Solar energetic particles, or SEPs -- charged particles accelerated to high
energies in the solar wind -- pose significant threats to crewed and uncrewed
space missions. The heliophysics community is learning a great deal about how
SEPs are generated and how they travel through space now that there are many
more spacecraft observing the Sun from different locations in the inner solar
system. However, better observations of SEP events pose new questions for the
community to answer. A new class of SEP events, called 'widespread' events, has
gained particular interest among space scientists due to the unclear nature of
what causes such events. Our study used a computer model that combines a
simplistic magnetized shock front with a sophisticated description of how
energetic particles behave to simulate widespread energetic proton events in
various scenarios. The results of this research will not only improve the
scientific community's understanding of SEP events in general, but will help
space-weather forecasters better protect space missions from the risks of
particle radiation.