hamiltonian in an imaginary-time propagator using the Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation. The foundation of the method, as applied to the nuclear many-body problem, is discussed. Topics presented in detail include: (1) the density-density formulation of the method, (2) computation of the overlaps, (3) the sign of the Monte Carlo weight function, (4) techniques for performing Monte Carlo sampling, and (5) the reconstruction of response functions from an imaginary-time auto-correlation function using MaxEnt techniques. Results obtained using schematic interactions, which have no sign problem, are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the method, while an extrapolation method for realistic Hamiltonians is presented. In addition, applications at finite temperature are outlined.

Research on perturbation based Monte Carlo reactor criticality search

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zeguang; Wang Kan; Li Yangliu; Deng Jingkang

2013-01-01

Criticality search is a very important aspect in reactor physics analysis. Due to the advantages of Monte Carlo method and the development of computer technologies, Monte Carlo criticality search is becoming more and more necessary and feasible. Traditional Monte Carlo criticality search method is suffered from large amount of individual criticality runs and uncertainty and fluctuation of Monte Carlo results. A new Monte Carlo criticality search method based on perturbation calculation is put forward in this paper to overcome the disadvantages of traditional method. By using only one criticality run to get initial k_e_f_f and differential coefficients of concerned parameter, the polynomial estimator of k_e_f_f changing function is solved to get the critical value of concerned parameter. The feasibility of this method was tested. The results show that the accuracy and efficiency of perturbation based criticality search method are quite inspiring and the method overcomes the disadvantages of traditional one. (authors)

Monte Carlo and detector simulation in OOP [Object-Oriented Programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atwood, W.B.; Blankenbecler, R.; Kunz, P.; Burnett, T.; Storr, K.M.

1990-10-01

Object-Oriented Programming techniques are explored with an eye toward applications in High Energy Physics codes. Two prototype examples are given: McOOP (a particle Monte Carlo generator) and GISMO (a detector simulation/analysis package)

Model unspecific search in CMS. Treatment of insufficient Monte Carlo statistics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lieb, Jonas; Albert, Andreas; Duchardt, Deborah; Hebbeker, Thomas; Knutzen, Simon; Meyer, Arnd; Pook, Tobias; Roemer, Jonas [III. Physikalisches Institut A, RWTH Aachen University (Germany)

2016-07-01

In 2015, the CMS detector recorded proton-proton collisions at an unprecedented center of mass energy of √(s)=13 TeV. The Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC) offers an analysis approach of these data which is complementary to dedicated analyses: By taking all produced final states into consideration, MUSiC is sensitive to indicators of new physics appearing in final states that are usually not investigated. In a two step process, MUSiC first classifies events according to their physics content and then searches kinematic distributions for the most significant deviations between Monte Carlo simulations and observed data. Such a general approach introduces its own set of challenges. One of them is the treatment of situations with insufficient Monte Carlo statistics. Complementing introductory presentations on the MUSiC event selection and classification, this talk will present a method of dealing with the issue of low Monte Carlo statistics.

Selection of important Monte Carlo histories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Egbert, Stephen D.

1987-01-01

The 1986 Dosimetry System (DS86) for Japanese A-bomb survivors uses information describing the behavior of individual radiation particles, simulated by Monte Carlo methods, to calculate the transmission of radiation into structures and, thence, into humans. However, there are practical constraints on the number of such particle 'histories' that may be used. First, the number must be sufficiently high to provide adequate statistical precision fir any calculated quantity of interest. For integral quantities, such as dose or kerma, statistical precision of approximately 5% (standard deviation) is required to ensure that statistical uncertainties are not a major contributor to the overall uncertainty of the transmitted value. For differential quantities, such as scalar fluence spectra, 10 to 15% standard deviation on individual energy groups is adequate. Second, the number of histories cannot be so large as to require an unacceptably large amount of computer time to process the entire survivor data base. Given that there are approx. 30,000 survivors, each having 13 or 14 organs of interest, the number of histories per organ must be constrained to less than several ten's of thousands at the very most. Selection and use of the most important Monte Carlo leakage histories from among all those calculated allows the creation of an efficient house and organ radiation transmission system for use at RERF. While attempts have been made during the adjoint Monte Carlo calculation to bias the histories toward an efficient dose estimate, this effort has been far from satisfactory. Many of the adjoint histories on a typical leakage tape are either starting in an energy group in which there is very little kerma or dose or leaking into an energy group with very little free-field couple with. By knowing the typical free-field fluence and the fluence-to-dose factors with which the leaking histories will be used, one can select histories rom a leakage tape that will contribute to dose