Computational particle physics refers to the methods and computing tools developed in and used by particle physics

Particle physics

Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...

 research. Like computational chemistry

Computational chemistry

Computational chemistry is a branch of chemistry that uses principles of computer science to assist in solving chemical problems. It uses the results of theoretical chemistry, incorporated into efficient computer programs, to calculate the structures and properties of molecules and solids...

 or computational biology

Computational biology

Computational biology involves the development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavioral, and social systems...

, it is, for particle physics

Particle physics

Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...

 both a specific branch and an interdisciplinary field relying on computer science, theoretical and experimental particle physics and mathematics.
The main fields of computational particle physics are:

• Lattice field theory
  Lattice field theory
  In physics, lattice field theory is the study of lattice models of quantum field theory, that is, of field theory on a spacetime that has been discretized onto a lattice. Although most lattice field theories are not exactly solvable, they are of tremendous appeal because they can be studied by...
  
   numerical computations
• Automatic calculation of particle interaction or decay
  Automatic calculation of particle interaction or decay
  The automatic calculation of particle interaction or decay is part of the computational particle physics branch. It refers to computing tools that help calculating the complex particle interactions as studied in high-energy physics, astroparticle physics and cosmology...
  
  
• Event generator
  Event generator
  Event generators are software libraries that generate simulated high-energy particle physics events.They randomly generate events as those produced in particle accelerators, collider experiments or during the initial phases of the Universe creation....
  
  s

Computing tools

• Computer algebra: Many of the computer algebra languages were developed initially to help particle physics calculations: Reduce, Mathematica
  Mathematica
  Mathematica is a computational software program used in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other areas of technical computing...
  
  , Schoonschip
  Schoonschip
  Schoonschip was one of the first computer algebra systems, developed in 1963 by Martinus J. G. Veltman, for use in particle physics."Schoonschip" literally means "clean ship" in Dutch.FORM can be regarded, in a sense, as the successor to Schoonschip....
  
  , Form (computer algebra system)
  FORM (symbolic manipulation system)
  FORM is a symbolic manipulation system. It reads text files containing definitions of mathematical expressions as well as statements that tell it how to manipulate these expressions...
  
  , GiNaC
  GiNaC
  GiNaC is a free computer algebra system released under the GNU General Public License. The name is a recursive acronym for "GiNaC is Not a CAS" . This is similar to the GNU acronym "GNU is not Unix"....
  
   .
• Data Grid: The largest planned use of the GRID
  Grid computing
  Grid computing is a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. The grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve a large number of files...
  
   systems will be for the analysis of the LHC
  LHC
  LHC may refer to:* Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator and collider located on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, SwitzerlandLHC also may refer to:* La hora Chanante, a Spanish comedy television show...
  
   - produced data. Large software packages have been developed to support this application like the LHC Computing Grid (LCG)
  LHC Computing Grid
  The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid is a computer network designed by CERN to handle the massive amounts of data produced by the Large Hadron Collider .-Description:A design report was published in 2005....
  
   . A similar effort in the wider e-Science
  E-Science
  E-Science is computationally intensive science that is carried out in highly distributed network environments, or science that uses immense data sets that require grid computing; the term sometimes includes technologies that enable distributed collaboration, such as the Access Grid...
  
   community is GridPP collaboration, a consortium of particle physicists from UK institutions and CERN .
• Data Analysis Tools: These tools are motivated by the fact that particle physics experiments and simulations often create large datasets. Examples include ROOT
  ROOT
  ROOT is an object-oriented program and library developed by CERN. It was originally designed for particle physics data analysis and contains several features specific to this field, but it is also used in other applications such as astronomy and data mining....
  
  , Java Analysis Studio
  Java Analysis Studio
  Java Analysis Studio is an object oriented data analysis package developed for the analysis of particle physics data. The latest major version is JAS3.JAS3 is particularly notable for being a fully AIDA-compliant data analysis system...
  
   and jHepWork
  JHepWork
  jHepWork is an interactive framework for scientific computation, data analysis and data visualization designed for scientists, engineers and students...
  
  .
• Software Libraries: Many software libraries are used in for particle physics computations. Examples include FreeHEP
  FreeHEP
  FreeHEP is an open source Java library designed to make programming high energy physics applications easier. While the name and main focus of the project is high energy physics, many self-contained APIs in the library are generic and suitable for non-physics applications.FreeHEP is distributed...
  
  ,CLHEP
  CLHEP
  CLHEP is a C++ library that provides utility classes for general numerical programming, vector arithmetic, geometry, pseudorandom number generation, and linear algebra, specifically targeted for high energy physics simulation and analysis software...
  
  . Also important are packages that simulate particle physics interactions using Monte Carlo simulation techniques. Prominent examples include Geant4
  Geant4
  Geant4 is a platform for "the simulation of the passage of particles through matter," using Monte Carlo methods. It is the successor of the GEANT series of software toolkits developed by CERN, and the first to use Object oriented programming . Its development, maintenance and user support are...
  
   and its Fortran predecessor, GEANT
  GEANT (program)
  GEANT is the name of a series of simulation software designed to describe the passage of elementary particles through matter, using Monte Carlo methods. The name is an acronym formed from "GEometry ANd Tracking". Originally developed at CERN for high energy physics experiments, today GEANT has...
  
  .

External links

• Alexander S. Belyaev : Introduction to (Some) Computational Tools in Particle Physics
• Brown University. Computational High Energy Physics (CHEP) group page