HEPData Search and Download Skill

Search and download experimental data tables from HEPData, the high-energy physics data repository.

Requires: requests (pip install requests)

What is HEPData?

HEPData stores the actual data points behind plots and tables in HEP publications:

• Cross-section measurements
• Exclusion limits
• Differential distributions
• Digitized figures

Data is linked to papers via INSPIRE IDs and available in multiple formats.

Basic Usage

# Get record by HEPData ID
python scripts/hepdata.py ins1234567

# Get record by INSPIRE ID
python scripts/hepdata.py 1234567 --inspire

# Get record by arXiv ID
python scripts/hepdata.py 1907.12345 --arxiv

# List tables in a record
python scripts/hepdata.py 1234567 --inspire --tables

Searching

# Search by keywords
python scripts/hepdata.py --search "Higgs cross section"

# Search by reaction
python scripts/hepdata.py --search 'reactions:"P P --> TOP TOPBAR"'

# Search by collaboration
python scripts/hepdata.py --search "collaboration:ATLAS"

# Search by observable
python scripts/hepdata.py --search "observables:SIG"

# Limit results
python scripts/hepdata.py --search "dark matter" -n 5

Search Query Syntax

• reactions:"P P --> X" - Search by reaction
• collaboration:NAME - Filter by collaboration (ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, etc.)
• observables:TYPE - Filter by observable type
• cmenergies:13000 - Center-of-mass energy in GeV
• keywords:term - Search keywords

Downloading Data

# List available tables first
python scripts/hepdata.py 1234567 --inspire --tables

# Download specific table as CSV
python scripts/hepdata.py 1234567 --inspire --download "Table 1" --format csv

# Download all tables as YAML
python scripts/hepdata.py 1234567 --inspire --download --format yaml

# Download to specific directory
python scripts/hepdata.py 1234567 --inspire --download "Table 1" -o ./data/

Download Formats

• csv - Comma-separated values (default)
• yaml - YAML format (HEPData native)
• json - JSON format
• root - ROOT file
• yoda - YODA format (for Rivet)

Identifier Types

HEPData accepts three types of identifiers:

Typical Workflow

1. Find paper on INSPIRE: get the INSPIRE ID
2. Check for HEPData: python scripts/hepdata.py <inspire_id> --inspire
3. List tables: python scripts/hepdata.py <id> --inspire --tables
4. Download data: python scripts/hepdata.py <id> --inspire --download "Table 1" -f csv
5. Use in analysis

Common Use Cases

Get Exclusion Limits

# Find ATLAS SUSY limits
python scripts/hepdata.py --search "collaboration:ATLAS SUSY exclusion"

# Download the limit data
python scripts/hepdata.py 1234567 --inspire --download "Exclusion contour" -f csv

Get Cross-Section Measurements

# Find Higgs measurements
python scripts/hepdata.py --search "Higgs cross section 13 TeV"

# Download measurement table
python scripts/hepdata.py 1234567 --inspire --download "Cross section" -f csv

Overlay Theory on Data

Download data points to compare with your theoretical predictions:

import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("Table_1.csv")
# Plot data vs your theory

Integration with INSPIRE Skill

Use together with the inspire skill:

1. Search on INSPIRE for papers
2. Get the INSPIRE recid
3. Fetch data from HEPData using that ID

API Notes

• No authentication required
• Data is CC0 licensed
• Some older records may have limited format support