Phoenix, interactive data visualization - Development of an experiment independent javascript event display framework and data format

Description

Visualising HEP event data is currently typically done per experiment (e.g. VP1, Iguana, Fireworks), and normally involves the installation of dedicated software. However modern browsers are more than capable of showing complex detector geometry, as well as representations of the underlying physics. As the Visualisation section of HSF Community White Paper explained, using an intermediate data format (e.g. JSON) makes it possible to separate the event display from the underlying (experiment-specific) software framework. It should also be possible to specify a common data format, and create an experiment-agnostic event display.

Phoenix is an attempt at a framework that could be used by any typical (e.g. colliding beam) High Energy Physics experiment. It is based on work done for the TrackML Kaggle/Codalab challenges (and internal use by ATLAS), so the underlying principle is well validated but it now needs to be extended with a more sophisticated GUI, better visualisation techniques, unit tests etc. The common event data format also needs to be tested/extended with data from experiments other than ATLAS and TrackML.

Task ideas

Expected results

A browser-based event display, capable of showing some simple detector geometry as well as visualisations of the event data (charged particles, photons, jets etc). The event display should be capable of displaying a subset of physics data, depending on user defined selections. We should specify a data format, complete enough to represent the data from a typical High Energy Physics experiment.

Requirements

JavaScript, Web development (GUI design experience a bonus).

Mentors

Corresponding Project

Participating Organizations