Software Migration

6 DECEMBER, 2021 | By Alexander Gerbershagen & Software Migration team

A migration of the complete chain of software simulating the Experimental Areas beamlines has been performed. In that process, we analysed the EA activities (displayed in the below figure) and made sure that the optimal software is used for each stage of preparation, installation, and operation of the experiments. The baseline set of new codes consists of MADX for beam optics and survey calculations, AppLE.py for graphical output and matching as well as FLUKA, BDSIM and Geant4/G4beamline for beam-matter interaction calculations. The solution has been validated with help of benchmark studies and one test of the complete software chain with very good results also shown here below. It is foreseen to use the software in a highly integrated way, utilising the modern online database tools available at CERN, such as Layout Database and GitLab.

The solution is to be used extensively during Run 3, which is expected to allow the final validation of its practicability or to reveal some aspects requiring improvement. So, while the major migration work has been completed according to the initial project plan, the work on the adaptation of the software chain to the evolving software infrastructure at CERN, as well as the integration of the Experimental Areas beam lines into the Layout Database, the benchmarking studies and work on further automatization are foreseen to continue during Run 3 and beyond.