11 SasView/sasmodels form factors: small-angle scattering
This chapter documents the sasmodels category: a large set of small-angle scattering
(SAXS/USAXS) form-factor models, generated automatically from the open-source
SasView/sasmodels project (https://github.com/SasView/sasmodels) and exposed to
McXtrace as individual SasView_* components (each wrapping one sasmodels kernel). This
gives access to the same, actively maintained library of scattering-law implementations used
for SAXS/SANS data fitting in SasView itself, directly as McXtrace sample components,
without needing to hand-implement each form factor.
Most models exist in a plain (orientation-averaged, i.e. powder/isotropic) form and, where
the shape has a well-defined orientation, an _aniso variant that additionally accepts
orientation parameters. For the underlying physics of any individual model (defining equation,
parameter meaning, validity range), consult the corresponding page in the SasView
documentation (https://www.sasview.org/docs/); the parameter tables below are generated
directly from each component’s McDoc header and give the McXtrace-specific parameter
names, units and defaults.
See also the contrib chapter’s native (non-SasView-derived) SAXS sample models
(SAXSSpheres, SAXSCylinders, …) for an alternative, McXtrace-specific implementation of
many of the same shapes.