CutLang

CutLang interprets declarative Analysis Description Language (ADL) specifications at runtime to define and execute object definitions, variable calculations, event selection, object combinatorics, and four-vector algebra for collider data analysis including LHC experiments.

Key Features:

• Declarative Language Structure: ADL encodes object definitions, variable specifications, and event selection criteria in human-readable plain text organized into distinct blocks and supports mathematical and logical operations, comparison and optimization operators, reducers, four-vector algebra, and common functions.
• Runtime Interpreter: A runtime interpreter processes ADL descriptions and executes the defined operations and selections directly from the declarative specification.
• Framework Independence: ADL and CutLang operate independently of specific computing frameworks to preserve unambiguous, portable analysis definitions across platforms.
• ADL Syntax Compatibility (v1→v2): Enhanced ADL syntax and CutLang compatibility introduced in the transition from version 1 to version 2 to streamline interpretation and integration.
• Object Combinatorics Handling: Manages complex object combinations required for detailed collider analyses.
• Tables and Weights Integration: Supports inclusion of tables and weights within analyses for weighted calculations and lookups.
• Event Saving: Allows saving events at arbitrary stages of the analysis workflow.
• Hardware Optimization: Optimized to leverage multi-core and multi-CPU hardware configurations to improve computational efficiency on large datasets.

Scientific Applications:

• LHC experimental analyses: Implements event selection and object-level computations for analyses relevant to Large Hadron Collider experiments.
• Phenomenology and model testing: Facilitates testing and interpretation of theoretical models against collider data through standardized analysis descriptions.
• Analysis preservation and portability: Enables long-term preservation and portability of analysis definitions across platforms and time.
• Reproducibility, validation, and combination: Supports reproduction, validation, and combination of analyses across research teams and experiments.
• Abstraction, design, and communication: Provides a standardized declarative layer for abstraction, design, visualization, interpretation, and communication of analysis procedures.

Methodology:

Analyses are described in ADL as structured declarative blocks; the CutLang runtime interpreter processes these ADL descriptions and executes the specified operations and event selections on available hardware resources.