Extensive study of fragmentation measurements for medical and space application
by
Clementina Agodi(LNS)
→
Europe/Rome
131 (INFN Edificio C)
131
INFN Edificio C
Description
In depth study of nuclear reaction is relevant in different branches of physics research. In particular the study of nuclear fragmentation process involves many fields of interest, from hadrontherapy to the spatial vehicles shielding design, to work safely in space with acceptable risks from galactic cosmic ray.
Nuclear fragmentation generates secondary particles and substantially modifies the radiation field inside the spacecraft and in the organs inside the human body. At present, simulations with analytical codes are used to estimate how projectile fragmentation modifies dose distributions and biological effectiveness. This approach presents considerable uncertainty for a reduced number of experimental data, both on the fragmentation cross sections and on the different radiation biological effectiveness that could be over take by fragmentation cross sections systematic measurements. In this picture, we have began to perform an experimental campaign with 12C beams at different energies and with different targets.
Fragmentation reactions induced by a 12C beam on a thin Carbon target at 62AMeV have been studied at LNS in Catania. Charge, mass and three-momentum components of charged fragments emitted at forward angles have been measured by using two high-granularity hodoscopes. Double-differential cross sections of the detected isotopes, with respect to kinetic energy and emission angle, have been measured. Experimental results have been compared with Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations by using two different physical models: one based on the Binary Cascade approach and the other on the Quantum Molecular Dynamic model. Then we extend this kind of measurements at higher energies with a new experiment: FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant Space and Therapy) at SIS accelerator of GSI laboratory in Darmstadt. This experiment has been designed for the measurement of different ions fragmentation cross sections at different energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/nucleon. The experiment is performed by an international collaboration made of institutions from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The experimental setup is partly based on an already existing setup integrated with newly designed detectors in the interaction Region (IR) around the carbon removable target. The scientific program of the FIRST experiment started on summer 2011 with the study of the 400 MeV/nucleon 12C beam fragmentation on thin graphite target and gold.
