English

McSAS3: improved Monte Carlo small-angle scattering analysis software for dilute and dense scatterers

Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability 2026-01-27 v1 Materials Science

Abstract

McSAS3 is the refactored successor to the original McSAS Monte Carlo small-angle scattering analysis software. It is intended to be integrated in automated data processing pipelines, but can also be used to process individual (batches of) scattering data. McSAS3 comes with a graphical user interface (McSAS3GUI), complete with guides, examples and videos. McSAS3GUI will help to generate and test the three configuration files that McSAS3 needs for data read-in, Monte Carlo optimization and histogramming. The user interface can also be used to process individual files or batches, and can be augmented with machine-specific use templates. The Monte Carlo (MC) approach is able to fit most practical scattering patterns extremely well, resulting in form-free model parameter distributions. Theoretically, these can be distributions on any model parameter, but in practice the MC-optimized parameter is usually a (volume-weighted) size distribution, in absolute volume fraction for absolute-scaled data.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.18659,
  title  = {McSAS3: improved Monte Carlo small-angle scattering analysis software for dilute and dense scatterers},
  author = {Brian Richard Pauw and Ingo Breßler},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.18659},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

15 pages, 4 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T09:20:42.832Z