title: Photon track evolution.
abstract: Given the time scale of biological, biochemical, biophysical and physical effects in a radiation exposure of living tissue, the first physical stage can be considered to be independent of time. All the physical interactions caused by the incident photons happen at the same starting time. From this point of view it would seem that the evolution of photon tracks is not a relevant topic for analysis; however, if the photon track is considered as a sequence of several interactions, there are several steps until the total degradation of the energy of the primary photon. We can characterise the photon track structure by the probability p(E,j), that is, the probability that a photon with energy E suffers j secondary interactions. The aim of this work is to analyse the photon track structure by considering j as a step of the photon track evolution towards the total degradation of the photon energy. Low energy photons (<150 keV) are considered, with water phantoms and half-extended geometry. The photon track evolution concept is presented and compared with the energy deposition along the track and also with the spatial distribution of the several steps in the photon track.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, Departamento de Protecção Radiológica e Segurança Nuclear E. N. 10, Apartado 21, 2686-953 Sacavém, Portugal. adoliv@itn.mces.pt
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Oliveira
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001822:Body Burden; D006801:Humans; D018499:Linear Energy Transfer / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D017785:Photons / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods*; D012062:Relative Biological Effectiveness; D012542:Scattering, Radiation