title: Implementation of new physics models for low energy electrons in liquid water in Geant4-DNA.
abstract: A new alternative set of elastic and inelastic cross sections has been added to the very low energy extension of the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit, Geant4-DNA, for the simulation of electron interactions in liquid water. These cross sections have been obtained from the CPA100 Monte Carlo track structure code, which has been a reference in the microdosimetry community for many years. They are compared to the default Geant4-DNA cross sections and show better agreement with published data. In order to verify the correct implementation of the CPA100 cross section models in Geant4-DNA, simulations of the number of interactions and ranges were performed using Geant4-DNA with this new set of models, and the results were compared with corresponding results from the original CPA100 code. Good agreement is observed between the implementations, with relative differences lower than 1% regardless of the incident electron energy. Useful quantities related to the deposited energy at the scale of the cell or the organ of interest for internal dosimetry, like dose point kernels, are also calculated using these new physics models. They are compared with results obtained using the well-known Penelope Monte Carlo code.
authors: CRCT, UMR1037 INSERM, Université Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse, France; UMR1037, CRCT, Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse, France. Electronic address: marie-claude.bordage@inserm.fr.
authors: M C
authors: MC
authors: Bordage
authors: CRCT, UMR1037 INSERM, Université Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse, France; UMR1037, CRCT, Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse, France.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Bordes
authors: CNRS, LAPLACE, F-31062 Toulouse, France; Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, UPS, INPT, LAPLACE, F-31062 Toulouse, France.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Edel
authors: CNRS, LAPLACE, F-31062 Toulouse, France; Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, UPS, INPT, LAPLACE, F-31062 Toulouse, France.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Terrissol
authors: CRCT, UMR1037 INSERM, Université Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse, France; UMR1037, CRCT, Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse, France.
authors: X
authors: X
authors: Franceries
authors: CRCT, UMR1037 INSERM, Université Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse, France; UMR1037, CRCT, Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse, France.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Bardiès
authors: Univ. Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan, France; CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan, France.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Lampe
authors: Univ. Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan, France; CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan, France.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Incerti
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004583:Electrons; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D055585:Physical Phenomena; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D004247:DNA
keywords: Geant4-DNA; Ionizing radiation; Low energy electrons; Monte-Carlo track structure code