NE 155 - Introduction to Numerical Simulations in Radiation Transport MWF 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Room: ???

Evans Hall

Instructor: Rachel Slaybaugh, 4173 Etcheverry Hall, slaybaugh@berkeley.edu, 570-850-3385 Oce Hours: 2:00-3:00 PM MF and by appointment. GSI: Madicken Munk GSI Oce Hours: TBD Course Description: Computational methods used to analyze radiation transport described by various dierential, integral, and integrodierential equations. Numerical methods include nite dierence, nite elements, discrete ordinates, and Monte Carlo. Examples from neutron and photon transport; numerical solutions of neutron/photon diusion and transport equations. Monte Carlo simulations of photon and neutron transport. An overview of optimization techniques for solving the resulting discrete equations on vector and parallel computer systems. Prerequisites: Math 53 and 54 (Eng 7 recommended) References: Course notes + handouts Either Numerical Computing with MATLAB by Cleve Moler (http://www.mathworks.com/moler/index ncm.html) OR Choose a Python Ebook that ts your needs: http://www.leettips.org/2013/02/top10-free-python-pdf-ebooks-download.html E. E. Lewis, W. E. Miller Jr., Computational Methods of Neutron Transport, J. Wiley & Sons, 1984.

Grading: Homework 40% Midterms (2) 15% + 15% = 30% Final Project 30% Late submissions: -20% for each day it is late

Computer Information: All students will get class computer lab accounts at Davis Etcheverry Computing Facility (DECF) (1171 and 1111 Etcheverry): http://www.decf.berkeley.edu/ We will use the Serpent Monte Carlo code (http://montecarlo.vtt./) in this course Course Outline: 1. Introduction (a) Overview of computational science/engineering (b) A brief history of computer technology (c) Types of dierential and integral equations in radiation transport i. ii. iii. iv. Integro-dierential form of transport equation Integral form of transport equation Diusion approximation to transport equation Point kinetics equation; depletion equation

(d) Review of numerical simulations: deterministic and probabilistic methods 2. Review of numerical analysis fundamentals (a) Basic linear algebra and matrix inversion (b) Systems of linear algebraic equations (c) Direct methods for solving linear systems; Gaussian elimination; pivoting strategies; techniques for special matrices (d) Vector and matrix norms (e) Eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a matrix; spectral radius of a matrix; convergence of vectors and matrices (f) Iterative methods for solving linear systems: Jacobi, Gauss Seidel and SOR Methods (g) Interpolation and polynomial approximation review (h) Numerical dierentiation and integration review 3. Point kinetics equation: numerical solution of initial value problem (a) Taylor method (b) RungeKutta method (c) Predictor-corrector methods 4. Neutron diusion equation in 1-D: numerical solution of 2nd order ODEs (a) Formulation of the nite dierence equations for the xed-source problem (b) Direct solution by Gaussian elimination (c) Iterative solutions by Jacobi, Gauss Seidel, and SOR methods

(d) Formulation of the nite dierence equation for the eigenvalue (criticality) problem (e) Power and inverse power iterative methods 5. Neutron transport equation in 1-D: numerical solution of integro-dierential equations (a) Spatial discretization in slab geometry: diamond dierence, step dierence, and step characteristic methods (b) Angular discretization: discrete ordinates (SN ) method, some SN Gauss-Legendre quadrature sets (c) Solution of xed-source problems with no scattering (d) Iterative methods for solving discretized equations (e) Source iteration for k-eigenvalue problems (f) Convergence of source iteration method (g) Multidimensional discrete ordinates (SN ) methods (angular quadrants, ray eects, streaming eects) 6. Probabilistic numerical simulations: Monte Carlo method (a) Continuous and discrete probability distribution; probability density functions; cumulative probability distribution functions (b) Random numbers; categories of random sampling (c) Complex geometry description and ray tracing (d) Analog Monte Carlo; non-analog Monte Carlo; importance sampling; variance reduction methods; error estimates (e) Monte Carlo simulation of neutron and photon transport (f) Introduction to the MCNP or Serpent code Academic Honesty: The University provides some basic guidance about academic integrity: http://sa.berkeley.edu/conduct/integrity. Lack of knowledge of the academic honesty policy is not a reasonable explanation for a violation. Questions related to course assignments and the academic honesty policy should be directed to the instructor. Extra Help: Do not hesitate to come to my oce during oce hours or by appointment to discuss a homework problem or any aspect of the course. Attendance: Students are expected to attend classes regularly. A student who incurs an excessive number of absences may be withdrawn from a class at the discretion of the professor.