ThePEG News	-*- outline -*-
===============================

Numbered bugs can be found at
 http://projects.hepforge.org/herwig/trac/ticket/NN
where NN is the bug number.

The latest version of ThePEG can be found at http://www.thep.lu.se/ThePEG
or at http:///projects.hepforge.org/herwig/versions

* ThePEG-1.8.0 release: 2012-05-21

** NLO support

***    ThePEG now includes structures to ease implementing next-to-leading
       order (NLO) calculations as well as for interfacing external
       matrix element codes through runtime interfaces. Particularly,
       the newly introduced MEGroup and accompanying StdXCombGroup,
       StdDependentXComb and SubProcessGroup classes provide the
       functionality required by subtraction approaches to higher
       orders. A general interface for cutting on reconstructed jets
       as required by higher-order calculations is included, along
       with an implementation of kt, Cambridge-Aachen and anti-kt jet
       finding as relevant for NLO calculations. Hard process
       implementations deriving from MEBase are no longer limited to
       the evaluation of PDFs by PartonExtractor objects, thus
       allowing for a more flexible and more stable implementation of
       finite collinear contributioins appearing in the context of
       higher order corrections.

***    The generation of phasespace points
       for the hard subprocess has been made more flexible,
       particularly to allow generation of incoming parton momenta by
       the hard matrix element as is typically done by phasespace
       generators provided with fixed-order codes. Along with this
       change, generation of the phasespace point does not need to
       take place in the centre-of-mass system of the incoming
       partons.

***    Various helpers have been added to MEBase and dependent 
       code along with the improvements described above, including
       simple functionality required for caching intermediate results.

***    Tree2toNDiagram supports merging of two external legs, 
       yielding another Tree2toNDiagram object to assist in
       determining subtraction terms required for a particular process

** Support for SU(3)-sextet colour lines

** Named weights support, also in HepMC
   Named, optional weights on top of the usual event weight are now
   fully supported; this includes their communication to HepMC events
   as well as their parsing from the extented Les Houches file format
   drafted at the Les Houches workshop 2009.

** Complex masses supported in Helicity code

** Several minor fixes and enhancements
 




* ThePEG-1.7.3 release: 2012-03-05

  The only changes are in LesHouches.so, now at version 14.

** Spin information
   Spin correlation information will now be set up correctly for tau
   leptons. To go back to the old behaviour, set
   LesHouchesReader:IncludeSpin No

** Consistency checks
   Catch broken input where mother-daughter relations are circular.

* ThePEG-1.7.2 release: 2011-11-01

** HepMC configuration
   Clarified at configure time that HepMC versions before 2.05 are not
   officially supported.

** Rivet configuration
   Rivet builds with external header dependencies are now correctly
   recognized.

** Helicity vertex consistency
   To help debugging, the addToList() function for registering
   particle lines connected to a vertex now checks for electric charge
   conservation at the vertex. Additionally, the specified QED/QCD
   order of the interaction is checked.

** Ticket #355: Global library list for resume functionality
   The list of global libraries is now correctly included in the dump
   file, to fix the functionality of resuming a run from regular
   checkpoints.



* ThePEG-1.7.1 release: 2011-06-20

** Ticket #238: Self-consistent electroweak schemes
   The default behaviour of Herwig++ is to use the best values for all
   the electroweak parameters, which can be inconsistent. Optionally
   now, a self-consistent electroweak scheme can be chosen in the
   parameter Model:EW/Scheme. Note that values of 'EW/Scheme' away
   from the default have not received the same amount of testing.

** Ticket #338: Fixed reporting of floating point exceptions
   This was an issue whenever LHAPDF libraries were linked in.

** Fixed cTau() behaviour
   The new behavior is that if both width and lifetime are zero,
   cTau() returns zero for unstable particles and MaxLength for
   stable ones.

** MaxErrors
   The cutoff can be disabled by setting MaxErrors to -1.

** StdOut redirect
   CurrentGenerator::Redirect now does not redirect to to the internal
   stream in EventGenerator if the useStdout flag has been set.

** Run name tags
   Aded possibility to add a tag to the run name when running with the
   '-t' option. One run file can thus be run with different seeds and
   result in different output files.

** Exception names
   EventGenerator tries to convert exception type names into
   human-readable form. Currently this only works for gcc-compatible
   compilers.

** Repository API changes
   Instead of printing an error message to cerr, the
   Repository::load() and Repository::read(filename,os) commands now
   behave like the other repo commands and return an error string.
   This allows --exitonerror to work correctly for load() and read().
   Users of these functions need to send the string to cerr themselves
   if the old output behaviour is required. 
   Repository::read(is, os, prompt) is unchanged.

** HepMC precision
   The precision() option for HepMC GenEvent is now available as an
   interface in the HepMCFile analysis handler.

** gcc-4.6
   The build has now also been tested with gcc 4.6.0.



* ThePEG-1.7.0 release: 2011-02-08

** Behaviour
*** Cross-section information
    The .out file contains a better estimate of the cross-section
    directly from the phase space sampler. It should be reliable if
    not too many events were vetoed during the later phases of the
    production.
*** Simpler decay mode selection
    Instead of having to turn off every mode individually, the new
    'SelectDecayModes' interface allows commands such as
      tbar:SelectDecayModes none 
      tbar:SelectDecayModes tbar->nu_ebar,e-,bbar; tbar->nu_mubar,mu-,bbar;
    Use 'PrintDecayModes' to list the available choices.
*** Rivet interface
    The interface will check before the run if all chosen analyses are
    actually available in Rivet, and will only call finalize() if any
    events have been generated. Event weights are now passed correctly
    into Rivet.
*** Les Houches QNUMBER support
    QNUMBER particle creation support has been added to the Les
    Houches reader.
*** Debug level
    If a debug level is set on the command line, it will always be used.
*** Abort preserves events
    A hard abort exception during event generation will try to finalize as
    best as it can, thus preserving information about the run until this
    point.
*** Progress log
    There is a new ThePEG::ProgressLog analysis handler, which prints
    timing information about the run to screen. 
*** Graphviz
    The event graph can show missing momentum information.
*** CRLF line endings (Windows-style)
    File readers can now cope with files that have CRLF (Windows) and CR
    (Mac) line endings.


** Structure
*** Diffraction support
    To provide support for the simulation of diffractive events, the
    LeptonLeptonRemnant class was renamed to UnresolvedRemnant, the
    WeizsackerWilliams PDF extended, BudnevPDF added, and PartonExtractor
    modified to allow separate override PDFs for each beam.
*** Polarized beams
    The PolarizedBeamParticleData class permits a spin polarization choice
    on the incoming particles.
*** Mixing particles
    The MixedParticleData class supports mixed particle states.
*** SpinBase
    The SpinBase class has been removed, SpinInfo is now the base class. 
*** Vertex classes
    Several new vertices were added for BSM physics, and some minor bugs
    fixed with existing classes.
*** PID type
    Particle IDs now have their own type, 'PID'. It can only be converted
    to 'long' to avoid unsigned int overflow errors on 64bit machines.
*** ClassDescription
    There is a simpler way to register ClassDescription information with
    the Repository: the DescribeClass<> template. No information is needed
    in the class headers anymore, reducing build dependencies. New code
    will use this method now, older classes will be migrated in future.
*** LWH histogramming
    The built-in implementation of AIDA histogramming has been
    restructured slightly to decouple the implementation from the
    interface.

** Build system
*** Silent build rules
    'make' now builds silently, to improve readability. To get the old
    behaviour, run 'make V=1'
*** zlib
    Integrated zlib to read compressed files, such as Les Houches events.
*** Libtool 2.4
    Will fix some issues on OS X. 
*** gsl check
    This check now also works with Rivet


** Bug fixes
*** Ticket #286: Implementation of Cuts in LesHouchesReader
    Les Houches events are given in the lab frame, but QCDCuts expects to
    be given momenta in the parton-parton cmf.  Boost added.
*** Ticket #303: AlphaS thresholds
    AlphaS thresholds were fixed for exactly massless quarks. 
*** Ticket #304: Length units in HepMC
*** Ticket #309: Particle initialization order
*** Ticket #310: LeptonLeptonPDF fix

   

* ThePEG-1.6.1 release: 2009-12-11

** Ticket #292: Spin correlation fix to stabilize tau decay numerics
   We have restructured the spin correlation code to stabilize the
   numerical problems seen in tau decays. 

** Speed increase
   Improved decay chain handling speeds up a typical run by a few percent.

** Exception logging
   The log file lists different exception types individually again
   instead of grouping them all by severity only. This was broken in
   the last few releases.



* ThePEG-1.6.0 release: 2009-11-19
 
** Helicity amplitudes
   The main change in this release is a streamlining of the helicity
   amplitude code. If you have self-written vertex classes, you will
   need to adapt them slightly:
*** Spinor representation
    All spinors are now in HELAS representation, the optional
    representation switching has been removed.
*** Adding particles to the vertex
    Instead of calling setList(v1, v2, v3) with three vectors of
    particles that need to be filled in sync, call 
    addToList(p1, p2, p3) repeatedly.
*** Name changes
    To make them consistent with the rest of ThePEG, the names of
    functions starting with get...() have changed:
    getFoo() becomes foo(); setFoo(...) becomes foo(...).

** Vector code changes
*** Vector3 has been renamed ThreeVector
    This makes it consistent with the other vector classes.
*** LorentzVector::mag()/mag2() removed, to reduce confusion
    Use the equivalent ::m()/m2() instead to get E^2-p^2. 
    LorentzVector::rho2() == ThreeVector::mag2() == p^2
*** Calculating with a zero-length vector 
    Previously, mathematically undefined values were arbitrarily set
    to 0 in this situation.  Now an assertion failure is triggered in
    debug mode. Only the azimuthal angle phi() still returns 0.

** Environment variable interpretation removed
   The programs setupThePEG and runThePEG are not wrapped in shell
   scripts anymore. All usage of environment variables at runtime has
   been removed. To influence the behaviour of ThePEG, you will need
   to use explicit command line flags, or calls to Repository::
   functions.

** StandardModelBase now provides G_Fermi
   InvEnergy2 StandardModelBase::fermiConstant() const;
   provides the PDG 2006 value of G_Fermi.

** Allow particle width cuts to be unset
   Setting a negative value for the lower or upper width cut removes
   that bound on the width.

** Ticket #271: Decay mode names are normalized
   Previously, the ordering of decay products in a decay mode
   specifier needed to match ThePEG's internal ordering exactly. This
   is now done automatically.

** Ticket #273: NoPDF and LesHouches reader
   The LesHouches reader has been fixed for the case where no PDFs are
   used in the LHE file.

** Ticket #275: doinitrun() ordering
   The ACDC sampler now ensures that initrun() of all ME objects is
   run first.

** Ticket #277: Repository command help texts
   ThePEG's repository command language now includes a 'help'
   functionality.

** Redirection of various files
   The log file stream now goes to stdout instead of stderr when
   EventGenerator:UseStdout is set.

** Readline support can be disabled
   Using the configure switch '--disable-readline', the linking of
   libreadline can be suppressed. This can be useful for batch code that
   will never be used interactively, if the number of linked-in
   libraries is a problem.

** --with-LHAPDF configure flag
   Previously, the full LHAPDF path including lib/ needed to be
   specified. This now also works with the more common usage of just
   LHAPDF's prefix path.

** Rivet analysis plugin
   The Rivet analysis output files are now named consistently like the
   other output from a run, with the run name as prefix. 

** Graphviz event visualization
   This is now independent of HepMC. The call to
   void ThePEG::printGraphviz(ostream & os, tcEventPtr event);
   on any event will output a Graphviz file to the stream,
   suitable for interpretation with the 'dot' tool. It shows a
   visualization of the generator's internal event structure, useful
   for debugging. This is an initial version, feedback is welcome!

** Fixed compatibility with older HepMC versions
   A problem with rejecting a missing HepMC unit implementation was fixed.




* ThePEG-1.5.0 release: 2009-09-01
** New ZERO object
   The ZERO object can be used to set any dimensionful quantity to
   zero. This avoids explicit constructs like 0.0*GeV.

** Readline interface
   The interactive repository access now uses the readline library,
   providing a command history and easier command line editing.

** Syntax highlighting
   We now have a syntax highlighting mode for emacs. To enable it, use
   'M-x ThePEG-repository-mode' on any .in file.

** Configure information
   Important configuration information is listed at the end of the
   'configure' run and in the file 'config.thepeg'. Please provide
   this file in any bug reports.

** Rivet interface
   ThePEG now supports Rivet internally as an AnalysisHandler if it's
   available.

** HepMC tools; CLHEP support removed
   The HepMC file output and graphviz event view have migrated from
   Herwig++ to ThePEG. The deprecated CLHEP support has been removed.

** Exception specifiers removed
   Client code changes are needed in doinit() etc. Simply remove the
   exception specifier after the function name.

** Support for HepMC 2.05
*** New features
    ThePEG now supports cross-section output, PDF information and unit
    specifications if they are available in HepMC.
*** IO_ASCII
    Support for the deprecated IO_ASCII format has been removed.
*** Status codes
    ThePEG uses codes 1, 2 and 11 according to the HepMC agreement.

** Redirection of .out, .log and .tex to stdout
   Set 'EventGenerator:UseStdout' to 'Yes' and (almost) all output
   will be streamed to stdout instead of files.

** Ticket #248: Les Houches reader
   The cross-section information is now reported correctly when
   reading several files.

** Cuts output
   If the debug level is set > 0, the current set of cuts is prepended
   to the logfile.

** Preweighting of matrix elements
   A segfault when using preweights was fixed. Preweights are now
   correctly included in handler statistics.

** Other technical changes
*** Colour line improvements
*** PDFsets.index search improved
*** Ticket #232: Java check on OS X now works headless
*** Running couplings restructured
*** LeptonLeptonRemnant iprovements to support GammaGamma
*** WaveFunction constructors streamlined
*** VertexBase now provides sin2ThetaW etc.




* ThePEG-1.4.2 release: 2009-05-08
** Ticket #242
   Fixed a compiler problem that showed up on openSUSE 10.2, g++
   4.1.2.  A source line was omitted if the optimization level was
   higher than -O1.

** User interaction
   Dump file generation can now be disabled completely by setting
   EventGenerator:DumpPeriod to -1.



* ThePEG-1.4.1 release: 2009-03-31
** User interaction
   Error messages have been clarified in BaseRepository and
   StandardEventHandler

** Les Houches files
   File readers are more robust, with clearer messages when things go
   wrong.

** Floating point issues
   fixed in ThreeVector and VertexBase.

** HepMC converter
   Fixed PDF choice for asymmetric beams.

** Libtool
   Updated to version 2.2.6



* ThePEG-1.4.0 release: 2008-12-02
** Efficiency improvements
   The LorentzVector class, the helicity amplitude code and PDF
   lookups have been profiled and restructured to eliminate speed
   bottlenecks. 

** Deep inelastic scattering
   Support for DIS is now implemented in ThePEG.

** New rapidity cut
   Added alternative pT cut that cuts on rapidity rather than
   pseudorapidty as the existing one fails for zero-pt massive
   particles.

** HepMC units support
   Users of HepMC versions > 2.04 get full units support. The HepMC
   GenEvent object has the correct units set.

** Support for HepMC PdfInfo data
   Users of the HepMC converter can now fill the PdfInfo data, which
   has been available since HepMC 1.28.00. Older versions are no
   longer supported.

** Ticket #199: Particle lifetime cutoff
   Users can set a maximum lifetime. Particles that live longer than
   this are not decayed.

** Ticket #215: Madgraph
   Fixed a problem in reading certain Madgraph event files.

** Les Houches files
   Optional rescaling of energy or mass of particles which were read
   in. Check the file to trap 'nan' and 'inf' values early during the read-in.

** File cleanup
   Most inline functions are now defined in the headers rather than a
   separate .icc file.



* ThePEG-1.3.0 release: 2008-06-20
** Statistical errors
   Error estimates on the cross-sections are now reported in the .out files.

** Decaymode setup
   The decaymode setup has been reworked, keeping backwards
   compatibility. The 'defaultparticle' command has been removed.

** Madgraph reader
   Updated to latest Madevent version. 

** LHAPDF improvements
   lhapdf-config is not used anymore to determine the location of the
   PDF sets. Instead, they are fixed at configure-time.

** HepMC 
   The beam particles are now set correctly.

** Arbitrary search paths for .in files
   Input files don't have to be in '.', use '-I' to specify additional
   directories.

** Ticket #172
   Fix for cuts in mirrored processes.

** Simpler emacs macros
   The emacs macros have been significantly cleaned up.

** Helicity vertex classes
   Potential prolems with uninitialized variables were fixed. No
   actual bugs had occurred from here.

** Memory leak fixes and performance
   Several loops of shared pointers were fixed involving DecayModes
   and ParticleData. FixedSizeAllocator was removed, the regular 'new'
   and 'delete' is now used for all allocations, giving a 5% speedup.  



* ThePEG-1.2.0 release: 2008-04-18
** ThePEG uses GSL 
   The GNU Scientific Library and its headers are now required for
   building ThePEG. RandomGenerator partially uses GSL now.

** Ticket #160: HepMC converter 
   Optionally, the HepMC converter can fill an external GenEvent object,
   instead of newing one internally.

** 'globallibrary' command
   The 'globallibrary' command can be used to register libraries which
   are useful for the whole run. They do not need to be listed in each
   class's library() function.

** Resume from dump files (also solves #149)
   The --resume command line flag instructs runThePEG to resume the
   run from a previous dump file. 'set Generator:DumpPeriod 1000'
   writes such a checkpoint every 1000 events.

** New Repository interface (also solves #141)
   The repository now provides a Repository::cleanup() method, to be
   called at the end of a run. Alternatively, a Repository object can
   be created and its member functions called. 

** Les Houches interface improvements.
   LesHouchesReader had had a major overhaul.

** XSecCheck analysis
   Issues a warning if a target cross section is not met in the run.

** Weighted events
   Handling of weighted events was improved.

** Ticket #124: 'Deleted' interface option 
   Interfaces can be declared obsolete, a warning will be issued when
   they're used. 

** LHAPDF interface 
   The interface now allows photons as partons inside a hadron.

** gcc 4.3.0
   ThePEG compiles cleanly with the new gcc 4.3 series.

** Bug #138
   Lepton NoPDF now works.




* ThePEG-1.1.2 release: 2008-02-25
** Bug #136: dSigHatDR
   Efficiency improvement for zero PDF.

** Bug #137: HepMC conversion
   The HepMC converter now takes a unit argument to specify which
   energy and length units should be used in the HepMC event.

** Bug #140 / #141: Crash on shutdown
   This fixes a bug introduced in 1.1.1. External code interfaces
   should now work again. 

** Bug #151: Loop in Remnant record
   The loop between remnants in the event record has been removed.

** PDF improvements
   Fix to handling of maximum flavour from LHAPDF. Fix for xmin
   calculation. 




* ThePEG-1.1.1 release: 2007-12-07
** Bug #46: Reproducibility
   Fixed a problem where runs were not identical for a given random
   number seed. You now _must_ reset the seed if you need independent
   event generator runs.  

** Detection of gcc abs bug
   http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=34130
   configure now checks for and works around the gcc abs() bug.

** Separate LWHFactory library
   Fixed problem in Rivet interaction by factoring out LWHFactory into
   its own dynamic library.




* ThePEG-1.1.0 release: 2007-11-20
** New vector classes
   ThePEG now uses its own internal Vector classes, making it
   independent of CLHEP.

** New dimension checking mechanism
   Optionally, any physical expression is checked for dimensional
   correctness at compile time.

** Extended Helicity classes
   A full set of helicity amplitude classes has been transferred from
   Herwig++. 

** unlisted
  Many other improvements and small bug fixes, see ChangeLog.




* ThePEG-1.0.1 release: 2006-11-22

** unlisted:
   Fixed memory leak in LesHouchesReader.

** Bug #58
   maximumCMEnergy() member of the EventGenerator returns zero. See
   ChangeLog entry 2006-10-06

** Bug #62
   fixed 'const' behaviour in Lorentz spinor classes

** Bug #68
   Improved error message for switch options

** unlisted
   Improved compile-time LHAPDF library and include file handling.

** unlisted
   Bug in IteratorRange::rrange(const Container &).

** unlisted
   fixed Selector::swap()

** unlisted
   Bug in ClusterCollapser where no colour-singlet particles were
   considered for momentum compensation if no coloured particles were
   present. 

** unlisted
   Bug in LeptonLeptonRemnant: minX variable not persistent

** unlisted
   scale of the produced coloured particles was not set in
   Onium3GDecayer and ColourPairDecayer

** unlisted
   unused default path removed from DynamicLoader




* ThePEG-1.0 release: 2006-09-27