Particle generation through restrictive planes in GEANT4 simulations for potential applications of cosmic ray muon tomography

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel particle generation method in GEANT4 simulations for muon tomography, using directional restriction via vector construction to optimize particle loss and improve simulation accuracy.

Contribution

The study presents an unconventional, geometry-dependent particle generation scheme in GEANT4 that enhances efficiency for muon tomography simulations.

Findings

Effective particle loss reduction achieved

Flexible approach adaptable to various geometries

Validated with multiple target materials and energy spectra

Abstract

In this study, by attempting to resolve the angular complication during the particle generation for the muon tomography applications in the GEANT4 simulations, we exhibit an unconventional methodology that is hinged on the direction limitation via the vectorial construction from the generation location to the restriction area rather than using a certain angular distribution or interval. In other words, we favor a momentum direction that is determined by a vector constructed between an initial point randomly chosen on a generative point/plane and a latter point arbitrarily selected on a restrictive plane of the same dimensions with the basal cross section of the volume-of-interest (VOI). On account of setting out such a generation scheme, we optimize the particle loss by keeping an angular disparity that is directly dependent on the VOI geometry as well as the vertical position of the restrictive plane for a tomographic system of a finite size. We demonstrate our strategy for a set of target materials including aluminum, copper, iron, lead, and uranium with a dimension of 40$\times$10$\times$40 $\rm cm^{3}$ over three restrictive planes of different positions by using a discrete energy spectrum between 0.1 and 8 GeV and we compute the scattering angle, the number of absorption, and the particle loss. Upon our simulation outcomes, we show that the particle generation by means of restrictive planes is an effective strategy that is flexible towards a variety of computational objectives in the GEANT4 simulations.