title: Improvements and considerations for size distribution retrieval from small-angle scattering data by Monte Carlo methods.
abstract: Monte Carlo (MC) methods, based on random updates and the trial-and-error principle, are well suited to retrieve form-free particle size distributions from small-angle scattering patterns of non-interacting low-concentration scatterers such as particles in solution or precipitates in metals. Improvements are presented to existing MC methods, such as a non-ambiguous convergence criterion, nonlinear scaling of contributions to match their observability in a scattering measurement, and a method for estimating the minimum visibility threshold and uncertainties on the resulting size distributions.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Materials Crystallography, Department of Chemistry and iNANO, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark ; Structural Materials Science Laboratory, RIKEN SPring-8 Centre, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan ; International Centre for Young Scientists, National Institute of Materials Science, Tsukuba 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Pauw
authors.forename: Jan Skov
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tardif
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.forename: Bo B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Iversen
keywords: Monte Carlo methods; particle size distribution; small-angle scattering; structure analysis