Positron/electron passage through G4_K (Potassium) Using Single Scattering: An Energy Retention Issue

Geant4 Version: geant4-10-07-patch-04 (9-September-2022)
Operating System: Linux Centos 8
Compiler/Version: g++ (GCC) 8.5.0 20210514 (Red Hat 8.5.0-18)
CMake Version: 3.20.2


Hello everyone,

I am conducting an experiment to determine the positron range for various chemical elements. The setup is as follows: A cubic world volume with (9.5* m^3) filled with G4_K (Potassium), Physics list: emstandardSS, and setEnergy: 511.0 keV. The experiment starts with shooting positrons.

When an electron (as a secondary element) is produced in an event, it do not change its position and all most do not lose its energy. Hence, in my stepping action I kill the electrons (as well as the gamma rays since I am looking for positron range).
However, after killing the electrons, after a few events, even positrons never lose their energies even after more than 1 million steps (see below).

Interestingly, for Single Scattering (SS), this phenomenon (where positrons and electrons do not lose their energies) doesn’t occur when I replace the world volume’s element from G4_K to G4_Si, G4_Ti, or G4_S. Furthermore, when I switch from SS to MSC (like ‘emstandard_opt3’ or ‘emstandard_opt4’), this issue disappears even when the volume is filled with G4_K (even without killing the electron).

Can someone help me understand why G4_K combined with SS behaves this way? Is this an inherent issue with Geant4, or might I be overlooking something in my setup?

Electrons are present:

*********************************************************************************************************
* G4Track Information:   Particle = e+,   Track ID = 1,   Parent ID = 0
*********************************************************************************************************

Step#    X(mm)    Y(mm)    Z(mm) KinE(MeV)  dE(MeV) StepLeng TrackLeng  NextVolume ProcName
    0        0        0        0     0.452        0        0         0     pvWorld initStep
    1 8.72e-06  8.4e-06 -4.45e-06     0.452 1.77e-06 1.29e-05  1.29e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat
    2 9.58e-05 9.32e-05 -4.9e-05     0.452        0 0.000129  0.000142     pvWorld CoulombScat
    3 0.000293 0.000278 -0.00015     0.452        0 0.000289  0.000431     pvWorld CoulombScat
    4  0.00057 0.000534 -0.000289     0.452 2.06e-05 0.000402  0.000833     pvWorld CoulombScat
    5 0.000791 0.000741  -0.0004     0.452 1.02e-05 0.000322   0.00116     pvWorld CoulombScat
.
.
.
36092    -0.26    0.362    0.629     0.167        0 8.08e-05      1.68     pvWorld CoulombScat
36093    -0.26    0.362    0.629     0.167        0 0.000503      1.69     pvWorld CoulombScat
36094   -0.259    0.362    0.629     0.167 0.000157 0.000159      1.69     pvWorld CoulombScat
36095  0.00968    0.689     0.87         0    0.167    0.487      2.17     pvWorld eIoni
36096  0.00968    0.689     0.87         0        0        0      2.17     pvWorld annihil

*********************************************************************************************************
* G4Track Information:   Particle = gamma,   Track ID = 3,   Parent ID = 1
*********************************************************************************************************

Step#    X(mm)    Y(mm)    Z(mm) KinE(MeV)  dE(MeV) StepLeng TrackLeng  NextVolume ProcName
    0  0.00968    0.689     0.87     0.511        0        0         0     pvWorld initStep
    1    -6.54     3.73     1.23     0.461 1.87e-05     7.23      7.23     pvWorld compt

*********************************************************************************************************
* G4Track Information:   Particle = e-,   Track ID = 4,   Parent ID = 3
*********************************************************************************************************

Step#    X(mm)    Y(mm)    Z(mm) KinE(MeV)  dE(MeV) StepLeng TrackLeng  NextVolume ProcName
    0    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503        0        0         0     pvWorld initStep
    1    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 3.46e-17 8.11e-17  8.11e-17     pvWorld CoulombScat
    2    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 1.13e-16 2.66e-16  3.47e-16     pvWorld CoulombScat
    3    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 2.83e-17 6.65e-17  4.13e-16     pvWorld CoulombScat
    4    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 9.25e-18 2.17e-17  4.35e-16     pvWorld CoulombScat
    5    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 7.02e-17 1.65e-16     6e-16     pvWorld CoulombScat
.
.
.
1391590    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 6.49e-17 1.52e-16   4.5e-10     pvWorld CoulombScat
1391591    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 1.96e-16  4.6e-16   4.5e-10     pvWorld CoulombScat
1391592    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 5.63e-17 1.32e-16   4.5e-10     pvWorld CoulombScat
1391593    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 1.29e-16 3.02e-16   4.5e-10     pvWorld CoulombScat
1391594    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 2.19e-16 5.13e-16   4.5e-10     pvWorld CoulombScat
1391595    -6.54     3.73     1.23    0.0503 1.18e-16 2.76e-16   4.5e-10     pvWorld CoulombScat

After killing the electron:

34957   -0.359    0.745   -0.375     0.167 6.15e-07 2.96e-06      1.42     pvWorld CoulombScat
34958   -0.359    0.745   -0.375     0.167 9.58e-06  4.6e-05      1.42     pvWorld CoulombScat
34959   -0.359    0.745   -0.375     0.167 5.97e-06 2.87e-05      1.42     pvWorld CoulombScat
34960   -0.359    0.746   -0.375     0.167        0 0.000166      1.42     pvWorld CoulombScat
34961   -0.358    0.746   -0.375     0.167        0 5.79e-05      1.42     pvWorld CoulombScat
34962   -0.358    0.746   -0.375     0.167 0.000104 7.59e-05      1.42     pvWorld CoulombScat
34963  -0.0177     1.02   -0.585         0    0.167    0.488      1.91     pvWorld eIoni
34964  -0.0177     1.02   -0.585         0        0        0      1.91     pvWorld annihil

*********************************************************************************************************
* G4Track Information:   Particle = gamma,   Track ID = 3,   Parent ID = 1
*********************************************************************************************************

Step#    X(mm)    Y(mm)    Z(mm) KinE(MeV)  dE(MeV) StepLeng TrackLeng  NextVolume ProcName
    0  -0.0177     1.02   -0.585     0.511        0        0         0     pvWorld initStep
    1    -6.21    -4.07     -9.7      0.24 1.87e-05     12.1      12.1     pvWorld compt

*********************************************************************************************************
* G4Track Information:   Particle = e-,   Track ID = 4,   Parent ID = 3
*********************************************************************************************************

Step#    X(mm)    Y(mm)    Z(mm) KinE(MeV)  dE(MeV) StepLeng TrackLeng  NextVolume ProcName
    0    -6.21    -4.07     -9.7     0.271        0        0         0     pvWorld initStep
    1    -6.21    -4.07     -9.7     0.271 3.94e-06 2.41e-05  2.41e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat

*********************************************************************************************************
* G4Track Information:   Particle = gamma,   Track ID = 2,   Parent ID = 1
*********************************************************************************************************

Step#    X(mm)    Y(mm)    Z(mm) KinE(MeV)  dE(MeV) StepLeng TrackLeng  NextVolume ProcName
    0  -0.0177     1.02   -0.585     0.511        0        0         0     pvWorld initStep
    1      119     99.1      175     0.219  1.9e-05      234       234     pvWorld compt

*********************************************************************************************************
* G4Track Information:   Particle = e-,   Track ID = 5,   Parent ID = 2
*********************************************************************************************************

Step#    X(mm)    Y(mm)    Z(mm) KinE(MeV)  dE(MeV) StepLeng TrackLeng  NextVolume ProcName
    0      119     99.1      175     0.292        0        0         0     pvWorld initStep
    1      119     99.1      175     0.292 5.85e-06 3.68e-05  3.68e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat

*********************************************************************************************************
* G4Track Information:   Particle = e+,   Track ID = 1,   Parent ID = 0
*********************************************************************************************************

Step#    X(mm)    Y(mm)    Z(mm) KinE(MeV)  dE(MeV) StepLeng TrackLeng  NextVolume ProcName
    0        0        0        0     0.295        0        0         0     pvWorld initStep
    1 4.61e-05 -2.77e-05 -2.55e-05     0.295 9.46e-06 5.95e-05  5.95e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat
    2 0.000267 -0.000161 -0.000147     0.295 1.15e-05 0.000285  0.000345     pvWorld CoulombScat
    3 0.000428 -0.000256 -0.000234     0.295        0 0.000207  0.000551     pvWorld CoulombScat
    4 0.000605 -0.000364 -0.000332     0.295        0 0.000229  0.000781     pvWorld CoulombScat
    5 0.000654 -0.000393 -0.00036     0.295        0 6.37e-05  0.000844     pvWorld CoulombScat
    6  0.00105 -0.000625 -0.00057     0.294 0.000394 0.000503   0.00135     pvWorld CoulombScat
    7  0.00144 -0.000854 -0.000778     0.293  0.00121 0.000498   0.00185     pvWorld CoulombScat
    8  0.00145 -0.000857 -0.000782     0.293 1.25e-06 7.87e-06   0.00185     pvWorld CoulombScat
    9   0.0017 -0.00101 -0.000921     0.293        0 0.000328   0.00218     pvWorld CoulombScat
   10  0.00203  -0.0012 -0.00108     0.293        0 0.000416    0.0026     pvWorld CoulombScat
   11  0.00247 -0.00147  -0.0013     0.293 0.000136 0.000562   0.00316     pvWorld CoulombScat
   12  0.00247 -0.00147  -0.0013     0.293 2.96e-08 1.86e-07   0.00316     pvWorld CoulombScat
   13  0.00274 -0.00163 -0.00144     0.293        0 0.000338    0.0035     pvWorld CoulombScat
   14  0.00274 -0.00164 -0.00144     0.293  1.5e-06 9.39e-06   0.00351     pvWorld CoulombScat
   15   0.0028 -0.00167 -0.00147     0.293        0 6.52e-05   0.00357     pvWorld CoulombScat
.
.
.

1079858 5.84e-06 4.14e-05 -7.73e-06     0.109 3.32e-11 1.24e-10  9.04e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat
1079859 5.84e-06 4.14e-05 -7.73e-06     0.109 1.97e-11 7.37e-11  9.04e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat
1079860 5.84e-06 4.14e-05 -7.73e-06     0.109 4.08e-11 1.53e-10  9.04e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat
1079861 5.84e-06 4.14e-05 -7.73e-06     0.109 4.17e-11 1.56e-10  9.04e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat
1079862 5.84e-06 4.14e-05 -7.73e-06     0.109 2.21e-12 8.27e-12  9.04e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat
1079863 5.84e-06 4.14e-05 -7.73e-06     0.109 2.15e-11 8.03e-11  9.04e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat
1079864 5.84e-06 4.14e-05 -7.73e-06     0.109 1.15e-11  4.3e-11  9.04e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat
1079865 5.84e-06 4.14e-05 -7.73e-06     0.109 7.25e-11 2.71e-10  9.04e-05     pvWorld CoulombScat