Charged particle tracks in water of different phases. Monte Carlo simulation of electron tracks

The paper describes the energy deposition by charged particles in gaseous and liquid water. Cross sections and other important quantities as integral W-values, initial yields of ionizations and excitations, slowing down spectra etc. are reported and compared with available data. Track structure calculations for low energy electrons have been performed using Monte Carlo models. The frequency distributions of numbers of ionizations and excitations produced in water vapor and liquid water have been calculated. The spatial distribution of initial radiation products in electron tracks produced in both phases are also compared. The point-pair distributions of distances between the following pairs were studied: ionization-ionization, ionization-excitation, excitation-excitation and between all inelastic events (ionizations and excitations). The results obtained show significant physical differences between both phases which can lead to considerable differences in stochastic chemistry calculations.