EasyScan_HEP: A tool for connecting programs to scan the parameter space of physics models

Abstract

We present an application, EasyScan_HEP, for connecting programs to scan the parameter space of High Energy Physics (HEP) models using various sampling algorithms. We develop EasyScan_HEP according to the principle of flexibility and usability. EasyScan_HEP allows us to connect different programs that calculate physical observables, and apply constraints by one human-readable configuration file. All programs executed through command lines can be connected to EasyScan_HEP by setting input and output parameters of the programs. The current version offers the sampling algorithms of Random, Grid, Markov chain Monte Carlo and MultiNest. We also implement features such as resume function, parallelization, post-processing, and quick analysis. Program summaryProgram Title:EasyScan_HEPCPC Library link to program files:https://doi.org/10.17632/4fcb77dxfw.1Developer's repository link:https://github.com/phyzhangyang/EasyScan_HEPLicensing provisions: Apache 2.0Programming language: PythonNature of problem: Performing numerical analysis of new physics models is crucial in High Energy Physics (HEP), and requires scanning parameter space using various HEP packages. Connecting these packages together can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and prone to errors, especially when using advanced scanning methods, due to the lack of a unified interface between these software and scanning methods.Solution method:EasyScan_HEP utilizes the ConfigParser module in Python to read a unified and human-readable configuration file that connects HEP packages and sets scanning methods. We employ the subprocess.Popen and os.system functions to execute HEP programs, and provide users with various options to configure input parameters and retrieve output parameters, as well as several pre-installed scanning methods.Additional comments including restrictions and unusual features:EasyScan_HEP is not designed for specific models or HEP packages. Instead, it is compatible with almost any program that can be executed via the command line, requiring minimal interface modifications.