HEPMDB

HEPMDB
Name	HEPMDB
Type	Scientific database
Focus	High Energy Physics
Established	2013
Country	International

HEPMDB

HEPMDB is an online repository and computational platform for high-energy physics model files, simulation workflows, and phenomenological results. It connects researchers across institutions such as CERN, Fermilab, DESY, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences and supports interoperability with tools like MadGraph, CalcHEP, Sherpa, Pythia, and GEANT4. The platform facilitates reuse by linking models developed in collaborations including ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, Belle II, and BaBar.

Overview

HEPMDB offers a centralized catalogue of particle physics model implementations, metadata, and benchmarking data that integrate with simulation frameworks used at facilities such as Large Hadron Collider, Tevatron, LEP, RHIC, and SuperKEKB. The service emphasizes compatibility with event generators and detector simulation chains employed by collaborations like ALICE, D0, CDF, NA62, and Hyper-Kamiokande, and supports workflow exchange between groups at University of Cambridge, Princeton University, University of Oxford, Max Planck Institute for Physics, and Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe.

History and development

HEPMDB originated from collaborative efforts among researchers affiliated with institutions such as University of Zagreb, SISSA, Università di Bologna, Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, and University of Warsaw in response to reproducibility challenges recognized after analyses by groups at CERN and Fermilab. Early development drew on codebases and formats promoted by projects including FeynRules, UFO format, LanHEP, CompHEP, and WHIZARD, and incorporated lessons from data repositories like HEPData and software initiatives such as ROOT. Subsequent contributions came from teams linked to Perimeter Institute, Institute for Advanced Study, Imperial College London, École Polytechnique, and University of California, Berkeley.

Features and services

The platform provides model upload, versioning, metadata curation, automated validation, and conversion utilities compatible with generators like MadGraph5_aMC@NLO, CalcHEP, Herwig, Sherpa, and Pythia8. Users can access benchmark cards, parameter scans, and sample event files used by collaborations such as ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, Belle II, and IceCube, and link to results from experiments like Super-Kamiokande, SNO, MINOS, NOvA, and T2K. The service integrates provenance features inspired by platforms like Zenodo and GitHub and supports export to job schedulers used at computing centers such as CERN OpenStack, GridPP, OSG, PRACE and National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center.

Data and model repository

HEPMDB stores model files in formats including UFO, FeynRules, LanHEP, CalcHEP format, and SLHA parameter cards, and maintains example processes and cross-section tables referenced by collaborations such as ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, BaBar, and Belle II. The repository catalogs implementations of theories and frameworks from work by theorists connected to institutions like Institute for Advanced Study, Perimeter Institute, CERN Theory Department, Theory Group at Fermilab, and SLAC Theory Group, covering models such as Supersymmetry, Dark Matter simplified models, Two-Higgs-Doublet Model, Composite Higgs, and Extra Dimensions. Metadata links often point to publications appearing in venues like Physical Review Letters, Journal of High Energy Physics, Physics Letters B, European Physical Journal C, and Science.

Usage and impact

Researchers at universities and laboratories such as University of Chicago, Columbia University, MIT, Caltech, Harvard University, and Stanford University use HEPMDB for model dissemination, cross-checking, and benchmarking across analyses performed in collaborations including ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, ALICE, and Belle II. The platform has supported reinterpretation studies cited by papers in Journal of High Energy Physics and Physical Review D and has been used in workshops and conferences like Les Houches and Moriond. HEPMDB-enabled workflows have informed searches inspired by theoretical proposals from groups at CERN Theory Department, Perimeter Institute, Institute for Advanced Study, and influenced simulation campaigns run at CERN, Fermilab, DESY, and national computing centers.

Technical architecture

The architecture combines a web front-end, database back-end, and conversion/validation services wrapping tools such as FeynRules, MadGraph, CalcHEP, Sherpa, Pythia, and GEANT4, deployed on resources akin to CERN OpenStack, GridPP, OSG, and institutional clusters at DESY and Fermilab. The system uses version-control and metadata strategies inspired by GitHub and Zenodo and interfaces with job schedulers and provenance systems used by projects like ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, and ALICE. Security and access policies follow practices common at CERN, Fermilab, DESY, SLAC, and national laboratories.

Category:High energy physics databases