A1 Journal article (refereed)
A comprehensive guide to the physics and usage of PYTHIA 8.3 (2022)

Bierlich, C., Chakraborty, S., Desai, N., Gellersen, L., Helenius, I., Ilten, P., Lönnblad, L., Mrenna, S., Prestel, S., Preuss, C. T., Sjöstrand, T., Skands, P., Utheim, M., & Verheyen, R. (2022). A comprehensive guide to the physics and usage of PYTHIA 8.3. SciPost Physics Codebases, 2022, Article 8. https://doi.org/10.21468/SciPostPhysCodeb.8

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Bierlich, Christian; Chakraborty, Smita; Desai, Nishita; Gellersen, Leif; Helenius, Ilkka; Ilten, Philip; Lönnblad, Leif; Mrenna, Stephen; Prestel, Stefan; Preuss, Christian T.; et al.

Journal or series: SciPost Physics Codebases

eISSN:  2949-804X

Publication year: 2022

Publication date: 10/11/2022

Volume: 2022

Article number: 8

Publisher: SciPost Foundation

Publication country: Netherlands

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21468/SciPostPhysCodeb.8

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/85360

Web address of parallel published publication (pre-print): https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.11601

Additional information: This publication is part of a bundle. Codebase release: 10.21468/SciPostPhysCodeb.8-r8.3.

Abstract

This manual describes the Pythia event generator, the most recent version of an evolving physics tool used to answer fundamental questions in particle physics. The program is most often used to generate high-energy-physics collision "events", i.e. sets of particles produced in association with the collision of two incoming high-energy particles, but has several uses beyond that. The guiding philosophy is to produce and re-produce properties of experimentally obtained collisions as accurately as possible. The program includes a wide ranges of reactions within and beyond the Standard Model, and extending to heavy ion physics. Emphasis is put on phenomena where strong interactions play a major role. The manual contains both pedagogical and practical components. All included physics models are described in enough detail to allow the user to obtain a cursory overview of used assumptions and approximations, enabling an informed evaluation of the program output. A number of the most central algorithms are described in enough detail that the main results of the program can be reproduced independently, allowing further development of existing models or the addition of new ones. Finally, a chapter dedicated fully to the user is included towards the end, providing pedagogical examples of standard use cases, and a detailed description of a number of external interfaces. The program code, the online manual, and the latest version of this print manual can be found on the Pythia web page: https://www.pythia.org/.

Keywords: particle physics; quantum chromodynamics; numerical methods; Monte Carlo methods; algorithms; programming; handbooks

Free keywords: PYTHIA; manual; numerical calculations; Monte Carlo; programming; quantum chromodynamics; parton: showers; heavy ion; interface; new physics

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Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2022

JUFO rating: 0