BoGEMMS-HPC: A Geant4 simulation framework tailored for high performance computing applications

The rising complexity of Geant4 simulations to support design, calibration, and data analysis of ever-advancing technologies for X-ray and gamma-ray observations is increasing the demand for computing resources and storage. Modern applications must rely on customisable, ready-to-use simulation frameworks with native support for high-performance computing (HPC) systems, enabling faster simulations. BoGEMMS-HPC is an open-source Geant4-based simulation framework optimised for HPC applications. It builds on the Bologna Geant4 Multi-Mission Simulator (BoGEMMS) software architecture to deliver scalable and customisable simulations. BoGEMMS-HPC enables efficient large-scale simulations by integrating multi-threading and MPI-based parallelism, support for diverse input/output formats (FITS, SQLite, MongoDB), and runtime-configurable geometry and physics models. Its modular design supports containerised deployment and facilitates portability and maintenance of the code. We describe the framework software architecture focusing on the HPC-enabling features, its novel solutions for geometry modelling, and the input/output interface. The multi-threading and multi-tasking parallelisation schemes are benchmarked both on a local machine and on Leonardo, the pre-exascale Tier-0 supercomputer hosted by CINECA, for the three output interfaces. A factor of 40 speed-up is reached for MPI-based scaling on the 56 CPU cores of a Leonardo node, outperforming the Geant4 built-in multi-threading features. The public repository includes two example applications, verified against laboratory measurements.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Astronomy and Computing
Published
2026-03-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ascom.2026.101105
Primary Topic
Distributed and Parallel Computing Systems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

BoGEMMS-HPC: A Geant4 simulation framework tailored for high performance computing applications

V. Fioretti, N. Parmiggiani, Alex Ciabattoni, Andrea Bulgarelli
Astronomy and Computing
Distributed and Parallel Computing Systems
article

BoGEMMS-HPC: A Geant4 simulation framework tailored for high performance computing applications

V. Fioretti, N. Parmiggiani, Alex Ciabattoni, Andrea Bulgarelli
article en

Abstract

The rising complexity of Geant4 simulations to support design, calibration, and data analysis of ever-advancing technologies for X-ray and gamma-ray observations is increasing the demand for computing resources and storage. Modern applications must rely on customisable, ready-to-use simulation frameworks with native support for high-performance computing (HPC) systems, enabling faster simulations. BoGEMMS-HPC is an open-source Geant4-based simulation framework optimised for HPC applications. It builds on the Bologna Geant4 Multi-Mission Simulator (BoGEMMS) software architecture to deliver scalable and customisable simulations. BoGEMMS-HPC enables efficient large-scale simulations by integrating multi-threading and MPI-based parallelism, support for diverse input/output formats (FITS, SQLite, MongoDB), and runtime-configurable geometry and physics models. Its modular design supports containerised deployment and facilitates portability and maintenance of the code. We describe the framework software architecture focusing on the HPC-enabling features, its novel solutions for geometry modelling, and the input/output interface. The multi-threading and multi-tasking parallelisation schemes are benchmarked both on a local machine and on Leonardo, the pre-exascale Tier-0 supercomputer hosted by CINECA, for the three output interfaces. A factor of 40 speed-up is reached for MPI-based scaling on the 56 CPU cores of a Leonardo node, outperforming the Geant4 built-in multi-threading features. The public repository includes two example applications, verified against laboratory measurements.

Astronomy and ComputingVol. 56
Cineca (IT), National Institute for Astrophysics (IT), University of Bologna (IT)
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Openalex Percentile: Top 40%
Distributed and Parallel Computing Systems
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.

BoGEMMS-HPC: A Geant4 simulation framework tailored for high performance computing applications — V. Fioretti, N. Parmiggiani, et al. · Astronomy and Computing (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS