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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 253 records · Page 14

A Strong Gravitational Lens Is Worth a Thousand Dark Matter Halos: Inference on Small-scale Structure Using Sequential Methods

Strong gravitational lenses are a singular probe of the Universe’s small-scale structure—they are sensitive to the gravitational effects of low-mass (<10 10 M ⊙ ) halos even without a luminous counterpart. Recent strong-lensing analyses of dark matter structure rely on simulation-based inference (SBI). Modern SBI methods, which leverage neural networks as density estimators, have shown promise in extracting the halo-population signal. However, it is unclear whether the constraints from these models are limited by the methodology or the data. In this study, we introduce an accelerator-optimized simulation pipeline that can generate lens images with realistic subhalo populations in milliseconds. Leveraging this simulator, we identify the main limitation of our fiducial SBI analysis: training set size. We then adopt a sequential neural posterior estimation (SNPE) approach, allowing us to refine the training distribution to align with the observed data. Using only one-fifth as many mock Hubble Space Telescope images, SNPE matches the constraints on the low-mass halo population produced by our best nonsequential model. Our experiments suggest that an over 3 order-of-magnitude increase in training set size and GPU hours would be required to achieve an equivalent result without sequential methods. While the full potential of the existing lens sample remains to be explored, the notable improvement in constraining power enabled by our sequential approach highlights that current constraints are limited primarily by methodology and not the data itself. Moreover, our results emphasize the need to treat training set generation and model optimization as interconnected stages of any cosmological analysis using SBI.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Machine Learning-Driven Conservative-to-Primitive Conversion in Hybrid Piecewise Polytropic and Tabulated Equations of State

We present a novel machine learning (ML)-based method to accelerate conservative-to-primitive inversion, focusing on hybrid piecewise polytropic and tabulated equations of state. Traditional root-finding techniques are computationally expensive, particularly for large-scale relativistic hydrodynamics simulations. To address this, we employ feedforward neural networks (NNC2PS and NNC2PL), trained in PyTorch (2.0+) and optimized for GPU inference using NVIDIA TensorRT (8.4.1), achieving significant speedups with minimal accuracy loss. The NNC2PS model achieves 𝐿 1 and 𝐿 ∞ errors of 4.54 × 10 −7 and 3.44 × 10−6, respectively, while the NNC2PL model exhibits even lower error values. TensorRT optimization with mixed-precision deployment substantially accelerates performance compared to traditional root-finding methods. Specifically, the mixed-precision TensorRT engine for NNC2PS achieves inference speeds approximately 400 times faster than a traditional single-threaded CPU implementation for a dataset size of 1,000,000 points. Ideal parallelization across an entire compute node in the Delta supercomputer (dual AMD 64-core 2.45 GHz Milan processors and 8 NVIDIA A100 GPUs with 40 GB HBM2 RAM and NVLink) predicts a 25-fold speedup for TensorRT over an optimally parallelized numerical method when processing 8 million data points. Moreover, the ML method exhibits sub-linear scaling with increasing dataset sizes. We release the scientific software developed, enabling further validation and extension of our findings. By exploiting the underlying symmetries within the equation of state, these findings highlight the potential of ML, combined with GPU optimization and model quantization, to accelerate conservative-to-primitive inversion in relativistic hydrodynamics simulations.

conservative-to-primitive conversion↗

Flight Results of the NF-15B Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) Aircraft with Adaptation to a Longitudinally Destabilized Plant

Adaptive flight control systems have the potential to be resilient to extreme changes in airplane behavior. Extreme changes could be a result of a system failure or of damage to the airplane. The goal for the adaptive system is to provide an increase in survivability in the event that these extreme changes occur. A direct adaptive neural-network-based flight control system was developed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NF-15B Intelligent Flight Control System airplane. The adaptive element was incorporated into a dynamic inversion controller with explicit reference model-following. As a test the system was subjected to an abrupt change in plant stability simulating a destabilizing failure. Flight evaluations were performed with and without neural network adaptation. The results of these flight tests are presented. Comparison with simulation predictions and analysis of the performance of the adaptation system are discussed. The performance of the adaptation system is assessed in terms of its ability to stabilize the vehicle and reestablish good onboard reference model-following. Flight evaluation with the simulated destabilizing failure and adaptation engaged showed improvement in the vehicle stability margins. The convergent properties of this initial system warrant additional improvement since continued maneuvering caused continued adaptation change. Compared to the non-adaptive system the adaptive system provided better closed-loop behavior with improved matching of the onboard reference model. A detailed discussion of the flight results is presented.

Bosworth, John T.↗

Design and simulation of a SiPM-on-tile ZDC for the future EIC, and its performance with graph neural networks

We present a design for a high-granularity zero-degree calorimeter (ZDC) for the upcoming Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). The design uses SiPM-on-tile technology and features a novel staggered-layer arrangement that improves spatial resolution. To fully leverage the design’s high granularity and non-trivial geometry, we employ graph neural networks (GNNs) for energy and angle regression as well as signal classification. The GNN-boosted performance metrics meet, and in some cases, significantly surpass the requirements set in the report on science requirements and detector requirements for the EIC (Yellow Report), laying the groundwork for enhanced measurements that will facilitate a wide physics program. Our studies show that GNNs can significantly enhance the performance of high-granularity CALICE-style calorimeters by automating and optimizing the software compensation algorithms required for these systems. This improvement holds true even in the case of complicated geometries that pose challenges for image-based AI/ML methods.

Calorimeter↗

Transfer learning nonlinear plasma dynamic transitions in low dimensional embeddings via deep neural networks

Deep learning algorithms provide a new paradigm to study high-dimensional dynamical behaviors, such as those in fusion plasma systems. Development of novel, data-driven model reduction methods, coupled with detection of abnormal modes with plasma physics, opens a unique opportunity to identify plasma instabilities through automated construction of parsimonious models that can be tuned to balance accuracy and cost. Our fusion transfer learning (FTL) model demonstrates success in rapidly reconstructing nonlinear kink mode structures by learning from a limited amount of nonlinear simulation data. The knowledge transfer process leverages a pre-trained neural encoder–decoder network, initially trained on linear simulations, to effectively capture nonlinear dynamics. The low-dimensional embeddings extract the coherent structures of interest, while preserving the inherent dynamics of the complex system. Experimental results highlight FTL’s capacity to capture transitional behaviors and dynamical features in plasma dynamics—a task often challenging for conventional methods. The model developed in this study is generalizable and can be extended broadly through transfer learning to address various magnetohydrodynamics modes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Fault detection and diagnosis using neural network approaches

Neural networks can be used to detect and identify abnormalities in real-time process data. Two basic approaches can be used, the first based on training networks using data representing both normal and abnormal modes of process behavior, and the second based on statistical characterization of the normal mode only. Given data representative of process faults, radial basis function networks can effectively identify failures. This approach is often limited by the lack of fault data, but can be facilitated by process simulation. The second approach employs elliptical and radial basis function neural networks and other models to learn the statistical distributions of process observables under normal conditions. Analytical models of failure modes can then be applied in combination with the neural network models to identify faults. Special methods can be applied to compensate for sensor failures, to produce real-time estimation of missing or failed sensors based on the correlations codified in the neural network.

Kramer, Mark A.↗

Machine learning-enhanced model-based scenario optimization for DIII-D

Abstract Scenario development in tokamaks is an open area of investigation that can be approached in a variety of different ways. Experimental trial and error has been the traditional method, but this required a massive amount of experimental time and resources. As high fidelity predictive models have become available, offline development and testing of proposed scenarios has become an option to reduce the required experimental resources. The use of predictive models also offers the possibility of using a numerical optimization process to find the controllable inputs that most closely achieve the desired plasma state. However, this type of optimization can require as many as hundreds or thousands of predictive simulation cases to converge to a solution; many of the commonly used high fidelity models have high computational burdens, so it is only reasonable to run a handful of predictive simulations. In order to make use of numerical optimization approaches, a compromise needs to be found between model fidelity and computational burden. This compromise can be achieved using neural networks surrogates of high fidelity models that retain nearly the same level of accuracy as the models they are trained to replicate while reducing the computation time by orders of magnitude. In this work, a model-based numerical optimization tool for scenario development is described. The predictive model used by the optimizer includes neural network surrogate models integrated into the fast Control-Oriented Transport simulation framework. This optimization scheme is able to converge to the optimal values of the controllable inputs that produce the target plasma scenario by running thousands of predictive simulations in under an hour without sacrificing too much prediction accuracy.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Graph neural network for neutrino physics event reconstruction

Liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) detector technology offers a wealth of high-resolution information on particle interactions, and leveraging that information to its full potential requires sophisticated automated reconstruction techniques. Here, this article describes NUGRAPH 2, a graph neural network for low-level reconstruction of simulated neutrino interactions in a LArTPC detector. Simulated neutrino interactions in the MicroBooNE detector geometry are described as heterogeneous graphs, with energy depositions on each detector plane forming nodes on planar subgraphs. The network utilizes a multihead attention message-passing mechanism to perform background filtering and semantic labeling on these graph nodes, identifying those associated with the primary physics interaction with 98.0% efficiency and labeling them according to particle type with 94.9% efficiency. The network operates directly on detector observables across multiple two-dimensional representations but utilizes a three-dimensional-context-aware mechanism to encourage consistency between these representations. Model inference takes 0.12 s / event on a CPU and 0.005 s / event batched on a GPU. This architecture is designed to be a general-purpose solution for particle reconstruction in neutrino physics, with the potential for deployment across a broad range of detector technologies, and offers a core convolution engine that can be leveraged for a variety of tasks beyond the two described in this paper.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Neural Network Development Tool (NETS)

Artificial neural networks formed from hundreds or thousands of simulated neurons, connected in manner similar to that in human brain. Such network models learning behavior. Using NETS involves translating problem to be solved into input/output pairs, designing network configuration, and training network. Written in C.

Baffes, Paul T.↗

Neural network implementations of data association algorithms for sensor fusion

The paper is concerned with locating a time varying set of entities in a fixed field when the entities are sensed at discrete time instances. At a given time instant a collection of bivariate Gaussian sensor reports is produced, and these reports estimate the location of a subset of the entities present in the field. A database of reports is maintained, which ideally should contain one report for each entity sensed. Whenever a collection of sensor reports is received, the database must be updated to reflect the new information. This updating requires association processing between the database reports and the new sensor reports to determine which pairs of sensor and database reports correspond to the same entity. Algorithms for performing this association processing are presented. Neural network implementation of the algorithms, along with simulation results comparing the approaches are provided.

Brown, Donald E.↗

Real-time diagnostics for a reusable rocket engine

A hierarchical, decentralized diagnostic system is proposed for the Real-Time Diagnostic System component of the Intelligent Control System (ICS) for reusable rocket engines. The proposed diagnostic system has three layers of information processing: condition monitoring, fault mode detection, and expert system diagnostics. The condition monitoring layer is the first level of signal processing. Here, important features of the sensor data are extracted. These processed data are then used by the higher level fault mode detection layer to do preliminary diagnosis on potential faults at the component level. Because of the closely coupled nature of the rocket engine propulsion system components, it is expected that a given engine condition may trigger more than one fault mode detector. Expert knowledge is needed to resolve the conflicting reports from the various failure mode detectors. This is the function of the diagnostic expert layer. Here, the heuristic nature of this decision process makes it desirable to use an expert system approach. Implementation of the real-time diagnostic system described above requires a wide spectrum of information processing capability. Generally, in the condition monitoring layer, fast data processing is often needed for feature extraction and signal conditioning. This is usually followed by some detection logic to determine the selected faults on the component level. Three different techniques are used to attack different fault detection problems in the NASA LeRC ICS testbed simulation. The first technique employed is the neural network application for real-time sensor validation which includes failure detection, isolation, and accommodation. The second approach demonstrated is the model-based fault diagnosis system using on-line parameter identification. Besides these model based diagnostic schemes, there are still many failure modes which need to be diagnosed by the heuristic expert knowledge. The heuristic expert knowledge is implemented using a real-time expert system tool called G2 by Gensym Corp. Finally, the distributed diagnostic system requires another level of intelligence to oversee the fault mode reports generated by component fault detectors. The decision making at this level can best be done using a rule-based expert system. This level of expert knowledge is also implemented using G2.

Guo, T. H.↗

Fuzzy Adaptive Control for Intelligent Autonomous Space Exploration Problems

The principal objective of the research reported here is the re-design, analysis and optimization of our newly developed neural network fuzzy adaptive controller model for complex processes capable of learning fuzzy control rules using process data and improving its control through on-line adaption. The learned improvement is according to a performance objective function that provides evaluative feedback; this performance objective is broadly defined to meet long-range goals over time. Although fuzzy control had proven effective for complex, nonlinear, imprecisely-defined processes for which standard models and controls are either inefficient, impractical or cannot be derived, the state of the art prior to our work showed that procedures for deriving fuzzy control, however, were mostly ad hoc heuristics. The learning ability of neural networks was exploited to systematically derive fuzzy control and permit on-line adaption and in the process optimize control. The operation of neural networks integrates very naturally with fuzzy logic. The neural networks which were designed and tested using simulation software and simulated data, followed by realistic industrial data were reconfigured for application on several platforms as well as for the employment of improved algorithms. The statistical procedures of the learning process were investigated and evaluated with standard statistical procedures (such as ANOVA, graphical analysis of residuals, etc.). The computational advantage of dynamic programming-like methods of optimal control was used to permit on-line fuzzy adaptive control. Tests for the consistency, completeness and interaction of the control rules were applied. Comparisons to other methods and controllers were made so as to identify the major advantages of the resulting controller model. Several specific modifications and extensions were made to the original controller. Additional modifications and explorations have been proposed for further study. Some of these are in progress in our laboratory while others await additional support. All of these enhancements will improve the attractiveness of the controller as an effective tool for the on line control of an array of complex process environments.

Esogbue, Augustine O.↗

Machine learning based reconstruction of intracardiac electrical behavior based on electrocardiograms

A computer-based system and process are disclosed for reconstructing the internal electrical behavior of a patient's heart based partly or wholly on the patient's electrocardiogram (ECG). The output of the process may include, for example, a cardiac activation map, and/or a representation of transmembrane potentials over time. The process advantageously does not require any medical imaging of the patient, and does not require any special medical equipment. For example, the patient's activation map and transmembrane potentials may be reconstructed based solely on a preexisting or newly-obtained 12-lead cardiac ECG of the patient. The process makes use of a machine learning model, such as a neural network based model, trained with actual and/or simulated ECGs and intracardiac electrical data (typically transmembrane potentials) of many thousands of patients. Because an insufficient quantity of such data exists for actual patients, model training may be performed using ECGs and intracardiac electrical data obtained through computer simulations.

Blake, Robert↗

Benchmarking a Tunable Quantum Neural Network on Trapped-Ion and Superconducting Hardware

We implement a quantum generalization of a neural network on trapped-ion and IBM superconducting quantum computers to classify MNIST images, a common benchmark in computer vision. The network feedforward involves qubit rotations whose angles depend on the results of measurements in the previous layer. The network is trained via simulation, but inference is performed experimentally on quantum hardware. The classical-to-quantum correspondence is controlled by an interpolation parameter, $a$, which is zero in the classical limit. Increasing $a$ introduces quantum uncertainty into the measurements, which is shown to improve network performance at moderate values of the interpolation parameter. We then focus on particular images that fail to be classified by a classical neural network but are detected correctly in the quantum network. For such borderline cases, we observe strong deviations from the simulated behavior. We attribute this to physical noise, which causes the output to fluctuate between nearby minima of the classification energy landscape. Such strong sensitivity to physical noise is absent for clear images. We further benchmark physical noise by inserting additional single-qubit and two-qubit gate pairs into the neural network circuits. Our work provides a springboard toward more complex quantum neural networks on current devices: while the approach is rooted in standard classical machine learning, scaling up such networks may prove classically non-simulable and could offer a route to near-term quantum advantage.

FOS: Physical sciences↗

Dynamics and Adaptive Control for Stability Recovery of Damaged Aircraft

This paper presents a recent study of a damaged generic transport model as part of a NASA research project to investigate adaptive control methods for stability recovery of damaged aircraft operating in off-nominal flight conditions under damage and or failures. Aerodynamic modeling of damage effects is performed using an aerodynamic code to assess changes in the stability and control derivatives of a generic transport aircraft. Certain types of damage such as damage to one of the wings or horizontal stabilizers can cause the aircraft to become asymmetric, thus resulting in a coupling between the longitudinal and lateral motions. Flight dynamics for a general asymmetric aircraft is derived to account for changes in the center of gravity that can compromise the stability of the damaged aircraft. An iterative trim analysis for the translational motion is developed to refine the trim procedure by accounting for the effects of the control surface deflection. A hybrid direct-indirect neural network, adaptive flight control is proposed as an adaptive law for stabilizing the rotational motion of the damaged aircraft. The indirect adaptation is designed to estimate the plant dynamics of the damaged aircraft in conjunction with the direct adaptation that computes the control augmentation. Two approaches are presented 1) an adaptive law derived from the Lyapunov stability theory to ensure that the signals are bounded, and 2) a recursive least-square method for parameter identification. A hardware-in-the-loop simulation is conducted and demonstrates the effectiveness of the direct neural network adaptive flight control in the stability recovery of the damaged aircraft. A preliminary simulation of the hybrid adaptive flight control has been performed and initial data have shown the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid approach. Future work will include further investigations and high-fidelity simulations of the proposed hybrid adaptive Bight control approach.

Nguyen, Nhan↗

Surrogate modeling of Cellular-Potts agent-based models as a segmentation task using the U-Net neural network architecture

The Cellular-Potts model is a powerful and ubiquitous framework for developing computational models for simulating complex multicellular biological systems. Cellular-Potts models (CPMs) are often computationally expensive due to the explicit modeling of interactions among large numbers of individual model agents and diffusive fields described by partial differential equations (PDEs). In this work, we develop a convolutional neural network (CNN) surrogate model using a U-Net architecture that accounts for periodic boundary conditions. We use this model to accelerate the evaluation of a mechanistic CPM previously used to investigate in vitro vasculogenesis. The surrogate model was trained to predict 100 computational steps ahead (Monte-Carlo steps, MCS), accelerating simulation evaluations by a factor of 562 times compared to single-core CPM code execution on CPU. Over short timescales of up to 3 recursive evaluations, or 300 MCS, our model captures the emergent behaviors demonstrated by the original Cellular-Potts model such as vessel sprouting, extension and anastomosis, and contraction of vascular lacunae. This approach demonstrates the potential for deep learning to serve as a step toward efficient surrogate models for CPM simulations, enabling faster evaluation of computationally expensive CPM simulations of biological processes.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Fault Diagnosis of Power Components with Reliability Assessment in Extraterrestrial Microgrids

This research investigates the possible failures caused by aging and other environmental and external factors that could significantly impact the performance of extraterrestrial power systems. Additionally, it presents a reliability assessment model for the space microgrid based on fault tree analysis (FTA). The reliability assessment model developed in this paper represents a tool that can be used by engineers to harden the system design for operational and economic benefits. To improve the reliability of the system, this work provides a broad review of the different fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) algorithms used for power microgrids and space applications. Using data sets from the Habitat Simulator developed through the NASA-funded Resilient Extraterrestrial Habitat Institute, this paper compares the applicability and accuracy of the different FDD methods. The primary FDD approach proposed and assessed in this work is based on the Markov reliability model. It predicts and detects future faults in the space microgrids by using past data samples and categorizing them into different classes. Data-driven-based models such as artificial neural networks are also investigated, tested, and evaluated using simulation data sets. According to the simulation results and the broad FDD algorithm comparison, this study provides the crew or maintenance engineers with a clear methodology to detect and localize power system failures.

Leila Chebbo↗