Los Alamos

NATIONAL LABORATORY

research note

Applied Theoretical & Computational Physics

Code Integration Group (XCI)

Distribution
R. E. Prael, XCI, MS F663
7{7283/5{5553
rep@lanl.gov
XCI{RN (U) 99{007
LA-UR-99-1040
Date: February 23, 1999

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Extended Source Options for MCNPX

Summary
New features appropriate to the specication of accelerator beam sources have
been added to MCNPX. They permit the representation of some important
LAHET source options. In addition, through specication of a general transformation for a source dened by the MCNP SDEF card, a signicant new
capability is added to the MCNP general source denition.

I. Introduction
Two features have been added in MCNPX[1] to the MCNP general source[2] routines. The
rst is the very simple modication that permits the use of an f = ,41 Gaussian probability
distribution for the X, Y, or Z positional parameters on the SDEF card; the fatal error for so
specifying has been removed.
A much more signicant feature has been added through the specication of a general
transformation on the SDEF card with the form TR = n or TR = Dn. In either case, a
general transformation is applied to a source particle after its coordinates and direction
cosines have been determined using the other parameters on the SDEF card. Particle
coordinates are modied by both rotation and translation; direction cosines are modied by
rotation only.
With the rst form, a single transformation TRn must be supplied. Examples of this form
are shown in Section II. In the second form, a probability distribution to select from two or
more transformations must be supplied, in addition to the transformation cards. The rules
for specifying such a distribution are exactly the same as are currently applied to the
identical specication allowed on an SSR (\surface source read") source card. Examples are
shown in Section III.
The use of TR = Dn on an SSR card has been generalized to include the implementation as
added to the SDEF card, in addition to its original use on the SSR card which is determined
by the relation between the NEW and OLD surface lists. If the original application is not
specied, then the distribution of transformations is applied for each input source particle as
if it were generated using the general source.

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II. Representation of LAHET Source Options

The spatial dependence of the LAHET[3] parallel beam sources is determined by the input
parameters X0, Y0, Z0, A0, B0, CUTS, and SMU. Dene
x0  X0
a  A0

c  CUTS

y0  Y0
b  B0

z0  Z0
ab

cos L  SMU
where 0  L  . The source is generated in an (x0; y0) coordinate system with the
distribution centered at the origin and the major axis of the distribution along the positive
x0-direction. The particle coordinates are then obtained by translation and rotation
according to the following equations:
x

= x0 sin L , y0 cos L + x0 ;

= x0 cos L + y0 sin L + y0 :
Thus angle L is the angle of rotation of the major axis of the source distribution from the
positive y-direction in the laboratory coordinate system. For the default SMU = 0.0, the
angle L is 90 and the major axis lies along the x-axis. In LAHET, the beam direction is
limited to the z-direction, which is normal to both the x0y0-plane and the laboratory
xy -plane. In general, the LAHET input denitions may be expressed by an MCNP
transformation
y

TRn

x0 y0 z0

cos  ,sin  0 sin  cos  0 0 0 1

where  = L , =2. In the following examples, \ccc" is used to indicate a \cookie cutter"
cell card and \nnn" is used to designate the surface from which it is constructed.
For LAHET option ISOPT = 0, the source distribution is uniform in an ellipse dened by
!2
!
y0 2
x0
+ b
a

1

and the CUTS parameter is not used. In MCNP, a uniform source distribution in a disk is
easily written in full generality, and the elliptical bounds may applied by specication of an
appropriate \cookie cutter" cell. However, a complete prescription in terms of LAHET input
quantities may be given as
ccc
nnn
SDEF
SI1
TRn

0 , nnn
SQ a,2 b,2 0 0 0 0 ,1 0 0 0
DIR = 1 VEC = 0 0 1 RAD = D1 AXS = 0 0 1 CCC = ccc TR = n
a
x0 y0 z0 cos  ,sin  0 sin  cos  0 0 0 1

with source eciency = b=a, or by

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ccc
0 , nnn
nnn SQ a,2 b,2 0 0 0 0 ,1 0 0 0
SDEF DIR = 1 VEC = 0 0 1 X = D1 Y = D2 Z = 0 CCC = ccc TR = n
SI1
-a a
SP1
01
SI2
-b b
SP2
01
TRn x0 y0 z0 cos  ,sin  0 sin  cos  0 0 0 1

with source eciency = =4. Note that if CCC is omitted, one obtains the LAHET option
ISOPT = 4 rectangular source.
For LAHET option ISOPT = 2, the source has a Gaussian distribution and is sampled from
a density function given by


 2

 2 

exp , 21 xa + yb
0
0
h
 i
p(x ; y ) =
2ab 1 , exp ,2c2
0

The source vanishes outside the ellipse given by

!
!
x0 2
y0 2
+ b
a

c2

(1)

and this elliptical area is entirely conned within a circle of radius ac centered at (x0; y0).
Note that the cuto parameter c is specied as a multiple of standard2 deviations of the
Gaussian distribution. The theoretical source eciency is 1 , exp( ,2c ) for the truncated
distribution.
The same distribution may be represented in MCNPX using the f = ,41 Gaussian
probability distribution for X and Y. However, the parameter used with f = ,41 is the \full
width at half maximum" (FWHM). The FWHM parameters used are related to the LAHET
parameters a and b by
fx = (8 ln 2)1=2a = 2:35482a

fy

= (8 ln 2)1=2b = 2:35482b

so that the complete prescription to represent the LAHET source option in MCNPX is
ccc
nnn
SDEF
SP1
SP2
TRn

0 , nnn
SQ a,2 b,2 0 0 0 0 ,c2 0 0 0
DIR = 1 VEC = 0 0 1 X = D1 Y = D2 Z = 0 CCC = ccc TR = n
-41 fx 0
-41 fy 0
x0 y0 z0 cos  ,sin  0 sin  cos  0 0 0 1

The transformations shown in the above examples are the necessarily simple ones used for an
exact representation of the LAHET source options. The full power of the new transformation
option comes with the ability to

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 sample the source coordinates in the x0y0-plane of an (x0; y0; z0) coordinate system;
 sample the source direction cosines in the (x0; y0; z0) coordinate system using any of the
options available with the SDEF card;
 apply a completely general transformation from the (x0; y0; z0) system to the laboratory
(x; y; z) system to each source particle before the start of transport.

The use of a distribution of transformations is discussed below.

III. Use of a Probability Distribution of Transformations

The opportunity to specify a probability distribution of transformations on the SDEF card is
new feature that goes beyond just enabling the representation of LAHET beam sources. It
allows the representation of multiple beams which dier only in orientation and intensity, a
feature that may have application in radiography. Another possibility is an arbitrary
distribution of point sources of arbitrary intensity.
The use of a distribution of transformations is invoked by specifying TR = Dn on the SDEF
card. The cards SI, SP and, optionally, SB are used as specied for the SSR card on page
3-57 of reference [2].
SIn
SPn
SBn

L I1 : : : Ik
option P1 : : : Pk
option B1 : : : Ik

The L option on the SI card is required; new input checking has been implemented to insure
this usage for both the SDEF and SSR applications. The option on the SP and SB cards may
be blank, D or C. The values I1 : : : Ik identify k transformations which must be supplied. The
content of the SP and SB cards then follows the general rules of reference [2].
The following example shows a case of three intersecting Gaussian parallel beams, each
dened with the parameters a = 0.2 cm, b = 0.1 cm, and c =2 in the notation of the
preceding section. For each, the beam is normal to the plane of denition.

 Beam 1 is centered at (0,0,-2) with the major axis of the beam distribution along the
x,axis, emitted in the +z -direction, with relative intensity 1.
 Beam 2 is centered at (-2,0,0) with the major axis of the beam distribution along the
y ,axis, emitted in the +x-direction, with relative intensity 2.
 Beam 3 is centered at (0,-2,0) with the major axis of the beam distribution along the
line x = z, emitted in the +y-direction, with relative intensity 3.

The card SBn is used to provide equal sampling from the three beams which is independent
of the relative intensities. This example demonstrates most of the new features. The relevant
input is the following:

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999
...
999
...
SDEF
SP1
SP2
SI3
SP3
SB3
TR1
TR2
TR3

-999

SQ 25 100 0 0 0 0 -4 0 0 0

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$ cookie cutter cell CCC

$ surface for cell CCC

DIR = 1 VEC = 0 0 1 X = D1 Y = D2 Z = 0 CCC = 999 TR = D3

-41 .470964 0
-41 .235482 0
L 1 2 3
1 2 3
1 1 1
0 0 -2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
0 -2 0 .707 0 .707 .707 0 -.707 0 1 0

IV. Conclusions
The code modications discussed above provide the capability for using in MCNPX some of
the beam source options used with LAHET. They include the option of describing multiple
beam sources. The LAHET elliptical ring source option is not implemented here. The
present work suggests, however, that it could be included through the mechanism of a
probability distribution of cookie cutter cells CCC = Dn specied on the SDEF card,
although with low sampling eciency.
The coding for this modication has been tested in MCNPX and also as a \patch" to
MCNP4XS, on both SGI and UNICOS systems. No dierences with the present test problem
sets have been found, apart from an additional output line included in the printing of source
specications (print table 10).
REFERENCES
[1] H. G. Hughes, R. E. Prael, and R. C. Little, \MCNPX { The LAHET/MCNP Code
Merger", X-Division Research Note XTM-RN(U)97-012, LA-UR-97-4891, Los Alamos
National Laboratory (April 1997).
http://www-xdiv.lanl.gov/XTM/hughes/LA UR 97 4891/cover.html
[2] Judith F. Briesmeister, editor, \MCNPT M - A General Monte Carlo N-Particle
Transport Code", Los Alamos National Laboratory report LA-12625-M (March 1997).
http://www-xdiv.lanl.gov/XCI/PROJECTS/MCNP/manual.html
[3] Richard E. Prael and Henry Lichtenstein, \User Guide to LCS: The LAHET Code
System", LA-UR-89-3014, Los Alamos National Laboratory (September 1989).
http://www-xdiv.lanl.gov/XCI/PROJECTS/LCS/lahet-doc.html