Science on the grid with CMS at the LHC
Frank Würthwein · Journal of Physics Conference Series · 2008
In late 2008 a new experimental facility, the Large Hadron Collider is expected to start data taking. Two large experiments, Atlas and CMS, are getting ready to explore the high-energy frontier of elementary particle physics at this facility. We briefly explain why this new facility is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the present generation of particle physicists. Using the example of the CMS experiment, we explain the computing challenge of these large experiments, and how this challenge is addressed. In this context, we explain why Grid computing is an essential enabling technology to fully exploit the science potential of these experiments. We use data transfer and data analysis as examples to give a flavor of the present state of readiness of the globally distributed computing system for data taking, and what we had to do to get there.