FeynArts

FeynArts
Name	FeynArts
Developer	Martin Küblbeck
Released	1991
Programming language	Mathematica
Operating system	Cross-platform
License	Proprietary/free for academic use

FeynArts FeynArts is a Mathematica-based software package for the generation and visualization of Feynman diagrams and amplitudes. It was created to assist researchers in particle physics and quantum field theory working on problems related to the Standard Model (particle physics), Electroweak interaction, Quantum chromodynamics, Higgs boson phenomenology, and higher-order perturbative calculations. The package integrates with symbolic manipulation environments used by researchers connected to institutions such as CERN, DESY, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Fermilab, and KEK.

Introduction

FeynArts provides a framework to generate topologies, insert fields, and produce analytic amplitudes that can be exported to tools used in computations at facilities like Large Hadron Collider, LEP, Tevatron, B-factory, and experiments associated with ATLAS (experiment), CMS (experiment), LHCb, Belle (experiment), and BaBar (detector). Its history is linked to developments in computational high-energy physics contemporaneous with work at University of Mainz, TU Munich, Max Planck Institute for Physics, University of Karlsruhe, and collaborations involving researchers who contributed to packages also used at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The package complements workflows that involve algebraic engines and numerical evaluators used at Princeton University, Harvard University, MIT, Stanford University, Caltech, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, and ETH Zurich.

Features and Capabilities

FeynArts supports generation of tree-level and loop-level diagrams relevant for processes studied at International Linear Collider proposals, Muon g-2 investigations, and precision tests inspired by results from the LEP Electroweak Working Group. It can handle particles from model files representing content such as the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, Two-Higgs-Doublet Model, and extensions motivated by searches at CERN Theory Division and phenomenology groups at University of Pennsylvania. Outputs are compatible with downstream packages developed in contexts like FormCalc, LoopTools, MadGraph, CalcHEP, CompHEP, Sherpa (event generator), PYTHIA, and numerical libraries used in collaborations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.

Diagram drawing integrates with publication workflows common among authors associated with journals like Physical Review Letters, Journal of High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics B, Physics Letters B, and preprint archives such as arXiv. The software’s amplitude generation aligns with renormalization schemes and regularization approaches discussed in work by theorists at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, Institute for Advanced Study, and groups led by figures affiliated with CERN Theory.

Architecture and Components

The core architecture is implemented in Mathematica and organizes functionality into modules for topology generation, model definitions, amplitude construction, and visualization. Model files define particles and interactions analogous to datasets maintained by groups at HEPData and theoretical repositories curated at SUSY Les Houches Accord collaborations and research teams at INFN. Component separation mirrors practices used in software projects at SLAC, DESY, and university groups such as University College London and University of Manchester.

Key components include topology generators influenced by combinatorial methods discussed in seminars at Perimeter Institute, field insertion routines used in computations by researchers at University of Bonn, and rendering routines producing PostScript-like vector graphics familiar to authors from Cambridge University Press and editorial teams at IOP Publishing. Interoperability layers match conventions used by codebases from JHEP contributors and software libraries maintained by groups at CERN Openlab.

Usage and Workflow

Typical workflows start with selection of a model file reflecting physics studied at experiments such as DZero, CDF, and HERA. Users generate topologies for processes relevant to analyses like Higgs boson decay, top quark pair production, neutralino scattering, or precision observables investigated at LEP2. Amplitude generation fits into pipelines that include algebraic simplification methods developed at Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics and numerical evaluation routines from collaborations at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

After generating amplitudes, users export expressions to tools used by groups at MPI for Physics and CERN PH-TH for loop integration with libraries stemming from projects at SLAC and DESY. Visualization steps produce diagrams used in presentations at conferences like Lepton Photon Conference, ICHEP, Rencontres de Moriond, and meetings organized by EPS and APS.

Development and Extensibility

Development has been community-oriented with contributions and extensions inspired by research groups at University of Würzburg, University of Hamburg, University of Milan, Universität Zürich, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and collaborators associated with University of Bonn. Extensibility is achieved through custom model files and adapters analogous to interfaces produced by teams working on the SLHA standards and exchange formats championed at workshops hosted by CERN and DESY.

The package’s evolution parallels software engineering practices from projects at Los Alamos National Laboratory and collaborations involving open-source toolchains used by theorists at University of Tokyo and Nagoya University. Integration support exists for scripting and batch processing used in large analyses run on clusters at GridPP and computing centers like CERN IT.

Applications and Examples

FeynArts has been used in calculations related to radiative corrections studied by researchers at BNL, investigations of beyond-Standard-Model signatures pursued by groups at IPPP Durham, and loop calculations presented in papers from teams at KIT, INFN Pisa, LAPTh Annecy, and CEA Saclay. Concrete examples include amplitude construction for processes analyzed in collaborative efforts at ATLAS Collaboration, CMS Collaboration, LHC Higgs Cross Section Working Group, as well as phenomenological studies appearing in venues such as Physical Review D and workshops at Les Houches.

Researchers combine FeynArts-generated amplitudes with numerical loop integrators developed by groups at NIKHEF and use results in contexts involving dark matter searches coordinated with teams at Gran Sasso National Laboratory and neutrino physics studies affiliated with Super-Kamiokande and T2K (experiment) collaborations.

Category:Physics software