LDM Application

This repository contains an application aimed at high school students who participated at the Nuclear Masterclass at Universitat de Barcelona.

This application consists of a set of exercises where the students have to adjust the parameters of the Liquid Drop Model to experimental data of atomic nuclei.

The application is available in Catalan, Spanish and English. Documentation can be found here. Executables can be found here (Windows and Linux).

Important: the online version of the executables should always be stable.

---

Prerequisites for Building/Modifying

To build the application executables from source or to modify the project, you will need:

• Git: For cloning the repository. Download from git-scm.com.
• Conda: For creating and managing the Python development environment (Anaconda or Miniconda recommended). Download from anaconda.com/download or repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/.
• PyInstaller: To package the application into executables. It can be installed via pip (pip install pyinstaller).

---

Key Features

• Appliation for Windows and Linux.
• Interactive exercises for adjusting Liquid Drop Model parameters.
• Visualizes experimental data of atomic nuclei.
• Supports multiple languages: Catalan, Spanish, and English.
• Includes instructions for compiling executables.
• Provides documentation and example images.

---

Screenshots

Example images of the application can be found in the pictures directory.

---

Feedback and Support

For feedback or support, please contact the developer at: alejandro.romero.rosfqa.ub.edu

---

Building Executables from Source

To compile the executables on your own, follow these instructions:

Platform-Specific Considerations for Compiling:

• For Windows:

  • Qt Platform Plugin Fix: In main_window.py, ensure the line os.environ["QT_QPA_PLATFORM"] = "xcb" is commented out (# os.environ["QT_QPA_PLATFORM"] = "xcb"). This is crucial to prevent "Qt platform plugin not found" errors.
  • PyInstaller Spec Files: Ensure main_window.spec and server_gui.spec include the dynamic Qt platform plugin path. Add from PyQt5.QtCore import QLibraryInfo at the top and include (os.path.join(QLibraryInfo.location(QLibraryInfo.PluginsPath), 'platforms'), 'platforms') in the datas array.

• For Linux:

  • Qt Platform Plugin Fix: In main_window.py, ensure the line os.environ["QT_QPA_PLATFORM"] = "xcb" is uncommented. This is often necessary for proper display on Linux systems.

Compilation Steps:

1. Create the Python environment:

   conda create --prefix ./.LDM python=3.11 -y

   Note: If you encounter a "Terms of Service" error, you may need to accept them using conda tos accept --override-channels --channel <channel_url> for each listed channel before retrying.

2. Install dependencies:

   # On Windows
   conda run -p ./.LDM pip install -r requirements.txt
   # On Linux
   conda activate ./.LDM && pip install -r requirements.txt

   Note: If pip install encounters issues with PyQt5-Qt5 or PyQtWebEngine-Qt5 versions, you may need to edit requirements.txt and remove the strict version numbers (e.g., change PyQt5-Qt5==5.15.17 to PyQt5-Qt5).

3. Run PyInstaller for the Main Application:

   # On Windows
   conda run -p ./.LDM pyinstaller --clean main_window.spec
   # On Linux
   conda activate ./.LDM && pyinstaller --clean main_window.spec

4. Run PyInstaller for the Server Application:

   # On Windows
   conda run -p ./.LDM pyinstaller --clean server_gui.spec
   # On Linux
   conda activate ./.LDM && pyinstaller --clean server_gui.spec

These steps create the executable main_window (main app) and server_gui (server app) in the directory dist/ for the current operative system (Windows or Linux).

We are happy to hear any feedback!