Poisson Processes and Radioactive Decay

Radioactive decay is a fundamentally random process that continuously occurs in nature. Given that it meets certain conditions, it is possible to use random variables with a Poisson distribution to model the process. This project aims to program functions that computationally simulate various Poisson processes for radioactive disintegration. It features three C programs, each modeling a different type of radioactive decay process:

• Simple Decay: Models the radioactive decay of radionuclides of the same species.
• Decay Chain: Simulates a decay process where a radionuclide decays into a daughter nucleus, which then decays into a stable end product.
• Branched Decay: Represents a decay process where a parent nucleus decays into two possible stable products (A or B).

For detailed implementation and theoretical background, check out the documentation in the docs directory (available in Spanish).

Programs

Compile the programs using the provided Makefile. First, clone the repository and run:

cd poisson-disintegrations
make

After compilation, you can run the programs to simulate the decay processes. See usage details below:

1. Simple Decay

   ./simple_decay <N_0> <lambda> <deltaj> <M>

   Where <N_0> is the initial number of nuclei (integer), <lambda> is the decay constant (float), <deltaj> is the time step for recording data (integer), and <M> is the number of iterations (integer).

2. Decay Chain

   ./decay_chain <N_0> <N_P0> <N_H0> <lambda_P> <lambda_H> <deltaj> <M>

   Where <N_0> is the total number of nuclei (integer), <N_P0> is the initial number of parent nuclei (integer), <N_H0> is the initial number of daughter nuclei (integer), <lambda_P> is the decay constant of parent nuclei (float), <lambda_H> is the decay constant of daughter nuclei (float), <deltaj> is the time step for recording data (integer), and <M> is the number of iterations (integer).

3. Branched Decay

   ./branched_decay <N_0> <N_P0> <N_A0> <N_B0> <lambda_A> <lambda_B> <deltaj> <M>

   Where <N_0> is the total number of nuclei (integer), <N_P0> is the initial number of parent nuclei (integer), <N_A0> is the initial number of A nuclei (integer), <N_B0> is the initial number of B nuclei (integer), <lambda_A> is the decay constant of A nuclei (float), <lambda_B> is the decay constant of B nuclei (float), <deltaj> is the time step for recording data (integer), and <M> is the number of iterations (integer).

Acknowledgements

This project was developed as part of the course Física Computacional I (61041094) from the Bachelor's degree in Physics at UNED during the 2020-2021 academic year.