TRANSLATE - a Monte Carlo simulation of electron transport in liquid argon

Abstract

The microphysics of electron and photon propagation in liquid argon is a key component of detector design and calibrations needed to construct and perform measurements within a wide range of particle physics experiments. As experiments grow in scale and complexity, and as the precision of their intended measurements increases, the development of tools to investigate important microphysics effects impacting such detectors becomes necessary. In this paper we present a new time-domain Monte Carlo simulation of electron transport in liquid argon. The simulation models the TRANSport in Liquid Argon of near-Thermal Electrons (TRANSLATE) with the aim of providing a multi-purpose software package for the study and optimization of detector environments, with a particular focus on ongoing and next generation liquid argon neutrino experiments utilizing the time projection chamber technology. TRANSLATE builds on previous work of Wojcik and Tachiya, amongst others, introducing additional processes, including ionization, thus modeling the full range of drift electron scattering interactions. The simulation is validated by benchmarking its performance with swarm parameters from data collected in experimental setups operating in gas and liquid. Program summaryProgram Title:TRANSLATECPC Library link to program files:https://doi.org/10.17632/v3tr6xp53h.1Developer's repository link:https://github.com/davidc1/TRANSLATELicensing provisions: GNU General Public License 3.0Programming language: C▪, pythonExternal routines/libraries used: make, cmake (required), ipython notebook (optional)Nature of problem: Simulation of electron-argon scattering events at energies of 10−3−103 eVSolution method: Monte Carlo time-domain transport of electrons simulating momentum transfer, excitations, and ionization interaction modes utilizing input single and double-differential cross sections.Additional comments including restrictions and unusual features: Effects of ion space-charge or recombination with positive argon ions are not included.