Editing LHC@home

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{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&nbsp;September&nbsp;2004<br>Test4Theory: 1&nbsp;August&nbsp;2011
| latest release version =
| operating system       = [[Cross-platform]]
| platform               = [[BOINC]]
| status                 = Active
| license                =
| as of                  = September 2024
| performance            = <!-- If you update these numbers, please update the lead (below) as well. -->52&nbsp;[[FLOPS|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.<ref name="BOINC projects list">{{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 }}</ref> The project's computing power is utilized by physicists at [[CERN]] in support of the [[Large Hadron Collider]] and other experimental particle accelerators.<ref name="BOINC portal">{{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 }}</ref>

The project is run with the help of over 1,260<!-- If you update these numbers, please update the infobox (above) as well. --> active volunteer users contributing more than 3,000 computers processing at a combined 52&nbsp;[[FLOPS|teraFLOPS]] {{As of|2024|09|lc=on}}.<ref name="LHCSTATUS">{{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]]}}</ref> 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.<ref name="BOINC portal" /><ref name="Applications">{{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 }}</ref>

===Atlas===
''Atlas'' uses volunteer computing power to run simulations of the [[ATLAS experiment]].<ref>{{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 }}</ref> It can be run in VirtualBox or natively on Linux.<ref name="Applications" />

===Beauty===
''Beauty'' (LHCb<ref name="Pausing LHCb" />) compared the decay of [[bottom quark]]s ({{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.<ref name="Pausing LHCb">{{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 }}</ref>

===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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

===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"''.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

===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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Citizen Cyberscience Centre]]
* [[List of volunteer computing projects]]
* [[Worldwide LHC Computing Grid]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite journal |last1=Barranco |first1=Javier |last2=Cai |first2=Yunhai |last3=Cameron |first3=David |last4=Crouch |first4=Matthew |last5=Maria |first5=Riccardo De |last6=Field |first6=Laurence |last7=Giovannozzi |first7=Massimo |last8=Hermes |first8=Pascal |last9=Høimyr |first9=Nils |last10=Kaltchev |first10=Dobrin |last11=Karastathis |first11=Nikos |last12=Luzzi |first12=Cinzia |last13=Maclean |first13=Ewen |last14=McIntosh |first14=Eric |last15=Mereghetti |first15=Alessio |date=29 December 2017 |title=LHC@Home: a BOINC-based volunteer computing infrastructure for physics studies at CERN |journal=Open Engineering |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=379–393 |doi=10.1515/eng-2017-0042 |bibcode=2017OEng....7...42B |s2cid=53469564 |issn=2391-5439 |doi-access=free }}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{cols}}
* {{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
{{colend}}

===Applications===
{{cols}}
* [https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/atlas Atlas]
* [https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/beauty Beauty]
* [https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/cms CMS]
* [https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/sixtrack SixTrack]
* [https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/test4theory Test4Theory]
{{colend}}

{{BOINC topics}}
{{CERN}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:LHC at home}}

[[Category:E-Science]]
[[Category:Free science software]]
[[Category:Large Hadron Collider]]
[[Category:Science in society]]
[[Category:Volunteer computing projects]]