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At least 991 records · Page 55

Identifying Different Classes of Seismic Noise Signals Using Unsupervised Learning

Abstract Proper classification of nontectonic seismic signals is critical for detecting microearthquakes and developing an improved understanding of ongoing weak ground motions. We use unsupervised machine learning to label five classes of nonstationary seismic noise common in continuous waveforms. Temporal and spectral features describing the data are clustered to identify separable types of emergent and impulsive waveforms. The trained clustering model is used to classify every 1 s of continuous seismic records from a dense seismic array with 10–30 m station spacing. We show that dominate noise signals can be highly localized and vary on length scales of hundreds of meters. The methodology demonstrates the complexity of weak ground motions and improves the standard of analyzing seismic waveforms with a low signal‐to‐noise ratio. Application of this technique will improve the ability to detect genuine microseismic events in noisy environments where seismic sensors record earthquake‐like signals originating from nontectonic sources.

Johnson, Christopher W.↗

Sequential Decision Making (SDM) for Mesh Refinement and Model Selection in Multiscale, Multi-Physics Applications

Intelligent automation and decision support are needed to enhance computational efficiency and robustness in multiscale and multi-physics problems, including materials science, manufacturing, and climate and weather modeling. Current scientific computing approaches for enabling decisions by scientists fail to explore the role of learning, reasoning, and probabilistic planning. Often these decisions are not performed in real-time during the computation but are made prior to the start of the computation, which must be interrupted in order to make changes to the prior choices. Such interruptions at different stages of the computation increase the total computing time and the need for a human expert to frequently monitor the results. State of art scientific computing methods consist of rule-based algorithms that cannot automatically adapt to a dynamically changing computing environment. The development of a Sequential Decision Making (SDM) framework will automate scientific computing by optimizing the policies for mesh refinement, time-stepping, model and algorithm selection, resource allocation, and pre and post-processing. Our agent SDM framework for scientific computing will consist of data-driven learning (Classifier), automated reasoning (contextual knowledge), and probabilistic planning (Reinforcement Learning). In this project, we focused on three problems to demonstrate our SDM framework on a set of ordinary and partial differential equations. Classification of Lorenz system regions using Feed-Forward Neural Networks examined learning in the SDM framework. On the other hand, reasoning and planning in the SDM framework were used in two problems: adaptive time-stepping for nonlinear ODEs using on-policy RL algorithms, and adaptive mesh refinement for 2-D PDEs using off-policy RL algorithms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Neutron-antineutron oscillation sensitivity study at DUNE

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) aims to measure neutrino oscillations as well as search for beyond the standard model physics such as baryon number violating (BNV) processes. DUNE will use a 70 kt Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) located more than 1 km underground. A promising BNV process is neutron-antineutron oscillation ($n \rightarrow \bar{n}$) which, if discovered, would offer unique insight into the baryon asymmetry of the universe. We are developing a classification algorithm that separates $n \rightarrow \bar{n}$ events from major background atmospheric neutrino interactions using DUNE far detector simulations. We will perform the classification of signals and backgrounds by analyzing key features such as the multiplicity, isotropy, and kinematics of the reconstructed events. In the future, this algorithm can be used to obtain the sensitivity of the DUNE detectors to the neutron-antineutron oscillation lifetime.

Wheeler, Justin↗

Novel machine-learning method for spin classification of neutron resonances

The performance of nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems depends on a precise understanding of the neutron interaction cross sections for materials used in these systems. These cross sections exhibit resonant structure whose shape is determined in part by the angular-momentum quantum numbers of the resonances. The correct assignment of the quantum numbers of neutron resonances is, therefore, paramount. In this project, we apply machine learning to automate the quantum number assignments using only the resonances' energies and widths and not relying on detailed transmission or capture measurements. The classifier used for quantum number assignment is trained using stochastically generated resonance sequences whose distributions mimic those of real data. Here we explore the use of several physics-motivated features for training our classifier. These features amount to out-of-distribution tests of a given resonance's widths and resonance-pair spacings. We pay special attention to situations where either capture widths cannot be trusted for classification purposes or where there is insufficient information to classify resonances by the total spin J. We demonstrate the efficacy of our classification approach using simulated and actual 52 Cr resonance data.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

A hybrid neural architecture: Online attosecond x-ray characterization

The emergence of high-repetition-rate x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs), such as SLAC’s LCLS-II, serves as our canonical example for autonomous controls that necessitate high-throughput diagnostics paired with streaming computational pipelines capable of single-shot analysis with extremely low latency. We present the deterministic characterization with an integrated parallelizable hybrid resolver architecture, a hybrid machine learning framework designed for fast, accurate analysis of XFEL diagnostics using angular streaking-based sinogram images. This architecture integrates convolutional neural networks and bidirectional long short-term memory models to denoise input, identify x-ray sub-spike features, and extract sub-spike relative delays with sub-30 attosecond temporal resolution. Deployed on low-latency hardware, it achieves over 10 kHz throughput with 168.3 μs inference latency, indicating scalability to 14 kHz with field-programmable gate array integration. By transforming regression tasks into classification problems and leveraging optimized error encoding, we achieve high precision with low-latency performance that is critical for real-time streaming event selection and experimental control feedback signals. This represents a key development in real-time control pipelines for next-generation autonomous science, generally, and high repetition-rate x-ray experiments in particular.

Accelerator Physics (physics.acc-ph)↗

Multi-Artifact Analysis of Self-Admitted Technical Debt in Scientific Software

Context: Self-admitted technical debt (SATD) occurs when developers acknowledge shortcuts in code. In scientific software (SSW), such debt poses unique risks to the validity and reproducibility of results. Objective: This study aims to identify, categorize, and evaluate scientific debt, a specialized form of SATD in SSW, and assess the extent to which traditional SATD categories capture these domain-specific issues. Method: We conduct a multi-artifact analysis across code comments, commit messages, pull requests, and issue trackers from 23 open-source SSW projects. We construct and validate a curated dataset of scientific debt, develop a multi-source SATD classifier to guide SATD management, and conduct a practitioner validation to assess the practical relevance of scientific debt. Results: Our classifier performs strongly across 900,358 artifacts from 23 SSW projects. SATD is most prevalent in pull requests and issue trackers, underscoring the value of multi-artifact analysis. Models trained on traditional SATD often miss scientific debt, emphasizing the need for its explicit detection in SSW. Practitioner validation confirmed that scientific debt is both recognizable and useful in practice. Conclusions: Scientific debt represents a unique form of SATD in SSW that that is not adequately captured by traditional categories and requires specialized identification and management. Our dataset, classification analysis, and practitioner validation results provide the first formal multi-artifact perspective on scientific debt, highlighting the need for tailored SATD detection approaches in SSW.

Melin, Eric [Boise State University]↗

Anderson Acceleration for Distributed Training of Deep Learning Models

Anderson acceleration (AA) is an extrapolation technique that has recently gained interest in the deep learning (DL) community to speed-up the sequential training of DL models. However, when performed at large scale, the DL training is exposed to a higher risk of getting trapped into steep local minima of the training loss function, and standard AA does not provide sufficient acceleration to escape from these steep local minima. This results in poor generalizability and makes AA ineffective. To restore AA’s advantage to speed-up the training of DL models on large scale computing platforms, we combine AA with an adaptive moving average procedure that boosts the training to escape from steep local minima. By monitoring the relative standard deviation between consecutive iterations, we also introduce a criterion to automatically assess whether the moving average is needed. We applied the method to the following DL instantiations for image classification: (i) ResNet50 trained on the open-source CIFAR100 dataset and (ii) ResNet50 trained on the open-source ImageNet1k dataset. Numerical results obtained using up to 1,536 NVIDIA V100 GPUs on the OLCF supercomputer Summit showed the stabilizing effect of the moving average on AA for all the problems above.

Lupo Pasini, Massimiliano↗

Classification of bacterial plasmid and chromosome derived sequences using machine learning

Plasmids are important genetic elements that facilitate horizonal gene transfer between bacteria and contribute to the spread of virulence and antimicrobial resistance. Most bacterial genome sequences in the public archives exist in draft form with many contigs, making it difficult to determine if a contig is of chromosomal or plasmid origin. Using a training set of contigs comprising 10,584 chromosomes and 10,654 plasmids from the PATRIC database, we evaluated several machine learning models including random forest, logistic regression, XGBoost, and a neural network for their ability to classify chromosomal and plasmid sequences using nucleotide k-mers as features. Based on the methods tested, a neural network model that used nucleotide 6-mers as features that was trained on randomly selected chromosomal and plasmid subsequences 5kb in length achieved the best performance, outperforming existing out-of-the-box methods, with an average accuracy of 89.38% ± 2.16% over a 10-fold cross validation. The model accuracy can be improved to 92.08% by using a voting strategy when classifying holdout sequences. In both plasmids and chromosomes, subsequences encoding functions involved in horizontal gene transfer—including hypothetical proteins, transporters, phage, mobile elements, and CRISPR elements—were most likely to be misclassified by the model. This study provides a straightforward approach for identifying plasmid-encoding sequences in short read assemblies without the need for sequence alignment-based tools.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Millimeter-wave Point Sources from the 2500 Square Degree SPT-SZ Survey: Catalog and Population Statistics

In this work, we present a catalog of emissive point sources detected in the SPT-SZ survey, a contiguous 2530- square-degree area surveyed with the South Pole Telescope (SPT) from 2008 - 2011 in three bands centered at 95, 150, and 220GHz. The catalog contains 4845 sources measured at a significance of 4.5σ or greater in at least one band, corresponding to detections above approximately 9.8, 5.8, and 20.4 mJy in 95, 150, and 220 GHz, respectively. Spectral behavior in the SPT bands is used for source classification into two populations based on the underlying physical mechanisms of compact, emissive sources that are bright at millimeter wavelengths: synchrotron radiation from active galactic nuclei and thermal emission from dust. The latter population includes a component of high-redshift sources often referred to as submillimeter galaxies (SMGs). In the relatively bright flux ranges probed by the survey, these sources are expected to be magnified by strong gravitational lensing. The survey also contains sources consistent with protoclusters, groups of dusty galaxies at high redshift undergoing collapse. We cross-match the SPT-SZ catalog with external catalogs at radio, infrared, and X-ray wavelengths and identify available redshift information. The catalog splits into 3980 synchrotron-dominated and 865 dust-dominated sources and we determine a list of 506 SMGs. Ten sources in the catalog are identified as stars. We calculate number counts for the full catalog, and synchrotron and dusty components, using a bootstrap method and compare our measured counts with models. This paper represents the third and final catalog of point sources in the SPT-SZ survey.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

ResSR: A Computationally Efficient Residual Approach to Super-Resolving Multispectral Images

Multispectral imaging (MSI) plays a critical role in material classification, environmental monitoring, and remote sensing. However, MSI sensors typically have wavelength-dependent resolution, which limits downstream analysis. MSI super-resolution (MSI-SR) methods address this limitation by reconstructing all bands at a common high spatial resolution. Existing methods can achieve high reconstruction quality but often rely on spatially-coupled optimization or large learning-based models, leading to significant computational cost and limiting their use in large-scale or time-critical settings. In this paper, we introduce ResSR, a computationally efficient, model-based MSI-SR method that achieves high-quality reconstruction without supervised training or spatially-coupled optimization. Notably, ResSR decouples spectral and spatial processing into two sequential steps. ResSR first computes a spectrally-informed high-resolution estimate of the MSI using singular value decomposition together with a spatially-decoupled approximate forward model. It then applies a residual correction step to restore low-frequency spatial consistency while preserving high-frequency detail recovered by the spectral reconstruction. ResSR achieves comparable or improved reconstruction quality relative to existing MSI-SR methods while being

Sullivan, Haley [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000274069217)↗

The Value of Information From Horizontal Distributed Acoustic Sensing Compared to Multicomponent Geophones Via Machine Learning

Abstract Faults play an important role in recharging many geothermal reservoirs, and seismic information can image the locations of these faults. The value of information (VOI) metric is used to objectively quantify and compare the value of two types of seismic receiver data via a machine learning approach. The demonstrated VOI methodology is novel by including spatial models from seismic data and obtaining the information statistics from machine learning. Our two-dimensional numerical experiments compare images created from sparsely spaced (80 m), two-component geophone sampling to high spatial resolution (1 m), single-component DAS. We used a three-fold cross validation of a U-Net convolutional neural networks to achieve average classification statistics. The results suggest that when horizontal sources are utilized, geophones and DAS identify reflectors and non-reflectors at roughly the same rate. The average F1 score for horizontal DAS is 0.939 and 0.931 for geophones. For images created from a vertical source, DAS performed marginally better (F1 = 0.919) than geophones (F1 = 0.877). Our transferrable methodology can provide guidance on which acquisition scenarios can improve images of important structures in the subsurface and present an efficient method for obtaining reliability statistics from high-dimensional, spatial data.

Energy & Fuels↗

Augmented Human Analysis (AHA)

Radio frequency (RF) signal monitoring generally emphasizes intentionally generated signals, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, or cellular transmissions. However, electronic devices also produce unintended radiated emissions (UREs), which could also be useful in RF spectrum analysis. In either case, deriving intelligence from RF signals is typically a human-intensive process requiring significant domain knowledge. In the Augmented Human Analysis (AHA) project, we investigate the utility of dimensionally aligned signal projection (DASP) and machine learning (ML) algorithms for accelerating RF analysis workflows. We find that while DASP algorithms can indeed highlight signal characteristics relevant for classification tasks, the choice of algorithmic hyperparameters greatly affects performance. To address this challenge, we evaluate the quality of DASP outputs using the silhouette score, which measures how well data points cluster; high silhouette scores indicate good clustering, and thus good hyperparameter values. This approach is critical for machine learning pipelines as the DASP parameters cannot be directly optimized during model training. By identifying good DASP parameters, and thus good DASP outputs, as a preprocessing step, we can decrease the amount of effort required for downstream ML model training. We demonstrate our workflow using a dataset of UREs from common household devices, showing that even without the aid of ML, proper selection of DASP parameters enables clustering by device type.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Using Ultrasound Image Augmentation and Ensemble Predictions to Prevent Machine-Learning Model Overfitting

Deep learning predictive models have the potential to simplify and automate medical imaging diagnostics by lowering the skill threshold for image interpretation. However, this requires predictive models that are generalized to handle subject variability as seen clinically. Here, we highlight methods to improve test accuracy of an image classifier model for shrapnel identification using tissue phantom image sets. Using a previously developed image classifier neural network—termed ShrapML—blind test accuracy was less than 70% and was variable depending on the training/test data setup, as determined by a leave one subject out (LOSO) holdout methodology. Introduction of affine transformations for image augmentation or MixUp methodologies to generate additional training sets improved model performance and overall accuracy improved to 75%. Further improvements were made by aggregating predictions across five LOSO holdouts. This was done by bagging confidences or predictions from all LOSOs or the top-3 LOSO confidence models for each image prediction. Top-3 LOSO confidence bagging performed best, with test accuracy improved to greater than 85% accuracy for two different blind tissue phantoms. This was confirmed by gradient-weighted class activation mapping to highlight that the image classifier was tracking shrapnel in the image sets. Overall, data augmentation and ensemble prediction approaches were suitable for creating more generalized predictive models for ultrasound image analysis, a critical step for real-time diagnostic deployment.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Explainable Machine Learning for Functional Data

Black-box machine learning models are recognized as useful tools for prediction applications, but the algorithmic complexity of some models causes interpretation challenges. Explainability methods have been proposed to provide insight into these models, but there is little research focused on supervised modeling with functional data inputs. We argue that, especially in applications of high consequence, it is important to explicitly model the functional dependence in a black-box analysis to not obscure or misrepresent patterns in explanations. As such, we propose the V ariable importance E xplainable E lastic S hape A nalysis (VEESA) pipeline for training supervised machine learning models with functional inputs. The pipeline is an analysis process that includes the data preprocessing, modeling, and post-hoc explanations. The preprocessing is done using elastic functional principal components analysis, which accounts for vertical and horizontal variability in functional data and, ultimately, allows for explanations in the original data space that identify the important functional variability without bias due to correlated variables. Here, we demonstrate the pipeline on two high-consequence applications: explosives classification for national security and inkjet printer identification in forensic science. The applications exhibit the VEESA pipeline’s ability to provide an understanding of the characteristics of the functional data useful for prediction. Code for implementing the pipeline is available in the veesa R package (and supplemental python code).

Elastic Shape Analysis↗

Signal discrimination for neutron-antineutron oscillation sensitivity study at DUNE

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) aims to measure neutrino oscillations as well as search for beyond the standard model physics such as baryon number violating (BNV) processes. DUNE will use a 70 kt Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) located more than 1 km underground. A promising BNV process is neutron-antineutron oscillation $\left(n\rightarrow\bar{n}\right)$ which, if discovered, would offer unique insight into the baryon asymmetry of the universe. We are developing a classification algorithm that separates $n\rightarrow\bar{n}$ events from major background atmospheric neutrino interactions using DUNE far detector simulations. We will perform the classification of signals and backgrounds by analyzing key features such as the multiplicity, isotropy, and kinematics of the reconstructed events. In the future, this algorithm can be used to obtain the sensitivity of the DUNE detectors to the neutron-antineutron oscillation lifetime.

Wheeler, Justin↗

Deep Learning Classification of Cheatgrass Invasion in the Western United States Using Biophysical and Remote Sensing Data

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) invasion is driving an emerging cycle of increased fire frequency and irreversible loss of wildlife habitat in the western US. Yet, detailed spatial information about its occurrence is still lacking for much of its presumably invaded range. Deep learning (DL) has demonstrated success for remote sensing applications but is less tested on more challenging tasks like identifying biological invasions using sub-pixel phenomena. We compare two DL architectures and the more conventional Random Forest and Logistic Regression methods to improve upon a previous effort to map cheatgrass occurrence at >2% canopy cover. High-dimensional sets of biophysical, MODIS, and Landsat-7 ETM+ predictor variables are also compared to evaluate different multi-modal data strategies. All model configurations improved results relative to the case study and accuracy generally improved by combining data from both sensors with biophysical data. Cheatgrass occurrence is mapped at 30 m ground sample distance (GSD) with an estimated 78.1% accuracy, compared to 250-m GSD and 71% map accuracy in the case study. Furthermore, DL is shown to be competitive with well-established machine learning methods in a limited data regime, suggesting it can be an effective tool for mapping biological invasions and more broadly for multi-modal remote sensing applications.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Real-time biomass feedstock particle quality detection using image analysis and machine vision

Abstract A common and costly challenge in the nascent biorefinery industry is the consistent handling and conveyance of biomass feedstock materials, which can vary widely in their chemical, physical, and mechanical properties. Solutions to cope with varying feedstock qualities will be required, including advanced process controls to adjust equipment and reject feedstocks that do not meet a quality standard. In this work, we present and evaluate methods to autonomously assess corn stover feedstock quality in real time and provide data to process controls with low-cost camera hardware. We explore the use of neural networks to classify feedstocks based on actual processing behavior and pixel matrix feature parameterization to further assess particle attributes that may explain the variable processing behavior. We used the pretrained ResNet neural network coupled with a gated recurrent unit (GRU) time-series classifier trained on our image data, resulting in binary classification of feedstock anomalies with favorable performance. The textural aspects of the image data were statistically analyzed to determine if the textural features were predictive of operational disruptions. The significant textural features were angular second moment, prominence, mean height of surface profile, mean resultant vector, shade, skewness, variation of the polar facet orientation, and direction of azimuthal facets. Expansion of these models is recommended across a wider variety of labeled feedstock images of different qualities and species to develop a more robust tool that may be deployed using low-cost cameras within biorefineries.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Fractionalization of subsystem symmetries in two dimensions

The fractionalization of global symmetry charges is a striking hallmark of topological quantum order. Here, we discuss the fractionalization of subsystem symmetries in two-dimensional topological phases. In line with previous no-go arguments, we show that subsystem symmetry fractionalization is not possible in many cases due to the additional rigid geometric structure of the symmetries. However, we identify a mechanism that allows fractionalization, involving global relations between macroscopically many symmetry generators. We find that anyons can fractionalize such relations, meaning that the total charge carried under all generators involved in the global relation is nontrivial, despite the fact that these generators multiply to the identity. We first discuss the general algebraic framework needed to characterize this type of fractionalization, and then explore this framework using a number of exactly solvable models with Z 2 topological order, including models having line and fractal symmetries. These models all showcase another necessary property of subsystem symmetry fractionalization: Fractionalized anyons must have restricted mobility when the symmetry is enforced, such that they are confined to a single line or point in the case of line and fractal symmetries, respectively. Looking forward, we expect that our identification of the importance of global relations in fractionalization will hold significance for the classification of phases with subsystem symmetries in all dimensions.

2-dimensional systems↗