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Robust Independent Validation of Experiment and Theory: Rivet version 4 release note

by Christian Bierlich, Andy Buckley, Jonathan Butterworth, Christian Gutschow, Leif Lonnblad, Tomasz Procter, Peter Richardson, Yoran Yeh

This is not the latest submitted version.

Submission summary

Authors (as registered SciPost users): Andy Buckley · Christian Gutschow · Tomasz Procter
Submission information
Preprint Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.15984v2  (pdf)
Code repository: https://gitlab.com/hepcedar/rivet
Date submitted: 2024-05-20 17:18
Submitted by: Gutschow, Christian
Submitted to: SciPost Physics Codebases
Ontological classification
Academic field: Physics
Specialties:
  • High-Energy Physics - Experiment
  • High-Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Approaches: Computational, Phenomenological

Abstract

The Rivet toolkit is the primary mechanism for phenomenological preservation of collider-physics measurements, containing both a computational core and API for analysis implementation, and a large collection of more than a thousand preserved analyses. In this note we summarise the main changes in the new Rivet 4 major release series. These include a major generalisation and more semantically coherent model for histograms and related data objects, a thorough clean-up of inelegant and legacy observable-computation tools, and new systems for extended analysis-data, incorporation of preserved machine-learning models, and serialization for high-performance computing applications. Where these changes introduce backward-incompatible interface changes, existing analyses have been updated and indications are given on how to update new analysis routines and workflows.

Current status:
Has been resubmitted

Reports on this Submission

Report #3 by Anonymous (Referee 2) on 2024-8-27 (Invited Report)

Report

Thank you for addressing all the comments, I have nothing else to add.
I found the new draft as v3 on the arxiv, but didn't see it linked to Scipost which only seems to link to the initial v2.

Recommendation

Publish (surpasses expectations and criteria for this Journal; among top 10%)

  • validity: -
  • significance: -
  • originality: -
  • clarity: -
  • formatting: -
  • grammar: -

Report #2 by Anonymous (Referee 1) on 2024-8-8 (Invited Report)

  • Cite as: Anonymous, Report on arXiv:2404.15984v2, delivered 2024-08-08, doi: 10.21468/SciPost.Report.9553

Strengths

1. A reasonably clear overview of the scope of Rivet 4 is given.
2. All of the important Rivet 4 changes with respect to Rivet 3 seem to have been covered.
3. The references seem reasonably complete.

Weaknesses

1. The paper presupposes familiarity with Rivet 3 and its programming constructs. This is not per se a weakness, but it shuts out newcomers completely. The paper would be helpful to newcomers to Rivet if the introduction were expanded slightly by including pointers to help newcomers get started, in particular, pointers to help newcomers gain conceptual understanding of Rivet before they attempt to dive into code.
2. The paper points to an FAQ explaining how to migrate from Rivet 3 to Rivet 4, but it would be helpful to have a few sentences explaining to a newcomer who starts with Rivet 4 where she or he should start. It would be helpful to advise whether starting with Ref. [1] is still a good place to begin to learn Rivet or whether given the substantial changes between Rivet 3 and 4 a newcomer is better advised to start elsewhere.

Report

The manuscript is perfectly acceptable for this journal.

Requested changes

The authors should consider the comments under "weaknesses".

Recommendation

Publish (meets expectations and criteria for this Journal)

  • validity: top
  • significance: top
  • originality: high
  • clarity: good
  • formatting: excellent
  • grammar: excellent

Author:  Christian Gutschow  on 2024-08-14  [id 4695]

(in reply to Report 2 on 2024-08-08)

We thank the referee for the careful reading of the release note.

  1. The paper presupposes familiarity with Rivet 3 and its programming constructs. This is not per se a weakness, but it shuts out newcomers completely. The paper would be helpful to newcomers to Rivet if the introduction were expanded slightly by including pointers to help newcomers get started, in particular, pointers to help newcomers gain conceptual understanding of Rivet before they attempt to dive into code."

--- We've expanded the intro somewhat, but prefer not to go into the same level of detail as the original Rivet papers, since this is meant to be a release note rather than a standalone Rivet paper. We have supplied citations for where to get the (still relevant) full introduction from, though.

  1. The paper points to an FAQ explaining how to migrate from Rivet 3 to Rivet 4, but it would be helpful to have a few sentences explaining to a newcomer who starts with Rivet 4 where she or he should start. It would be helpful to advise whether starting with Ref. [1] is still a good place to begin to learn Rivet or whether given the substantial changes between Rivet 3 and 4 a newcomer is better advised to start elsewhere."

--- We've clarified the relevant section to point to the online tutorial which is the best place to get started. Ref. [1] is still a good resource, but serves less as a practical guide.

Report #1 by Anonymous (Referee 2) on 2024-7-5 (Invited Report)

  • Cite as: Anonymous, Report on arXiv:2404.15984v2, delivered 2024-07-05, doi: 10.21468/SciPost.Report.9344

Strengths

1- The paper explains the updates to the code and the workflow in Rivet in version 4. Sections 2 & 3 explain in detail to those with experience in Rivet, both, the technical changes and the motivation. The explanations are clear and to the point.
2- Section 4 discusses technical advancements, most prominently the inclusion of ONNX support. This option will likely be widely used in HEP.

Weaknesses

1- Section 1 misses a short description of the rivet workflow. While that is discussed in detail in the main publication, a short summary would make the document more readable.
2- Section 4 misses an implementation example. It would be nice to see how ONNX support is used in practice.

Report

The paper fits the journal, but the template must be changed - it is "SciPost Physics" which is confusing.

Requested changes

1- A short description of the rivet workflow, for example in Section 1.
2- A short example of the ONNX feature in Section 4.

Recommendation

Ask for minor revision

  • validity: top
  • significance: top
  • originality: top
  • clarity: top
  • formatting: perfect
  • grammar: perfect

Author:  Christian Gutschow  on 2024-08-14  [id 4694]

(in reply to Report 1 on 2024-07-05)

We thank the referee for the careful reading of the release note.

1- Section 1 misses a short description of the rivet workflow. While that is discussed in detail in the main publication, a short summary would make the document more readable.

--- We've extended the section to include a short summary of the workflow.

2- Section 4 misses an implementation example. It would be nice to see how ONNX support is used in practice.

--- We've added a small example snippet to illustrate the usage.

The paper fits the journal, but the template must be changed - it is "SciPost Physics" which is confusing.

--- We've replaced the style template, thanks for spotting!

Anonymous on 2024-08-27  [id 4719]

(in reply to Christian Gutschow on 2024-08-14 [id 4694])

I found the new draft on the arxiv as v3. I think the submission links the original v2.

Thank you for the updated draft, I am happy with all the changes.

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