Nuclear Physics Container

A containerised environment for nuclear physics research.

Software Included

• ROOT (v6-28-10) - CERN's data analysis framework
• Geant4 (v11.1.3) - Monte Carlo simulation toolkit
• SRIM (2013) - Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter
• AZURE2 - R-matrix code for nuclear astrophysics
• GUI Menu - Qt-based launcher (in development)

Project Structure

nuclear-docker/
├── hostScripts/           # Scripts that run on host machine
│   ├── buildDocker.sh     # -> Builds Docker image
│   ├── buildSingularity.sh # -> Converts to Singularity format
│   └── config.sh          # -> Project configuration
├── containerScripts/      # Scripts copied into container
│   └── test_container.sh  # -> Tests installation
├── gui/                   # GUI menu application
│   ├── MenuWindow.h       # -> Qt header file
│   ├── MenuWindow.cpp     # -> Qt implementation
│   ├── main.cpp           # -> Application entry point
│   └── compileMenu.sh     # -> Build script for GUI
├── Dockerfile             # Container definition
├── build.sh              # Main build script
└── startContainer.sh     # Launches container with X11

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Docker - Install Docker
• Singularity - Install Singularity
• X11 server - For GUI applications

Tested on:

• Docker version 27.3.1
• Singularity version 3.5.3

Build the Container

Interactive build:

./build.sh

Follow the prompts to build Docker and/or Singularity images.

Run the Container

Start interactive session:

./startContainer.sh

This launches the container with:

• X11 forwarding for GUI applications
• Interactive zsh shell
• All nuclear physics software ready to use

Test the Installation

Once inside the container, test graphics:

containerScripts/test_container.sh

or run:

menu

and follow prompts

Configuration

Edit hostScripts/config.sh to customise:

• Docker image name
• Debug settings

Troubleshooting

X11 Graphics Issues:

• Check $DISPLAY variable is set
• Try xhost +local:$(whoami) on host

Build Failures:

• Ensure sufficient disk space (build requires ~13GB)

Permission Issues:

• Ensure scripts are executable: chmod +x *.sh hostScripts/*.sh