https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00193-2
Regular Article
On the boundary conditions for the neutron transport equation
1
I.N.F.N. - Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso, 33, 16146, Genoa, Italy
2
Centro Fermi, Piazza del Viminale, 1, 00184, Rome, Italy
3
Dipartimento Energia, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129, Turin, Italy
4
I.N.F.N. - Sezione di Torino, Via P. Giuria, 1, 10125, Turin, Italy
* e-mail: saracco@ge.infn.it
Received:
6
May
2019
Accepted:
1
November
2019
Published online:
28
January
2020
The solution of the linear transport equation used for the study of neutral particle fields requires the imposition of appropriate boundary conditions. The choice of the conditions to impose for an infinite medium is not straightforward. The question has been given different formulations in the literature with various justifications based on some physical reasoning. Some aspects of the question are here analysed, from both the mathematical and the physical point of view. It is concluded that the inspiring golden rule should be the establishment of conditions that do not require any reference to the properties of the specific medium being considered for their justification.
© Società Italiana di Fisica (SIF) and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature, 2020
