Isotopic production cross sections in proton-16O and proton-12C interactions for energies from 10 MeV/u to 100 GeV/u

Abstract

Proton interactions with16O or 12C nuclei are frequent nuclear interaction leading to secondary radiation in tissues for space radiationandcancer therapy with protons or ion beams. The fragmentation of these ionsby protons produces a large number of heavy ion (A > 4) target or projectile fragments often with high ionization density. Here we develop an analytical model of energy dependent proton-16O and proton-12C cross sections for isotopic nuclei production. Using experimental data and a 2nd order optical modelan accurate formula for the absorption cross section from <10 MeV/u to >10 GeV/u is obtained. The energy dependence of theelemental and isotopiccross sections is modeled as multiplicities scaled toabsorption cross section with average isotopic fractions estimated from experimental data. We show that this approach results in accurateanalytic formulae for isotopic fragmentation cross sections over the full energy range in hadron therapy and space radiation protection studies.