Theoretical study of production of light and intermediatemass fragments from interaction of GCR-LIKE particles

The nature of the secondary radiation field created by the
fragmentation of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) in shielding and soft
tissue must be understood in order to accurately determine the
radiation risk to astronauts from GCR. Fragmentation cross sections
play a key role in transport calculations and the estimation of
ambient dose and ambient dose equivalent behind shielding. Using
SAPTON model, we have calculated the fragmentation cross sections of
light and intermediate mass fragments with Z = 1 – 9 in the
interaction of 600MeV/u 16O ions with H, C and Al targets. Our
calculations are compared with the available experimental data, and
show a very good agreement with the data. Our calculations suggest
that the production of intermediate mass fragments is dominated by the
available phase space as well as Coulomb barrier. The predictions of
Geant4 physics models will be also presented and discussed.