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{{Infobox software
| name                = LHC@home
| logo                = LHC@home_logo.png
| logo caption        = LHC@home project logo
| screenshot          = [email protected]
| caption              = LHC@home SixTrack screensaver
| status              = Active
| category            = Particle physics
| compute              = CPU & GPU
| dependencies        = [[wikipedia:VirtualBox|VirtualBox]] (for some applications), Docker (optional for Theory tasks)
| developer            = [[wikipedia:CERN|CERN]]
| author              = CERN Accelerators and Beams Department
| sponsor              = CERN
| maintainer          = LHC@home team
| released            = {{Start date and age|2004|09|01}}
| repository          = {{URL|https://github.com/cern-it}}
| programming language = C, C++, Python
| operating system    = Windows, Linux, macOS
| size                = Varies by application
| stats as of          = {{Start date and age|2026|05|21}}
| average performance  = 52 TFLOPS
| active users        = 1260
| total users          = 178244
| active hosts        = 3633
| total hosts          = 577548
| website              = {{URL|https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/}}
| license              = Mixed free software licenses
}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:LHC@home_logo.png}}|alt=LHC@home logo|center|frameless]]
[[File:{{#setmainimage:LHC@home_logo.png}}|alt=LHC@home logo|center|frameless]]


[https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/ '''''LHC@home'''''] is a '''''[[wikipedia:Volunteer computing|volunteer distributed computing]]''''' project that needs your help to advance Particle and Accelerator Physics.[[File:LHC@home.gif|alt=LHC@home SixTrack 4.67 Screensaver|thumb|'''LHC@home''' SixTrack 4.67 Screensaver]]
[https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/ '''''LHC@home'''''] is a '''[[wikipedia:Volunteer computing|volunteer distributed computing]]''' project operated by [[wikipedia:CERN|CERN]] using the [[wikipedia:Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing|BOINC]] platform. The project allows volunteers worldwide to donate unused computing resources to help physicists study particle physics, accelerator physics, and simulations related to the [[wikipedia:Large Hadron Collider|Large Hadron Collider]] (LHC).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/ |title=LHC@home official website |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
== Wikipedia page==
 
== Wikipedia page ==


[[wikipedia:LHC@home|LHC@home]]
[[wikipedia:LHC@home|LHC@home]]
== History ==
LHC@home was launched on 1 September 2004 as one of the earliest large-scale scientific volunteer computing projects associated with CERN.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LHC@home |title=LHC@home |website=Wikipedia |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref> The original application, ''SixTrack'', was created to study the long-term stability of particle beams inside the Large Hadron Collider.
The project rapidly attracted thousands of volunteers shortly after launch. CERN used the distributed simulations to validate beam stability calculations and machine configurations for the LHC before its activation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/ |title=LHC@home |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
Over time, additional applications were added to support detector simulations and theoretical physics workloads, many of which require virtualization technologies such as VirtualBox or Docker containers.


== Goal ==
== Goal ==
* Help build and maintain The Large Hadron Collider
* Enable physicists to compare theory with experiment, in the search for new fundamental particles and provide answers to questions about the Universe.


== Methods ==
The primary goal of LHC@home is to assist CERN physicists with computationally intensive simulations related to particle accelerators and detector experiments.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/ |title=Welcome to LHC@home |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
* The classic LHC@home application '''[https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/sixtrack ''Sixtrack'']''', are simulations of accelerator physics, and help researchers at CERN to build and improve the LHC.
Other LHC@home simulations that utilize virtualization to run applications for Theory and experiment simulations


* '''''[https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/atlas ATLAS]'''''
Project objectives include:
* '''''[https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/cms CMS]'''''
* '''''[https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/beauty LHCb]'''''
* '''''[https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/test4theory Test4Theory]'''''


== Project team / Sponsors ==
* Helping design, optimize, and maintain the Large Hadron Collider
CERN
* Simulating particle beam dynamics
* Supporting detector experiment simulations
* Comparing theoretical predictions with experimental data
* Assisting research into dark matter, antimatter, and fundamental particles
 
== Applications ==
 
=== SixTrack ===
 
''SixTrack'' is the original LHC@home application and performs accelerator physics simulations to analyze the stability of proton beams circulating in the LHC.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/sixtrack |title=SixTrack |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
The software was developed by physicists in CERN's Accelerators and Beams Department. Results generated by volunteers have been used to improve understanding of beam dynamics and long-term particle stability inside accelerator rings.
 
=== ATLAS ===
 
The ''ATLAS@home'' application allows volunteers to run simulations for the [[wikipedia:ATLAS experiment|ATLAS experiment]], one of the largest particle detector experiments at CERN.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/atlas |title=ATLAS@home |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
ATLAS tasks often use virtualization through VirtualBox or native Linux execution environments.
 
=== CMS ===
 
''CMS@home'' supports simulations for the [[wikipedia:Compact Muon Solenoid|Compact Muon Solenoid]] experiment.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/cms |title=CMS@home |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
The application processes Monte Carlo simulation workloads and event reconstruction tasks related to proton collision data.
 
=== LHCb / Beauty ===
 
The ''LHCb'' (Beauty) application studied the decay properties of beauty quarks and antimatter asymmetry.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/beauty |title=LHCb project page |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
[[File:CERN logo outline.svg|thumb|The <bdi>CERN logo – international organization which operates the world's largest particle physics laboratory</bdi>]]
Volunteer participation for LHCb workloads was paused indefinitely in November 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_thread.php?id=4853 |title=Pausing Submission of LHCb Applications |publisher=CERN |date=2018-11-19 |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
=== Test4Theory ===
 
''Test4Theory'' was introduced in 2011 and uses virtualization technologies to run simulations of high-energy particle collisions.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/projects/test4theory |title=Test4Theory |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
The application uses CERNVM and later Docker-based infrastructure to provide portable scientific environments across volunteer computers.
 
=== Xtrack ===
 
In 2025 CERN introduced the experimental ''Xtrack'' application for beta testing on the LHC@home platform.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/ |title=LHC@home News |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
Xtrack is intended as a next-generation beam dynamics simulation framework.
 
== Technology ==
 
LHC@home uses the BOINC middleware platform developed at the [[wikipedia:University of California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkeley]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://boinc.berkeley.edu/ |title=BOINC |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
Several applications require:
 
* Hardware virtualization support
* [[wikipedia:Oracle VM VirtualBox|VirtualBox]]
* Docker containers
* CERNVM virtual machine images
 
Many workloads distribute large datasets and may require several gigabytes of storage and memory.
 
[[File:CERN LHC.jpg|thumb|The [[wikipedia:Large Hadron Collider|Large Hadron Collider]] at CERN]]
 
== Scientific impact ==
 
The project has contributed to accelerator optimization and detector simulations associated with the Large Hadron Collider.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://home.cern/science/computing/grid/ |title=The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
Volunteer computing resources supplement CERN's Worldwide LHC Computing Grid infrastructure by providing additional computational power for simulation workloads.
 
== Community ==
 
LHC@home maintains active message boards and volunteer discussion forums where users discuss optimization, virtualization setup, workunit availability, and troubleshooting.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_index.php |title=LHC@home forums |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
Community discussions on Reddit and BOINC forums frequently cover VirtualBox compatibility, Docker support, Linux configuration, and long-running Theory tasks.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/BOINC/comments/1s37rrw/lhchome_constant_computation_error_unstable/ |title=LHC@home constant computation error discussion |website=Reddit |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
== Project statistics ==
[[File:CERN ATLAS Detector.jpg|thumb|The [[wikipedia:ATLAS experiment|ATLAS]] detector]]
As of 2024–2026, LHC@home reported approximately:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/server_status.php |title=LHC@home server status |publisher=CERN |access-date=2026-05-21}}</ref>
 
* Over 178,000 registered users
* More than 577,000 participating hosts
* Around 52 TFLOPS of computing performance
* Thousands of active volunteer systems worldwide


== Scientific publications ==
== Scientific publications ==
https://boinc.berkeley.edu/pubs.php#LHC@home
[[File:CMS station.jpg|thumb|The [[wikipedia:Compact Muon Solenoid|CMS]] detector]]
The following publications and papers are associated with BOINC and LHC@home:
 
* Anderson, D.P. ''BOINC: A System for Public-Resource Computing and Storage''. Proceedings of the 5th IEEE/ACM International Workshop on Grid Computing, 2004.
* C. Aguado Sanchez et al. ''LHC@home: Distributed Computing for LHC Accelerator Design''. CERN publications.
* D. P. Anderson et al. ''Public-resource computing: Volunteer computing''. Communications of the ACM.
* Test4Theory collaboration papers related to volunteer cloud computing and Monte Carlo event simulation.
 
Additional publications are listed at:
* {{URL|https://boinc.berkeley.edu/pubs.php#LHC@home}}
 
== See also ==
 
* [[wikipedia:BOINC|BOINC]]
* [[wikipedia:CERN|CERN]]
* [[wikipedia:Large Hadron Collider|Large Hadron Collider]]
* [[wikipedia:ATLAS experiment|ATLAS experiment]]
* [[wikipedia:Compact Muon Solenoid|CMS]]
* [[wikipedia:Volunteer computing|Volunteer computing]]
 
[[File:[email protected]|alt=LHC@home SixTrack 4.67 Screensaver|thumb|'''LHC@home''' SixTrack screensaver]]
 
== External links ==
 
* [https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/ Official LHC@home website]
* [https://lhcathome.web.cern.ch/ LHC@home information portal]
* [https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/server_status.php Server status]
* [https://boinc.berkeley.edu/ BOINC]
 
== References ==
 
{{Reflist}}
 
[[Category:BOINC projects]]
[[Category:Volunteer computing]]
[[Category:CERN]]
[[Category:Particle physics]]
[[Category:Distributed computing projects]]
Retrieved from "https://boincsynergy.ca/wiki/LHC@home"