Impact of Geant4’s electromagnetic physics constructors on accuracy and performance of simulations for rare event searches

Abstract A primary objective in contemporary low background physics is the search for rare and novel phenomena beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, e.g. the scattering off of a potential Dark Matter particle or the neutrinoless double beta decay. The success of such searches depends on a reliable background prediction via Monte Carlo simulations. A widely used toolkit to construct these simulations is Geant4 , which offers the user a wide choice of how to implement the physics of particle interactions. For example, for electromagnetic interactions, Geant4 provides pre-defined sets of implementations: physics constructors. As decay products of radioactive contaminants contribute to the background mainly via electromagnetic interactions, the physics constructor used in a Geant4 simulation may have an impact on the total energy deposition inside the detector target. To facilitate the selection of physics constructors for simulations of experiments that are using $$\text {CaWO}_{4}$$ CaWO 4 and Ge targets, we quantify their impact on the total energy deposition for several test cases. These cases consist of radioactive contaminants commonly encountered, covering energy depositions via $$\upalpha $$ α , $$\upbeta $$ β , and $$\upgamma $$ γ particles, as well as two examples for the target thickness: thin and bulky. We also consider the computing performance of the studied physics constructors.