22.106 Neutron Interactions and Applications, Spring 2004
Instead of projecting ions against a single screen, this version of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's compact neutron generator produces many more neutrons by wrapping the target around the ion source. Such neutron generators are small enough to descend into a borehole, provide neutrons for brain-cancer therapy, and peer inside airport luggage. (Illustration courtesy of the U.S. Deparment of Energy's Office of Science.)
This course is a foundational study of the effects of single and multiple interactions on neutron distributions and their applications to problems across the Nuclear Engineering department - fission, fusion, and RST. Particle simulation methods are introduced to deal with complex processes that cannot be studied only experimentally or by numerical solutions of equations. Treatment will emphasize basic concepts and understanding, as well as showing the underlying scientific connections with current research areas.
