Development of a virtual environment for tests of cosmic-ray propagation in the atmosphere

• Grant number: 12/01626-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2013
• End date: November 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Nuclear Physics
• Principal Investigator: Brett Vern Carlson
• Grantee: Maurício Tizziani Pazianotto
• Host Institution: Divisão de Ciências Fundamentais (IEF). Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA). Ministério da Defesa (Brasil). São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The project described here proposes to develop a virtual environment that could be used by the codes MCNPX and GEANT4 to computationally model the behavior of systems (airplanes, computers, detectors, etc.) subject to a cosmic radiation field. It would also be used to support continuous ground monitoring of the intensity of cosmic radiation through measurements of the total neutron flux, with the objective of normalizing the measured dose of cosmic radiation aboard airplanes, and in studies of the climate in space, as part of a search for correlations between the cosmic ray flux incident on the Earth and other high altitude variables in the region of the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly. The virtual environment would be tested with experimental measurements of the co-advisor's group at the Instituto de Estudos Avançados (IEAv) and others obtaiend from the literature. The principal thesis advisor, Dr. Brett V. Carlson has a collaboration CAPES-DGU with Prof. José Manuel Quesada Molina of the University of Seville, whose group contributes to the development of GEANT4 and applies it in calculations in the medical and technological areas. Part of the project will be developed in collaboration there.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PAZIANOTTO, M. T.; CORTES-GIRALDO, M. A.; FEDERICO, C. A.; HUBERT, G.; GONCALEZ, O. L.; QUESADA, J. M.; CARLSON, B. V.. Extensive air shower Monte Carlo modeling at the ground and aircraft flight altitude in the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly and comparison with neutron measurements. Astroparticle Physics, v. 88, p. 17-29, FEB 2017. (12/01626-8)