Cross Section Doppler Broadening prediction using Physically Informed Deep Neural Networks
This provides a faster computational method for nuclear applications, but it is incremental as it builds on existing formalisms like Solbrig's kernel.
The paper tackles the problem of fast computation of Doppler broadening in neutron-nucleus cross-sections by developing a physically informed deep neural network trained on synthetic and experimental data for $^{235}U$, achieving results that serve as an alternative to traditional methods.
Temperature dependence of the neutron-nucleus interaction is known as the Doppler broadening of the cross-sections. This is a well-known effect due to the thermal motion of the target nuclei that occurs in the neutron-nucleus interaction. The fast computation of such effects is crucial for any nuclear application. Mechanisms have been developed that allow determining the Doppler effects in the cross-section, most of them based on the numerical resolution of the equation known as Solbrig's kernel, which is a cross-section Doppler broadening formalism derived from a free gas atoms distribution hypothesis. This paper explores a novel non-linear approach based on deep learning techniques. Deep neural networks are trained on synthetic and experimental data, serving as an alternative to the cross-section Doppler Broadening (DB). This paper explores the possibility of using physically informed neural networks, where the network is physically regularized to be the solution of a partial derivative equation, inferred from Solbrig's kernel. The learning process is demonstrated by using the fission, capture, and scattering cross sections for $^{235}U$ in the energy range from thermal to 2250 eV.