A mathematical formalism describing the yield of radiation-induced single- and double-strand DNA breaks, and its dependence on radiation quality.

The purpose of this paper is to describe mathematically the observed dependence of the number of DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) per unit dose on radiation quality (e.g., LET) by invoking the concept of matrix saturation (i.e., the fact that a nucleotide can be the site of one SSB only and therefore further local energy deposition is wasted), and to show that, based on this, one obtains a characteristic variation of the yield of DNA double-strand breaks with variation of LET, in qualitative agreement with certain experimental determinations. The formalism developed here makes use of methodology from the field of integral geometry, introduced by Kellerer [Radiat. Prot. Dosim. 31, 9-16, 1990] in microdosimetry.