Microscopic description of proton-induced spallation reactions with the Constrained Molecular Dynamics (CoMD) Model

TL;DR

This paper presents the first complete microscopic dynamical simulation of proton-induced spallation reactions using the Constrained Molecular Dynamics (CoMD) model, showing good agreement with experimental data and highlighting potential for model improvements.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopic N-body approach to fully describe spallation reactions, advancing beyond traditional two-step models.

Findings

CoMD results agree well with experimental data

First complete dynamical microscopic description of spallation

Potential for improved physics-based modeling

Abstract

We studied the complete dynamics of the proton-induced spallation process with the microscopic framework of the Constrained Molecular Dynamics (CoMD) Model. We performed calculations of proton-induced spallation reactions on 181Ta, 208Pb, and 238U targets with the CoMD model and compared the results with a standard two-step approach based on an intranuclear cascade model (INC) followed by a statistical deexcitation model. The calculations were also compared with recent experimental data from the literature. Our calculations showed an overall satisfactory agreement with the experimental data and suggest further improvements in the models. We point out that this CoMD study represents the first complete dynamical description of spallation reactions with a microscopic N-body approach and may lead to advancements in the physics-based modelling of the spallation process.