MCViNE -- An object oriented Monte Carlo neutron ray tracing simulation package

Abstract

MCViNE (Monte-Carlo VIrtual Neutron Experiment) is a versatile Monte Carlo (MC) neutron ray-tracing program that provides researchers with tools for performing computer modeling and simulations that mirror real neutron scattering experiments. By adopting modern software engineering practices such as using composite and visitor design patterns for representing and accessing neutron scatterers, and using recursive algorithms for multiple scattering, MCViNE is flexible enough to handle sophisticated neutron scattering problems including, for example, neutron detection by complex detector systems, and single and multiple scattering events in a variety of samples and sample environments. In addition, MCViNE can take advantage of simulation components in linear-chain-based MC ray tracing packages widely used in instrument design and optimization, as well as NumPy-based components that make prototypes useful and easy to develop. These developments have enabled us to carry out detailed simulations of neutron scattering experiments with non-trivial samples in time-of-flight inelastic instruments at the Spallation Neutron Source. Examples of such simulations for powder and single-crystal samples with various scattering kernels, including kernels for phonon and magnon scattering, are presented. With simulations that closely reproduce experimental results, scattering mechanisms can be turned on and off to determine how they contribute to the measured scattering intensities, improving our understanding of the underlying physics.

34 pages, 14 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Mantid - Data Analysis and Visualization Package for Neutron Scattering and $\mu SR$ Experiments
• Phonon self-energy and origin of anomalous neutron scattering spectra in SnTe and PbTe thermoelectrics
• Inelastic neutron scattering studies of YFeO${}_3$
• Quantum oscillations of nitrogen atoms in uranium nitride
• High-Energy Continuum of Magnetic Excitations in the Two-Dimensional Quantum Antiferromagnet Sr2CuO2Cl2
• Electron-phonon coupling in the conventional superconductor YNi${}_2$B${}_2$C at high phonon energies studied by time-of-flight neutron spectroscopy

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• Frustrated Magnetism in Mott Insulating (V${}_{1-x}$Cr${}_x$)${}_2$O${}_3$
• Super-resolution energy spectra from neutron direct-geometry spectrometers
• Momentum and Energy Dependent Resolution Function of the ARCS Neutron Chopper Spectrometer at High Momentum Transfer: Comparing Simulation and Experimen
• Nanoscale structural correlations in a model cuprate superconductor
• Four-Dimensional Imaging of Lattice Dynamics using Inelastic Scattering
• Light atom quantum oscillations in UC and US
• Interleaved bond frustration in a triangular lattice antiferromagnet
• General Guide Concepts for Compact, High-Brilliance Neutron Moderators
• Impact of further-range exchange and cubic anisotropy on magnetic excitations in the fcc kagome antiferromagnet IrMn3
• Optical design for the single crystal neutron diffractometer Pioneer
• Energy Resolution and Neutron Flux of the 4SEASONS Spectrometer Revisited
• Incident beam optics optimization for the single crystal neutron diffractometer Pioneer with a polarized beam option