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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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

TANTE: Time-adaptive operator learning via neural Taylor expansion

Operator learning for time-dependent partial differential equations (PDEs) has seen rapid progress in recent years, enabling efficient approximation of complex spatiotemporal dynamics. However, most existing methods rely on fixed time step sizes during rollout, which limits their ability to adapt to varying temporal complexity and often leads to error accumulation. In this work, we propose the Time-Adaptive Transformer with Neural Taylor Expansion (TANTE), a novel operator-learning framework that produces continuous-time predictions with adaptive step sizes. TANTE predicts future states by performing a Taylor expansion at the current state, where neural networks learn both the higher-order temporal derivatives and the local radius of convergence. This allows the model to dynamically adjust its rollout based on the local behavior of the solution, thereby reducing cumulative error and improving computational efficiency. We demonstrate the effectiveness of TANTE across a wide range of PDE benchmarks, achieving superior accuracy and adaptability compared to fixed-step baselines, delivering accuracy gains of 60-80 % and speed-ups of 30-40 % at inference time.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Advancing Cyber-Attack Detection in Power Systems: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning and Graph Neural Network Approaches

This paper explores the detection and localization of cyber-attacks on power systems, focusing on comparing conventional machine learning (ML) and deep learning methods, and graph neural network (GNN)-based techniques. We assess the detection accuracy of these approaches and their potential to pinpoint the locations of specific buses under attack. Given the demonstrated success of GNNs in other time series anomaly detection applications, we aim to evaluate their performance within the context of power systems cyber-attack. Utilizing the IEEE 68-bus system, we simulated four types of attacks to test the selected approaches. Our results indicate that GNN-based methods outperform conventional machine learning and deep learning models in detection. Additionally, GNNs show promise in accurately localizing attacks for simple scenarios, although they still face challenges in more complex cases.

artificial intelligence↗
DOE OSTI2025

Simultaneous prediction of structural properties in epitaxially–grown GaN with quantum and conventional multi–output learning algorithms

Hundreds of GaN thin film crystal plasma–assisted molecular beam epitaxy synthesis experiment records spanning two decades were organized into a dataset correlating the growth experiment design parameters with discrete, binary determinations of crystallinity and surface morphology. Conventional data science techniques as well as both quantum and classical multi–output supervised machine learning algorithms were implemented to investigate the relationships between the operating parameter data and the structural figures of merit. Correlation coefficients, decision tree nodes, p–values, and SHAP values all support substrate temperature and gallium effusion cell conditions as being statistically significant for simultaneously influencing GaN crystallinity and surface morphology. Here, a conventional deep neural network learned best from the data, followed by a quantum–classical hybrid gradient boosting algorithm. When combined with calculations of uncertainty intervals based on VennAbers predictors, machine learning predictions of both structural properties show good agreement with results reported in published experimental literature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

A neural master equation framework for multiscale modeling of molecular processes: application to atomic-scale plasma processes

Plasma-surface interactions (PSI) play a crucial role in microelectronics fabrication; however, their multiscale nature and array of complex, often unknown interactions make computational modeling of PSIs extremely difficult. To this end, we propose a general neural master equation (NME) framework that uses master equations to describe the dynamics of a molecular process, wherein neural networks learned from atomistic simulations represent unknown transitions between different system states. By leveraging the physics-based structure of master equations and data-driven state transitions, the NME framework promotes generalizability and physics interpretability, and can bridge disparate length and time scales. The framework is demonstrated for multiscale modeling of Si atomic layer etching and reactive ion etching, where the learned NME-based surface kinetic models exhibit good predictive and extrapolative capabilities for predicting experimentally relevant observables as a function of process parameters. The NME-based surface kinetic models obey physical constraints, which are violated in models based on neural ordinary differential equations. The proposed NME framework for multiscale modeling of molecular processes can pave the way for the discovery of new chemistries and materials in atomic-scale plasma processes.

Chemical engineering↗
DOE OSTI2026

Machine learning approach for vibronically renormalized electronic band structures

Here, we present a machine learning (ML) method for efficient computation of vibrational thermal expectation values of physical properties from first principles. Our approach is based on the nonperturbative frozen phonon formulation in which stochastic Monte Carlo algorithm is employed to sample configurations of nuclei in a supercell at finite temperatures based on a first-principles phonon model. A deep-learning neural network is trained to accurately predict physical properties associated with sampled phonon configurations, thus bypassing the time-consuming ab initio calculations. To incorporate the point-group symmetry of the electronic system into the ML model, group-theoretical methods are used to develop a symmetry-invariant descriptor for phonon configurations in the supercell. We apply our ML approach to compute the temperature dependent electronic energy gap of silicon based on density functional theory (DFT). We show that, with less than a hundred DFT calculations for training the neural network model, an order of magnitude larger number of sampling can be achieved for the computation of the vibrational thermal expectation values. Our work highlights the promising potential of ML techniques for finite temperature first-principles electronic structure methods.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Performance evaluation of automated data-driven feature extraction and selection methods for practical and scalable building energy consumption prediction models

Here, this study quantifies the impact of automated feature engineering methods (feature extraction and selection) on the quality and accuracy of machine learning models that predict building energy consumption. The case study compares model performance for three main scenarios: baseline (no feature extraction and selection), feature extraction only, and feature extraction combined with feature selection (filter and/or wrapper methods) for fully trained machine learning models for 200 metered/sub-metered energy measurements across 118 real buildings. For consistency, the same machine learning model architecture (a black box deep learning neural network with probabilistic forecast output) was used for all scenarios. Based on results, all feature engineering methods provided noticeable prediction accuracy improvements (e.g., 29%-68% median prediction improvement) compared to baseline scenarios. However, in this application, feature selection methods provide little practical value due to their limited performance gains and high computational cost. Smarter algorithm development supported by better computational environments will be needed before feature selection methods can reliably and efficiently improve predictive model performance.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Correlated dynamic disorder, octahedral tilts, and acoustic phonon softening in CsSnBr 3 and CsPbBr 3

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have emerged as highly promising materials for optoelectronic applications, with all-inorganic MHPs presenting enhanced stability compared to their hybrid counterparts. Here, in this study, we investigate the atomic dynamics and structural fluctuations in single crystals of CsSnBr⁢ 3 and CsPbBr⁢ 3 through systematic inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements as a function of temperature. Our experiments are compared with first-principle simulations, augmented with large-scale molecular dynamics modeling, based on machine-learned neural network potentials. Through both INS and simulations, we find quasi-elastic diffuse rods in reciprocal space in both compounds, originating from fluctuating planar domains featuring correlated tilts of Br octahedron. The diffuse rods exhibit a slow, overdamped dynamic process, modulated across 𝑸 space, reflecting the strong lattice anharmonicity of the inorganic framework. We do not find evidence for dynamic off-centering of the Sn 2+ ions besides phonon vibrations at the center of the Br octahedron. These results offer valuable insights into the unusual anharmonic atomic dynamics and intricate correlated structural distortions in MHPs, which will be critical for rationalizing and further tailoring their thermal and optoelectronic properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

A case study in contrastive learning information combination: Application to technical forensics of additive manufacturing filament source identification

Combination of information from disparate data sources into a single decision is a core challenge in many fields, including the field of technical forensics. Technical forensics (TF) utilizes technical characterization of questioned samples to determine properties of that sample; these properties are then used to infer information of forensic interest, such as provenance, age, or attribution. TF is utilized in traditional forensic applications, such as the attribution of material fragments from an explosive, and in nuclear forensic applications, such as the attribution of actinides which have been interdicted out of regulatory control. The challenge of combining information from disparate sources, described alternately by many terms including “Data Fusion” and “Data Integration”, is exacerbated in the technical forensics domain due to at least two factors: the challenge of interpreting each information source singularly, and the relatively small data set sizes available. Extensive literature exists attempting to combine technical forensics information sources, both in manual and automated processes. These attempts are often bespoke to the specific information sources (such as the bi-, tri-, or quad-isotope chart (Moody, Grant, and Hutcheon 2005)), with some emerging examples of simple early- and late- fusion (, respectively). Simultaneous to the information combination efforts described in the previous paragraph, the field of natural language processing attempted (and largely succeeded) in combining information from multiple non-technical information sources. The ecosystem of “multi-modal” language models, which can take text and images as input, and generate text and images as output, became large and diverse by 2025 (Khan et al. 2025). In a generalized sense, many of these methods are trained by learning neural networks which can convert raw text or images into a vector of numbers describing the text or image, hereafter called “embeddings” and the neural networks performing the conversion are called “embedders”. By using a separate embedder for text and images, finding coincident text and images (such as images with their captions), and optimizing the parameters of the embedders such that the embeddings for the text and the image are similar, the field has found a bridge between text and images (Girdhar et al. 2023). It is the contention of the authors of this report that this insight is not limited to text and images but instead can be extended to any modality which can be found coincidently. The subject of the rest of this report is the application of this method to example multi-modal technical forensic data. Some details about the data used in this report are not appropriate for this report, and are included in a companion report (PNNL-38669).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Study on Contrastive Graph Neural Network Pretraining for Predicting Transcriptome Profiles

We study graph neural network learning for transcriptomics with limited amount of labeled data. Our study reveals that simple GNN architectures perform well and do not suffer from over-fitting as the more sophisticated ones. Our study shows that although contrastive learning as a pretraining strategy has been successful in predicting properties such as formation and binding energy, it is not effective for transcriptomics.

Ma, Jiaji [University of Virginia]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Deciphering the Solvation Structure of Aqueous ZnCl 2 Solutions from X-ray Absorption Spectra Using the Interpretable Graph Neural Network

Machine learning (ML) provides powerful pathways for predicting spectroscopic observables from atomic structures, but its broader impact depends on making model predictions interpretable in terms of physical and chemical principles. Here, we introduce a physics-guided graph neural network (GNN) model that predicts Zn K-edge X-ray spectroscopy (XAS) spectra of aqueous ZnCl 2 solutions. Training data are generated from ab initio XAS calculations on molecular dynamics snapshots obtained using a machine learning interatomic potential. The GNN reproduces experimental spectra across concentrations from dilute (<0.1 m) to highly concentrated (30 m, “water-in-salt”) regimes and scales efficiently to large, disordered liquid systems beyond the reach of conventional ab initio approaches. Gradient-based attribution analysis reveals that the model learns physically meaningful structure-spectrum relationships. Ligand-specific attributions reflect orbital hybridization patterns and the origin of the excitations derived from the density functional theory. Bond-length attributions recover spectral shifts consistent with multiple-scattering theory. Finally, this work bridges data-driven prediction with electronic-structure theory, establishing a general paradigm for interpretable ML that links atomic structure, electronic structure, and spectroscopic observables.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

HydroEcoLSTM: A Python package with graphical user interface for hydro-ecological modeling with long short-term memory neural network

Machine learning (ML) is emerging as a promising tool for modeling hydro-ecological processes due to the increasing availability of large environmental data. However, the use of ML requires sufficient programming knowledge due to a lack of a graphical user interface (GUI). In this study, we introduced a GUI package, named HydroEcoLSTM, with the long short-term memory network (LSTM) as the core model, that allows non-ML experts to utilize their domain knowledge to construct complex ML models. We demonstrated the functionalities of HydroEcoLSTM with two practical examples, including (1) predictions of streamflow in both gauged and ungauged catchments and (2) predictions of multiple outputs (i.e., streamflow and isotope transport from two catchments). The simulation results obtained in both case experiments are satisfactory. In the first example, the average Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) for streamflow simulation during the testing period is 0.79 while the application of the trained model in two assumed ungauged catchments also achieves the average NSE of 0.68. In the second example, the average NSE for streamflow and instream isotope simulation during the testing period is 0.71. Ultimately, applications of HydroEcoLSTM with real-world examples demonstrate its potential use for practical applications and research without requiring extensive coding skills.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Machine Learning for Anomaly Detection in Neural Network Security and SRF Cavities

This dissertation explores the development and deployment of machine learning approaches to address critical challenges in anomaly detection across two distinct domains: neural network security in federated learning settings and cavity behavior analysis in particle accelerator operations at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Virginia. Anomaly detection identifies deviations from expected patterns, safeguarding systems in cybersecurity, industry, and research against malicious activities and failures. This dissertation demonstrates how our machine learning approaches enhance detection accuracy and efficiency in both neural network security and industrial applications. First, we investigate vulnerabilities in deep neural networks deployed in federated learning. Although federated learning preserves user privacy by training models locally, it remains vulnerable to backdoor attacks, in which malicious participants embed hidden triggers that induce targeted misbehavior. We propose a self-supervised contrastive learning framework to detect and mitigate such backdoor attacks. In our experiments, this method achieves higher detection accuracy and lower false positive rates than existing defenses, while operating without access to local model updates or original training data and thus preserving the privacy guarantees of the federated setting. Second, we address the operational reliability of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF). Our research leverages an unsupervised learning approach, combined with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and k-means clustering, to identify anomalous behaviors in SRF cavities. Our method detects subtle anomalous behavior by analyzing SRF signal data. This knowledge allows for the early detection and resolution of potential faults, significantly improving the efficiency and reliability of operations. Third, we extend these insights to time-series anomaly detection more broadly. We design a contrastive-learning based model tailored to increasingly dynamic environments and academic research. This model improves detection accuracy in settings that require real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance. Our research underscores the broader applicability and impact of advanced machine learning techniques in anomaly detection. By extracting meaningful patterns from complex data, machine learning can significantly enhance security in distributed neural networks and improve the efficiency of particle accelerator operations. This dissertation serves as a stepping stone for future investigations into the vast possibilities of anomaly detection, inspiring further exploration and development of machine learning techniques in this field.

Ferguson, Hal [Old Dominion University]↗
DOE OSTI2024

Structured Neural Network Modeling for Developing Digital Twins Models of Hydropower Generation Units

Dynamic modeling is a key part in the development of digital twin (DT) for dynamic systems. This is true for hydropower systems, where whole system modeling including penstock, turbine and generators, etc is important in realizing actuate modeling for the real systems. On the other hand, in response to the large variations of the power demand due to increased penetration of renewables such as wind and solar, hydropower systems are now required to operate in a large power generation range. This situation triggers the nonlinear characteristics of the generation unit with respect to its models. As such, it is imperative to use data driven modeling such as neural networks to learn the nonlinear dynamics of the hydropower generation unit. To achieve this objective, this study constructs a modeling and learning algorithm integrated with multiple structured neural network models for the modeling of turbine shaft speed, penstock pressure, and generator power output based on the generator power control setpoint, field current, and field voltage. In addition, the study uses the hydropower data from Tacoma Public Utilities to train and validate the proposed neural network algorithm. The results have shown that this structured neural network modeling approach can learn the system dynamics effectively by using the real-time data collected from the hydropower system with the desired modeling results.

Wang, Hong↗
DOE OSTI2025

Three-dimensional reconstruction of inertial confinement fusion hot-spot plasma from x-ray and nuclear diagnostics on OMEGA

Multidimensional effects degrade the neutron yield and the compressed areal density of laser-direct-drive inertial confinement fusion implosions of layered deuterium–tritium cryogenic targets on the OMEGA Laser System with respect to 1D radiation-hydrodynamic simulation predictions. A comprehensive physics-informed 3D reconstruction effort is under way to infer hot-spot and shell conditions at stagnation from four x-ray and seven neutron detectors distributed around the OMEGA target chamber. Neutron diagnostics, providing measurements of the neutron yield, hot-spot flow velocity, and apparent ion-temperature distribution, are used to infer the mode-1 perturbation at stagnation. The x-ray imagers record the shape of the hot-spot plasma to diagnose mode-1 and mode-2 perturbations. A deep-learning convolutional neural network trained on an extensive set of 3D radiation-hydrodynamic simulations is used to interpret the x-ray and nuclear measurements to infer the 3D profiles of the hot-spot plasma conditions and the amount of laser energy coupled to the hot-spot plasma. A 3D simulation database shows that larger mode-1 asymmetries are correlated with higher hot-spot flow velocities and reduced laser-energy coupling and neutron yield. Three-dimensional hot-spot reconstructions from x-ray measurements indicate that higher amounts of residual kinetic energy are correlated with higher measured hot-spot flow velocities, consistent with 3D simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Artificial to Spiking Neural Networks Conversion with Calibration in Scientific Machine Learning

Here, we introduce a method to convert physics-informed neural networks (PINNs), commonly used in scientific machine learning, to spiking neural networks (SNNs), which are expected to have higher energy efficiency compared to traditional artificial neural networks (ANNs). We first extend the calibration technique of SNNs to arbitrary activation functions beyond ReLU, making it more versatile, and we prove a theorem that ensures the effectiveness of the calibration. We successfully convert PINNs to SNNs, enabling computational efficiency for diverse regression tasks in solving multiple differential equations, including the unsteady Navier–Stokes equations. We demonstrate great gains in terms of overall efficiency, including separable PINNs (SPINNs), which accelerate the training process. Overall, this is the first work of this kind and the proposed method achieves relatively good accuracy with low spike rates.

PINN↗