Monte Carlo transport of swift protons and light ions in water: The influence of excitation cross sections, relativistic effects, and Auger electron emission in w-values

Purpose To develop a particle transport code to compute w-values and stopping power of swift ions in liquid water and gases of interest for reference dosimetry in hadrontherapy. To analyze the relevance of inelastic and post-collisional processes considered. Methods The Monte Carlo code MDM was extended to the case of swift ion impact on liquid water (MDM-Ion). Relativistic corrections in the inelastic cross sections and the post-collisional...