ITR: Computing Grid for Analysis of Data from PHENIX at RHIC

Suny At Stony Brook, Stony Brook NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project is at the interface between Information Technology and Nuclear Physics. We will develop and apply a two-site data grid at Stony Brook and Brookhaven National Laboratory to analysis of heavy ion collisions in the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Collisions at RHIC produce many thousands of particles, resulting in enormous volumes of data to analyze. In order to study the rare process of gluon scattering at large angle, and how the nuclear medium affects this process, we must sift through hundreds of millions of these complex events. We will use the software tools developed by the Globus collaboration to allow seamless data analysis across two computer facilities comprising many computers and terabytes of disk storage. Jobs will be automatically directed to the facility where requested data are disk resident, and results returned to the user. We will take advantage of many developments by others in information technology, but we bring to the table a unique mix of real data, eager users, and a cutting edge data grid application with a simple demonstration grid of two nearby sites with very similar hardware. Testing and optimizing this prototype grid under "battle" conditions will provide information applicable to development of large-scale global data grids for the future, as well as physics results from PHENIX.