To get started with research on ATLAS, here are some pointers to learn some of the more technical aspects of the data analysis.
1. Computer account
Our compute cluster is part of a larger system named NET3. Instructions on how to request and set up an account are available at https://websites.umass.edu/willocq/2018/09/05/request-account-on-net3/.
General information about the cluster is available at https://twiki.cern.ch/twiki/bin/view/Main/UMassNET3. In particular, you will see instructions to set up your account for ATLAS analysis.
2. UNIX
The titan computer cluster runs with the UNIX operating system. If you are not familiar with it, check http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/.
3. C++
To help firm up your knowledge about programming languages, see the book in room LGRT 1036: “C++ How To Program”. Chapters 1 through 11 are most relevant. It’s a good idea to do some of the exercises (unless you already are very familiar with the material).
Otherwise, a good alternate option is the following online tutorial: http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/.
This is a fair amount of material so you may want to do this in a number of steps in between ROOT tutorial sessions.
4. ROOT tutorial
The main data analysis tool is ROOT. For general information, see http://root.cern.ch/. You can download the user guide and binaries from that web site. It may be good for you to try running on your laptop if you wish.
A good primer is provided on the ROOT web site, see https://root.cern.ch/root/htmldoc/guides/primer/ROOTPrimer.html.
To run root on titan you will need to type the following every time you login:
lsetup root
I suggest you create root and tutorial subdirectories and work inside of the tutorial directory as you follow each of the tutorials above in turn.
cd
mkdir -p root/tutorial
cd root/tutorial
To run just enter:
root
5. Other tools
If you plan to use your laptop you will need to install:
- text editor (or your choice, I like emacs)
- remote connection program like PuTTy (if you run Windows) to run ssh, otherwise macs already have ssh
- X11 graphics program to view graphics output from titan, e.g. Cygwin for Windows: http://x.cygwin.com/
- root (from root.cern.ch)
The above will give you plenty to do for a couple of weeks but will be valuable to establish a foundation for your research.
Stephane W.