Fluka

FLUKA, also spelled Fluka, is a fully integrated Monte Carlo simulation package for calculating the transport and interactions of particles with matter. It is used across a range of fields, including radiation protection, dosimetry, medical physics, accelerator design, space radiation studies, and fundamental physics research. FLUKA can simulate a wide variety of particles—electrons, photons, protons, neutrons, muons, pions, and heavy ions—and covers a broad energy range with electromagnetic, hadronic, and nuclear interaction models. The code follows the continuous tracking of secondary particles and can predict energy deposition, particle fluence, dose, and microdosimetric distributions in complex geometries.

Geometry, materials, and physics are described within a built-in language. Users specify sources, geometry, materials, and scoring tallies in an input file; FLUKA then interprets this specification using its solver and physics models to produce results. It supports time-dependent simulations and user-defined detectors through dedicated interfaces. Outputs typically include energy deposition maps, particle spectra, and tally results; post-processing can be performed with Flair, a graphical user interface, as well as with other data analysis tools.

History and licensing: FLUKA was developed by the FLUKA collaboration, principally at the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy, with contributions from international partners. It is distributed to the scientific community under terms that permit academic use and educational purposes, with commercial licensing available. FLUKA is maintained and updated through ongoing international collaboration and user support, reflecting its widespread adoption in research and industry.