LHC@home

{{Short description|Volunteer computing project researching particle simulations for LHC development}}

{{Infobox distributed computing project

| logo = LHC@home logo.png

|screenshot=LHC@home.gif|screenshot_alt=LHC@home screensaver|screenshot caption=LHC@home screensaver

| developer =

| released = SixTrack: 1 September 2004
Test4Theory: 1 August 2011

| latest release version =

| operating system = Cross-platform

| platform = BOINC

| status = Active

| license =

| as of = September 2024

| performance = 52 TFLOPS{{r|LHCSTATUS}}

| active users = 1,260{{r|LHCSTATUS}}

| total users = 178,244{{r|LHCSTATUS}}

| active hosts = 3,633{{r|LHCSTATUS}}

| total hosts = 577,548{{r|LHCSTATUS}}

| website = {{Official URL}}

}}

LHC@home is a volunteer computing project researching particle physics that uses the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) platform.{{cite web |title=BOINC projects list |url=https://boinc.berkeley.edu/projects.php |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=3 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072445/https://boinc.berkeley.edu/projects.php |url-status=live }} The project's computing power is utilized by physicists at CERN in support of the Large Hadron Collider and other experimental particle accelerators.{{cite web |title=LHC@home |url=https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/ |website=LHCAtHome.CERN.ch |publisher=CERN |access-date=23 December 2020 |archive-date=13 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213215414/https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/ |url-status=live }}

The project is run with the help of over 1,260 active volunteer users contributing more than 3,000 computers processing at a combined 52 teraFLOPS {{As of|2024|09|lc=on}}.{{cite web|title=Server Status|url=https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/server_status.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240903074306/https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/server_status.php|archive-date=3 September 2024|access-date=23 September 2024|website=LHCAtHome.CERN.ch |publisher=CERN}} The project is cross-platform, and runs on a variety of computer hardware configurations.

Applications

The LHC@home project currently runs four applications—Atlas, CMS, SixTrack, and Test4Theory—which deal with different aspects of research conducted in LHC such as calculating particle beam stability and simulating proton collisions. Atlas, CMS, and Test4Theory use VirtualBox, an x86 virtualization software package.{{cite web |title=Applications |url=https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/apps.php |website=LHCAtHome.CERN.ch |publisher=CERN |access-date=25 August 2022 |archive-date=27 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827160610/https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/apps.php |url-status=live }}

=Atlas=

Atlas uses volunteer computing power to run simulations of the ATLAS experiment.{{cite web |title=ATLAS@home |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/atlas |website=lhcathome.web.cern.ch |access-date=25 August 2022 |archive-date=28 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428153203/https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/atlas |url-status=live }} It can be run in VirtualBox or natively on Linux.

=Beauty=

Beauty (LHCb) compared the decay of bottom quarks ({{Subatomic particle|bottom quark}}) and bottom antiquarks ({{Subatomic particle|bottom antiquark}}), which also known as beauty quarks. The participation of volunteers in the application was suspended indefinitely on 19 November 2018.{{cite web |title=Pausing Submission of LHCb Applications |url=https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_thread.php?id=4884 |website=LHCAtHome.CERN.ch |publisher=CERN |first=Stefan |last=Roiser |date=19 November 2018 |access-date=22 December 2020 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126101532/https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_thread.php?id=4884 |url-status=live }}

=CMS=

The CMS application (formerly a standalone project called CMS@Home) allows users to run simulations for the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment on their computers.{{cite web |title=CMS@Home |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/cms |website=LHCAtHome.Web.CERN.ch |publisher=CERN |access-date=11 April 2021 |archive-date=19 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219040817/https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/cms |url-status=live }}

=SixTrack=

SixTrack was first introduced as a beta on 1 September 2004 and a record 1000 users signed up within 24 hours. The application went public, with a 5000 user limit, on September 29 to commemorate CERN's 50th anniversary. Currently there is no user limit and qualification.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

SixTrack was developed by Frank Schmidt of the CERN Accelerators and Beams Department and produces results that are essential for verifying the long term stability of the high energy particles in the LHC. Lyn Evans, head of the LHC project, stated that "the results from SixTrack are really making a difference, providing us with new insights into how the LHC will perform".{{Cite web |title=Sixtrack {{!}} LHC@home |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/project/sixtrack |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=lhcathome.web.cern.ch |archive-date=28 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828011415/https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/project/sixtrack |url-status=live }}

=Test4Theory=

The Test4Theory application allows volunteers to run simulations of high energy particle collisions on their home computers. These simulations use theoretical models based on the Standard Model of particle physics, and are calculated using Monte Carlo methods. The theoretical models have adjustable parameters and the aim is that a given set of parameters (called a "tune") will fit the widest possible range of experimental results.

The Test4Theory results are therefore submitted to a database which contains a very wide set of experimental data from many accelerator experiments worldwide, including of course experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. The Theory Unit at CERN runs the [http://mcplots.cern.ch/ MCPLots] project, which run the database and the theoretical fitting process.{{cite web |title=Test4Theory |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/test4theory |website=lhcathome.web.cern.ch |access-date=25 August 2022 |archive-date=28 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428200924/https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/test4theory |url-status=live }}

References

External links

{{Official website}}
[https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/ Official BOINC portal]
[https://sixtrack.web.cern.ch/SixTrack/ Official SixTrack application website]
{{YouTube|id=0qbLDbsNO3w|title=LHC@home screensaver video}}
[https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vYm9pbmNyYWRpbw/episode/ZGRlNGNhMTktOGI1OC00MzAwLWIzYWItMGYwNTkzMDM4ODA5 LHC@Home] – BOINC Radio - Project Brief