## Introduction

BornAgain is an open-source research software to simulate and fit neutron and x-ray reflectometry, off-specular scattering, and small-angle scattering (SAS), especially under grazing incidence (GISAS).

Its name, BornAgain, alludes to the central role of the distorted-wave Born approximation in the physical description of the scattering process. The software provides a generic framework for modeling multilayer samples with smooth or rough interfaces and with various types of embedded nanoparticles.

BornAgain almost completely reproduces the functionality of the widely used program IsGISAXS (Lazzari 2002, Lazzari 2006). BornAgain goes beyond IsGISAXS by supporting an unrestricted number of layers and particles, diffuse reflection from rough layer interfaces, particles with inner structures, neutron polarization and magnetic scattering. Thanks to a consequential object-oriented design, BornAgain provides a solid base for future extensions in response to specific user needs.

BornAgain is a multi-platform software, with active support for Linux, MacOS and Microsoft Windows. It is free and open source, available under the GNU General Public License (GPL v3 or higher).

For a broad overview, see the journal article J. Appl. Cryst. 53, 262–276 (2020), which is also the primary means to cite BornAgain in scientific publications.

Disclaimer

Software and documentation are work in progress. While basic GISAS simulations have been validated in many ways, we can never exclude that some fringe cases are implemented incorrectly. Up to the user to convince themselves that results are physically plausible.

If in doubt, please contact us. We are grateful for all kind of feedback: criticism, praise, bug reports, feature requests or contributed modules. If questions go beyond normal user support, we will be glad to discuss a scientific collaboration.

- Introduction
  - Functionality overview
  - Architectural overview

- Install or build
  - Install Python
    - Python on Linux
    - Python on Windows
    - Python on Mac
    - Python modules
  - Install BornAgain
    - Linux
    - Windows
    - MacOS
    - Development snapshot
  - Build BornAgain
    - Unix
      - Install third-party software
      - Get the source
      - Build and install BornAgain
      - Run a first simulation
    - Windows

- Graphical user interface
  - Quick Start
  - GUI overview
  - Fitting in the GUI

- Python scripting
  - Run a script
  - Understand the syntax
  - Fitting
  - Upgrading

- Reference
  - Simulation model
    - Simulation classes
      - Specular
        - Example
      - Scattering
        - Examples
          - GISAS
          - without DWBA terms
          - with specular peak
          - SAS
          - Polarized SANS
          - Monte-Carlo
      - Off-specular
        - Off-specular
      - Depth probe
        - Examples
          - Thin film
          - Transmitted modulus
          - Resonator
    - Common settings
      - Background
      - Options
        - Monte-Carlo
        - # threads
        - Average materials
        - Include specular
      - Progress monitor
  - Instrument model
    - Beam
      - Footprint
      - Beam divergence
    - Scan
      - TOF reflectometry
      - TOF resolution
      - Beam Angular Spread
      - Beam Wavelength Spread
    - Detectors
      - SphericalDetector
      - 2d detector resolution
      - Offspec detector
    - Neutron polarization
      - Spin asymmetry example
    - Examples
      - 2D detector resolution
      - Neutron polarization
        - Magnetic layer
        - Ditto, realistic instrument
        - Polarized scattering
  - Sample model
    - Materials
      - Magnetization
    - Sample
      - Layer
      - LayerStack
      - Layout
    - Roughness
      - Interface model
      - Transient
      - Cross-correlation
      - Examples
        - GISAS
        - Reflectivity
    - Particles
      - Form factor
        - Hard particles
          - Bipyramid4
          - Box
          - CantellatedCube
          - Cone
          - Cylinder
          - Dodecahedron
          - EllipsoidalCylinder
          - HemiEllipsoid
          - HorizontalCylinder
          - Icosahedron
          - PlatonicOctahedron
          - PlatonicTetrahedron
          - Prism3
          - Prism6
          - Pyramid2
          - Pyramid3
          - Pyramid4
          - Pyramid6
          - Sphere
          - SphericalSegment
          - Spheroid
          - SpheroidalSegment
          - TruncatedCube
        - Ripples
          - Bar ripple
          - Cosine ripple
          - Sawtooth ripple
        - Soft particles
          - FuzzySphere
          - Gauss
        - Custom formfactor
      - Composite particles
        - Core and shell
        - Compound particle
        - Mesocrystal
      - Examples
        - Compound particle
        - Core and shell
        - Crossing an interface
        - Mesocrystal
        - Rotation example
        - Dense cylinders
        - Dense hemispheres
        - Uncorrelated mixture
        - Polydispersity
    - Particle assemblies
      - Grating
        - 1D lattice
        - Cosine ripples in a lattice
        - Triangular ripples in a lattice
      - 2D lattice
        - Square lattice
        - Lattice orientation distribution
        - Finite square lattice
        - Lattice with basis
        - Multi-layer lattice
        - Position variance
      - Radial paracrystal
      - 2D paracrystal
      - Others
        - Size-distribution model: decoupling approximation
        - Size-distribution model: local monodisperse approximation
        - Size-distribution model: size-spacing coupling approximation
  - Model modifiers
    - Rotation
    - Distributions
  - Data types
    - Class Datafield
      - Export
      - Find intensity peaks
    - SLD profile
      - SLD profile with rough interfaces
      - SLD profile with a sliced particle layer
  - Plotting
    - Functions
    - Configuration
    - Heat map
    - LaTeX markup
    - Export
    - Plot axes in different units
  - Fitting
    - Data import
      - TIFF
    - Minimizer settings
    - Multiple datasets
    - Examples
      - Fitting with masks
      - Custom objective function
      - Fitting along slices
      - GISAS 2D fits
      - Experiment at GALAXI
      - Find background
      - Minimizer settings
      - Bayesian Sampling
      - Consecutive fitting
      - Considering uncertainties
      - External minimizer
      - External minimizer: plotting
      - Simultaneous fit of two datasets
      - Spin asymmetry fit example
      - Reflectometry: Fit Pt layer
      - Reflectometry: Fit honeycomb

- Literature
  - Babonneau2010
  - Babonneau2013
  - Croset2021
  - Lazzari2002
  - Lazzari2006
  - Pospelov2020
  - Renaud2009
  - Sears1992
  - Wuttke2021

- How to
  - Get announcements
  - Solve known problems
    - Set Python environmental variables under Windows
  - Request help or report bugs
  - Cite BornAgain

- Developers' corner
  - Configure
    - Build
    - Pyenv
  - Develop
    - Manual checks
    - Debug
    - Webdoc
    - Code analyses
  - Release
    - Manual GUI test