N-group neutron transport theory: A criticality problem in slab geometry

The steady-state equation for N-group neutron transport in slab geometry is written as an integral equation. A spectral analysis is made of the integral operator and related to the criticality problem. The method depends on a representation for the resolvent kernel for a subcritical slab and on analytic continuation in a complex parameter to characterize eigenvalues in terms of singularities of the resolvent. The analytic continuation is based on a bifurcation analysis of some nonlinear matrix integral equations whose solutions provide a matrix Wiener-Hopf factorization of the Fourier transform of the kernel of the transport operator.