RADIOACTIVITY AND DOSIMETRY
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2019/2020
- Teacher
- PAOLO CARDARELLI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- FIS/07
Training objectives
- Insight into the physics of the emission of ionizing radiation by natural and artificial sources and into the physics of ionizing radiation interactions with matter. Knowledge of methods and instruments for radiation detection and absorbed dose measurement.
Prerequisites
- Classical and modern physics, elements of relativity.
Course programme
- Directly and indirectly ionizing radiation. Radioisotopes. Alpha decay, beta minus and beta plus decay, electron capture. Alpha and beta emission spectra. Decay kinetics: activity, decay constant, half-life, mean lifetime. Mixture of two independently decaying radionuclides. Radioactive parent-daughter relationships: transient equilibrium, secular equilibrium. Partial decay constants and branching ratios. Decay chains and Bateman equations. Decay schemes. Naturally occurring and artificially produced radioactivity. Naturally occurring series, radioactive dating, radiocarbon dating. Interactions of charged particles with matter: linear and mass stopping powers, radiative and collision stopping powers, Bethe formula. Bragg curve. Bremsstrahlung Yield. Range of charged particles. The Continuous Slowing Down Approximation. The Linear Energy Transfer (LET). Specific ionization. Interactions of photons with matter: photon beam attenuation, narrow- and broad-beam geometry, half-value layer (HVL), linear and mass attenuation coefficients, energy-absorption and energy-transfer coefficients. Photoelectric effect, Compton effect, coherent (Rayleigh) scattering, pair production: angular, energy- and Z-dependence of the cross sections for the various processes. Interactions of neutrons with matter: thermal and fast neutrons, exponential attenuation, moderation, elastic scattering, resonances. Dosimetric quantities and units: fluence, flux, exposure and the Roentgen, absorbed dose and the Gray, Kerma. Charged particle equilibrium, the standard ionization chamber. Thimble, Farmer, condenser and extrapolation ionization chambers. The Bragg-Gray cavity theory. Calorimetric dosimetry, chemical dosimetry, film dosimetry, scintillation (thermoluminescence) dosimetry, solid-state dosimetry using p-n or p-i-n junction diodes. Introduction to the Monte Carlo method for the simulation of radiation transport. Elements of radioprotection dosimetry: quality factor, (effective) dose equivalent, background-radiation dose, low-level biologic effects of radiation, dose-risk models, effective dose limits for occupational/public exposure.
Didactic methods
- The course is organized as follows: 1) frontal lectures on all the course topics and numerical exercises in order to facilitate self-learning (~46 h); 3) introductory tutorials to computer simulations using Monte Carlo codes for radiation transport (~4 h). 4) Visit to a hospital and practical activity on clinical dosimetry (~2 h)
Learning assessment procedures
- The examination consists of a structured oral test. The course subjects will be discussed, to verify the ability of linking different topics discussed during the lectures. At least three questions will be posed, covering main course topics: radioactive-decay physics, dosimetry theory and instrumentation, radiation protection dosimetry.
Reference texts
- J. Magill & J. Galy, "Radioactivity - Radionuclides - Radiation", Springer-Verlag (2005).
E.B. Podgorsak, Radiation Physics for Medical Physicists, Springer-Verlag (2010).
F.H. Attix, "Introduction to radiological physics and radiation dosimetry", John Wiley & Sons (1986).
