BRAGG PEAK SHAPE PARAMETERS AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING THE -VALUE ESTIMATION

摘要

It is shown, for the first time in a systematic way, that by employing experimental constraints on the shape parameters of the Bragg peak, along with its position, the accuracy in empirical estimation of the mean ionization potential of the stopping medium can be improved. The particular case considered in the present work has a high relevance for hadrontherapy, namely beams of ~(12)C ions stopped in water targets. Experimental data at 12 incident beam energies in the range of interest for therapy are compared with the numerical simulations performed with the FLUKA and PHITS computer codes. For each data set a narrow range of values for the mean ionization potential of water is obtained.