FLUKA
Encyclopedia
FLUKA is a fully integrated Monte Carlo
simulation package for the interaction and transport of particles and nuclei in matter.
FLUKA has many applications in particle physics
, high energy experimental physics
and engineering
, shielding, detector and telescope
design, cosmic ray
studies, dosimetry
, medical physics
and radiobiology
.
FLUKA is available in form of a pre-compiled object library for a number of computer platforms. Source code is also available subject to the conditions specified in the FLUKA license.
FLUKA is developed using the FORTRAN
language. Under Linux
the g77
compiler is at present necessary to build and run user programs.
A graphical user interface to run FLUKA named Flair has been developed using Python (programming language)
and is available at the project's web-site.
The software is sponsored and copyrighted by INFN and CERN
.
Early versions of the FLUKA hadronic event generator were implemented in other codes (in particular, GEANT3
) and should be referenced as such (e.g. GEANT-FLUKA) and not as FLUKA. The hadronic FLUKA generator in GEANT3
is no more developed since 1993 and cannot be compared with the present stand-alone FLUKA.
FLUKA software code is used by Epcard
, which is a software program for simulating radiation exposure on airline flights.
Monte Carlo method
Monte Carlo methods are a class of computational algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling to compute their results. Monte Carlo methods are often used in computer simulations of physical and mathematical systems...
simulation package for the interaction and transport of particles and nuclei in matter.
FLUKA has many applications in particle physics
Particle physics
Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...
, high energy experimental physics
Experimental physics
Within the field of physics, experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines concerned with the observation of physical phenomena in order to gather data about the universe...
and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, shielding, detector and telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
design, cosmic ray
Cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...
studies, dosimetry
Dosimetry
Radiation dosimetry is the measurement and calculation of the absorbed dose in matter and tissue resulting from the exposure to indirect and direct ionizing radiation...
, medical physics
Medical physics
Medical physics is the application of physics to medicine. It generally concerns physics as applied to medical imaging and radiotherapy, although a medical physicist may also work in many other areas of healthcare...
and radiobiology
Radiobiology
Radiobiology , as a field of clinical and basic medical sciences, originated from Leopold Freund's 1896 demonstration of the therapeutic treatment of a hairy mole using a new type of electromagnetic radiation called x-rays, which was discovered 1 year previously by the German physicist, Wilhelm...
.
FLUKA is available in form of a pre-compiled object library for a number of computer platforms. Source code is also available subject to the conditions specified in the FLUKA license.
FLUKA is developed using the FORTRAN
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
language. Under Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
the g77
GNU Compiler Collection
The GNU Compiler Collection is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting various programming languages. GCC is a key component of the GNU toolchain...
compiler is at present necessary to build and run user programs.
A graphical user interface to run FLUKA named Flair has been developed using Python (programming language)
Python (programming language)
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
and is available at the project's web-site.
The software is sponsored and copyrighted by INFN and CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
.
Early versions of the FLUKA hadronic event generator were implemented in other codes (in particular, GEANT3
GEANT (program)
GEANT is the name of a series of simulation software designed to describe the passage of elementary particles through matter, using Monte Carlo methods. The name is an acronym formed from "GEometry ANd Tracking". Originally developed at CERN for high energy physics experiments, today GEANT has...
) and should be referenced as such (e.g. GEANT-FLUKA) and not as FLUKA. The hadronic FLUKA generator in GEANT3
GEANT (program)
GEANT is the name of a series of simulation software designed to describe the passage of elementary particles through matter, using Monte Carlo methods. The name is an acronym formed from "GEometry ANd Tracking". Originally developed at CERN for high energy physics experiments, today GEANT has...
is no more developed since 1993 and cannot be compared with the present stand-alone FLUKA.
FLUKA software code is used by Epcard
Epcard
EPCARD is a software program that calculates radiation exposure of aircrews. The software code is based on the FLUKA transport code...
, which is a software program for simulating radiation exposure on airline flights.