minimc

MiniMC : Mini-MonteCarlo simulation frontend

Effects of geometry and multiple scattering are normally included in simulations only when NCrystal is used with a suitable frontend like for example McStas, OpenMC, or Geant4. The frontend application then keeps track of neutron trajectories and fluxes as they propagate around in a particular geometry, asking NCrystal along the way for information about neutron-material interactions. However, NCrystal actually comes with its own small frontend in form of the "MiniMC" engine, in which neutrons are propagated through a single convex volume and recorded as they come out.

This is intended as a light-weight alternative to using NCrystal in fully-fledged applications, and can be used to investigate properties of neutrons scattered in a particular material, including the effects of geometry and multiple scattering.

(TODO: Include an image or two, describe cfg-strings, scenario cfg, callbacks, high-level capabilities, simply examples, and links to example notebook).

In order to launch a MiniMC simulation, four cfg-strings must be provided:

• A cfg-string for the material. Refer to "Uniform material configuration syntax" on the Using-NCrystal page, as well as the reference documentation.
• srccfg
• geom

Alternatively, to support quick interactive usage, one can select from more simple simulation scenarios by providing just a simple scenario string.