Monte Carlo Transport of Electrons and Photons (Ettore Majorana International Science Series (38))

For ten days at the end of September, 1987, a group of about 75 scientists from 21 different countries gathered in a restored monastery on a 750 meter high piece of rock jutting out of the Mediterranean Sea to discuss the simulation of the transport of electrons and photons using Monte Carlo techniques. When we first had the idea for this meeting, Ralph Nelson, who had organized a previous course at the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture, suggested that Erice would be the ideal place for such a meeting. Nahum, Nelson and Rogers became Co-Directors of the Course, with the help of Alessandro Rindi, the Director of the School of Radiation Damage and Protection, and Professor Antonino Zichichi, Director of the "Ettore Majorana" Centre. The course was an outstanding success, both scientifically and socially, and those at the meeting will carry the marks of having attended, both intellectually and on a personal level where many friendships were made. The scientific content of the course was at a very high caliber, both because of the hard work done by all the lecturers in preparing their lectures (e. g. , complete copies of each lecture were available at the beginning of the course) and because of the high quality of the "students", many of whom were accomplished experts in the field. The outstanding facilities of the Centre contributed greatly to the success. This volume contains the formal record of the course lectures. Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Overview of Photon and Electron Monte Carlo....Pages 3-20 Multiple-Scattering Angular Deflections and Energy- Loss Straggling....Pages 21-56 Electron Stopping Powers for Transport Calculations....Pages 57-80 Cross Sections for Bremsstrahlung Production and Electron-Impact Ionization....Pages 81-114 Electron Step-Size Artefacts and PRESTA....Pages 115-137 20-MeV Electrons on a Slab of Water....Pages 139-149 Front Matter....Pages 151-151 An Overview of ETRAN Monte Carlo Methods....Pages 153-181 ETRAN — Experimental Benchmarks....Pages 183-219 Applications of ETRAN Monte Carlo Codes....Pages 221-246 Front Matter....Pages 247-247 Structure and Operation of the ITS Code System....Pages 249-262 Applications of the ITS Codes....Pages 263-284 Front Matter....Pages 285-285 Structure and Operation of the EGS4 Code System....Pages 287-305 Experimental Benchmarks of EGS....Pages 307-321 A Comparison of EGS and ETRAN....Pages 323-342 Front Matter....Pages 343-343 Low-Energy Monte Carlo and W-Values....Pages 345-360 Electron Track Simulation For Microdosimetry....Pages 361-382 Front Matter....Pages 383-383 Geometry Methods and Packages....Pages 385-405 Variance-Reduction Techniques....Pages 407-419 Electron Transport in $$\vec E$$ and $${\mathbf{\vec B}}$$ Fields....Pages 421-434 Front Matter....Pages 435-435 Electron Pencil-Beam Calculations....Pages 437-452 Front Matter....Pages 435-435 Monte Carlo Simulation of Radiation Treatment Machine Heads....Pages 453-468 Positron Emission Tomography Applications of EGS....Pages 469-484 Stopping-Power Ratios for Dosimetry....Pages 485-501 Photon Monte Carlo Transport in Radiation Protection....Pages 503-522 Simulation of Dosimeter Response and Interface Effects....Pages 523-547 Dose Calculations for Radiation Treatment Planning....Pages 549-571 Three-Dimensional Dose Calculation for Total Body Irradiation....Pages 573-598 High-Energy Physics Applications of EGS....Pages 599-622 Back Matter....Pages 623-638