Simulation of proton-induced activation for low-Earth orbit high energy astrophysics missions

Abstract

Proton-induced activation represents a major source of instrumental background for high-energy astrophysics missions in low-Earth orbit, where trapped protons, particularly during transits within the South Atlantic Anomaly region, irradiate spacecraft materials and generate radioactive isotopes. Direct Monte Carlo simulations of activation and of the ensuing decays are computationally inefficient, due to the low probability of nuclide production and the large number of decay events required for sufficient statistical accuracy. In this paper we provide a new implementation of an efficient three-step algorithm that decouples isotope production, radioactive-decay evolution, and background synthesis, enabling rapid reconstruction of activation-induced background for arbitrary irradiation histories. The method combines Geant4-based identification of all radioisotopes produced by monochromatic proton irradiations, numerical solutions of the Bateman equations for linearized decay chains, and simulation of the detector response to each isotope decay emissions. The approach greatly reduces the computational cost while maintaining accuracy, as demonstrated through validation against direct simulations, which show excellent agreement over many orders of magnitude in activity and time. This method is applied to two representative case studies: HERMES and eXTP/LAD and WFM, covering different detector technologies and orbital configurations. The presented framework enables fast exploration of design and operational scenarios (e.g., orbit selection, radiation models, or duty cycles) and is well suited for background budgeting and optimization of future high-energy space missions.

32 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in Experimental Astronomy. This preprint has not undergone any post-submission improvements or corrections. The Version of Record of this article is published in Experimental Astronomy, and is available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-026-10059-7

References in corpus (11)

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