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At least 55 records · Page 3

Solving high-dimensional inverse problems using amortized likelihood-free inference with noisy and incomplete data

Here, we present a likelihood-free probabilistic inversion method based on normalizing flows for high-dimensional inverse problems. The proposed method is composed of two complementary networks: a summary network for data compression and an inference network for parameter estimation. The summary network encodes raw observations into a fixed-size vector of summary features, while the inference network generates samples of the approximate posterior distribution of the model parameters based on these summary features. The posterior samples are produced in a deep generative fashion by sampling from a latent Gaussian distribution and passing these samples through an invertible transformation. We construct this invertible transformation by sequentially alternating conditional invertible neural network and conditional neural spline flow layers. The summary and inference networks are trained simultaneously. We apply the proposed method to an inversion problem in groundwater hydrology to estimate the posterior distribution of the log-conductivity field conditioned on spatially sparse time-series observations of the system’s hydraulic head responses. The conductivity field is represented with 706 degrees of freedom in the considered problem. Comparison with the likelihood-based iterative ensemble smoother PEST-IES method demonstrates that the proposed method accurately estimates the parameter posterior distribution and the observations’ predictive posterior distribution at a fraction of the inference time of PEST-IES.

conditional invertible neural network

Predicting the viscoplastic response of a crystallizing fluoropolymer using transient network theory

We employ a molecular theory of dynamic polymer networks to describe the viscoplastic response of rubbery FK-800, a thermoplastic copolymer of chlorotrifluoroethylene and vinylidene fluoride, over a broad range of thermal histories. The kinetics of crystallization at different annealing temperatures was modeled using a modified Avrami equation, whose parameters were found to evolve through simple relationships over the full temperature range of the rubbery state. By fitting experimental compression data, we discovered predictable trends for the physical parameters in our mechanical model over its full range of crystallinities (up to ≈20%) and provided insights based on molecular-level physics to justify them. Using this, an end-to-end model was developed to predict the yielding and post-yield behavior of rubbery FK-800 for arbitrary thermal histories. The model successfully predicted the highly nonlinear evolution of characteristic mechanical signatures (stiffness, yield point, post-yield drop) throughout the crystallization process. A statistical analysis of variance test was employed to determine that the measured variations in the mechanical behavior of rubbery FK-800 are primarily dictated by its fractional crystallinity, regardless of its exact thermal history.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Unsupervised Segmentation and Clustering Workflow for Efficient Processing of 4D-STEM and 5D-STEM Data

Four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) enables mapping of diffraction information with nanometer-scale spatial resolution, offering detailed insight into local structure, orientation, and strain. However, as data dimensionality and sampling density increase, particularly for in situ scanning diffraction experiments (5D-STEM), robust segmentation of structurally consistent behavior across sequential measurements becomes essential for efficient and physically meaningful analysis. Here, we introduce a clustering framework that identifies crystallographically distinct domains from 4D-STEM datasets. By using local diffraction-pattern similarity as a metric, the method extracts closed contours delineating spatially contiguous regions. This approach produces cluster-averaged diffraction patterns that improve signal quality while reducing data volume by orders of magnitude, enabling rapid and accurate orientation, phase, and strain mapping. We demonstrate the applicability of this approach to in situ liquid-cell 4D-STEM data of gold nanoparticle growth. Our method provides a scalable and generalizable route for spatially coherent segmentation, data compression, and quantitative structure–strain mapping across diverse 4D-STEM modalities. The full analysis code and example workflows are publicly available to support reproducibility and reuse.

4D-STEM

BoBa

BoBa is a C++ software library for working with large matrices, tensors, and tensor decompositions. The library provides tools for dense matrix and tensor operations, tensor decompositions, and tensor decomposition methods that support modern CPU and GPU architectures. It includes portable abstractions for linear algebra, tensor algebra, and multidimensional computation. BoBa is intended for scientific computing applications that involve large multidimensional data sets or high dimensional mathematical models. Its capabilities support tasks such as data compression, linear algebra, efficient numerical computation, and the development of scalable algorithms for heterogeneous hardware. Tutorials, tests, and example applications are included to help users learn and apply the library.

Yao, Jin [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (

LLNL FESP Theory Highlights: October 2024

I. Novikau, I. Y. Dodin, E. A. Startsev, I. Joseph, Quantum algorithms for simulating dissipative linear and nonlinear dynamics of plasmas. Invited talk at the 66th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Atlanta, Georgia. Novikau I., Dodin I.Y., Startsev E.A., Encoding of linear kinetic plasma problems in quantum circuits via data compression, Journal of Plasma Physics. 2024;90(4):805900401, doi:10.1017/S0022377824000795. We propose an algorithm for encoding linear kinetic plasma problems in quantum circuits. The focus is on modelling electrostatic linear waves in a one-dimensional Maxwellian electron plasma. The waves are described by the linearized Vlasov–Ampère system with a spatially localized external current that drives plasma oscillations. This system is formulated as a boundary-value problem and cast in the form of a linear vector equation to be solved by using the quantum signal processing algorithm. The latter requires encoding of a matrix in a quantum circuit as a sub-block of a unitary matrix. We propose how to encode in a circuit in a compressed form and discuss how the resulting circuit scales with the problem size and the desired precision.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC

Online randomized interpolative decomposition with a posteriori error estimator for temporal PDE data reduction

Traditional low-rank approximation is a powerful tool for compressing large data matrices that arise in simulations of partial differential equations (PDEs), but suffers from high computational cost and requires several passes over the PDE data. The compressed data may also lack interpretability thus making it difficult to identify feature patterns from the original data. Here, to address these issues, we present an online randomized algorithm to compute the interpolative decomposition (ID) of large-scale data matrices in situ. Compared to previous randomized IDs that used the QR decomposition to determine the column basis, we adopt a streaming ridge leverage score-based column subset selection algorithm that dynamically selects proper basis columns from the data and thus avoids an extra pass over the data to compute the coefficient matrix of the ID. In particular, we adopt a single-pass error estimator based on the non-adaptive Hutch++ algorithm to provide real-time error approximation for determining the best coefficients. As a result, our approach only needs a single pass over the original data and thus is suitable for large and high-dimensional matrices stored outside of core memory or generated in PDE simulations. A strategy to improve the accuracy of the reconstructed data gradient, when desired, within the ID framework is also presented. We provide numerical experiments on turbulent channel flow and ignition simulations, and on the NSTX Gas Puff Image dataset, comparing our algorithm with the offline ID algorithm to demonstrate its utility in real-world applications.

Column subset selection

Massive compression for high data rate macromolecular crystallography (HDRMX): impact on diffraction data and subsequent structural analysis

New higher-count-rate, integrating, large-area X-ray detectors with framing rates as high as 17400 images per second are beginning to be available. These will soon be used for specialized macromolecular crystallography experiments but will require optimal lossy compression algorithms to enable systems to keep up with data throughput. Some information may be lost. Can we minimize this loss with acceptable impact on structural information? To explore this question, we have considered several approaches: summing short sequences of images, binning to create the effect of larger pixels, use of JPEG-2000 lossy wavelet-based compression, and use of Hcompress, which is a Haar-wavelet-based lossy compression borrowed from astronomy. We also explore the effect of the combination of summing, binning, and Hcompress or JPEG-2000. In each of these last two methods one can specify approximately how much one wants the result to be compressed from the starting file size. These provide particularly effective lossy compressions that retain essential information for structure solution from Bragg reflections.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION

Variable rate neural compression for sparse detector data

Particle colliders produce data at extraordinary rates, posing major challenges for transmission and storage. High-throughput compression algorithms are therefore essential. In the sPHENIX experiment taking data at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, a time projection chamber records three-dimensional (3D) particle trajectories that are highly sparse, making conventional learning-free lossy compression ineffective. Convolutional neural networks have surpassed traditional methods in compression ratio and accuracy. However, they fail to exploit sparsity for efficiency. To address these gaps, we present BCAE-VS, a bicephalous convolutional autoencoder with variable compression ratio for sparse data, which adapts compression to input complexity through key-point identification and sparse convolution. BCAE-VS achieves higher accuracy and compression ratios than prior neural approaches while being orders of magnitude smaller. Moreover, its throughput increases with sparsity—a property not observed in other methods. Although it was developed for collider experiments, BCAE-VS readily extends to other sparse data domains, such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensing and 3D microscopy.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS

Selection of a Pair of Experiments to Optimally Reduce Uncertainty in Targeted Nuclear Data

We propose a novel process to select a pair of differential and integral experiments that best reduce uncertainties in targeted 239 ⁢Pu nuclear data while compressing the current nuclear data pipeline from 20 to 3 years. 239⁢ Pu nuclear data are poorly understood for neutrons in the intermediate energy range due to sparsity and uncertainty in historical experiments. New experiments targeting this range will enable better understanding of these nuclear data, but choosing the ideal experiments to conduct is challenging. Beginning with a prior distribution represented by samples of nuclear data generated from theory, generalized least squares adjustments are made to incorporate data from historical experiments. To quantify potential uncertainty reduction obtainable from a pair of candidate experiments, we compute the D-optimality criterion of the posterior covariance of intermediate energy range nuclear data compared to the equivalent covariance after additional adjustment to the pair of candidate experiments. Repeating the process for each of many candidate pairs facilitates the final selection. Results support 63⁢ Cu total cross section measurements for differential experiments and alumina and alumina/graphite configurations for integral experiments. This analysis enables choosing differential and integral experiments to be executed concurrently while shortening decision times relative to the current nuclear data pipeline.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS

HPDR: High-Performance Portable Scientific Data Reduction Framework

The rapid growth in scientific data generation is outpacing advancements in computing systems necessary for efficient storage, transfer, and analysis, particularly in the context of exascale computing. With the deployment of first-generation exascale computing systems and next-generation experimental facilities, this gap is widening and necessitates effective data reduction techniques to manage enormous data volumes. Over the past decade, various data reduction methods, including lossless compression, error-controlled lossy compression, and data refactoring, have been developed to accelerate I/O in scientific workflows. Despite significant reductions in data volume, these methods introduce considerable computational overhead, which can become the new bottleneck in data processing. To mitigate this, GPU-accelerated data reduction algorithms have been introduced. However, challenges remain in their integration into exascale workflows, including limited portability across different GPU architectures, substantial memory transfer overhead, and reduced scalability on dense multi-GPU systems. To address these challenges, we propose HPDR, a high-performance and portable data reduction framework. HPDR is designed to enable the execution of state-of-the-art reduction algorithms across diverse processor architectures while reducing memory transfer overhead to 2.3 % of the original, resulting in up to 3.5× faster throughput compared to existing solutions. It also achieves up to 96% of the theoretical speedup in multi-GPU settings. In addition, evaluations on accelerating I/O operations at scale up to 1,024 nodes of the Frontier supercomputer demonstrate that HPDR can achieve up to 103 TB/s reduction throughput, providing up to 4× acceleration in parallel I/O performance compared to existing data reduction routines. This work highlights the potential of HPDR to significantly enhance data reduction efficiency in exascale computing environments.

Chen, Jieyang [University of Oregon]

CODARcode/MGARD

MGARD is a software providing error-controlled lossy compression and data refactoring based on multi-grid theories. It transforms floating-point scientific data into a multilevel representation, followed by quantization and lossless encoding processes, resulting in a self-describing compressed buffer. It supports diverse data topologies, error control norms, and computing architectures.

Chen, Jieyang [University of Oregon]

Maximizing efficiency of dataset compression for machine learning potentials with information theory

Machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs) balance high accuracy and lower costs compared to density functional theory calculations, but their performance often depends on the size and diversity of training datasets. Large datasets improve model accuracy and generalization but are computationally expensive to produce and train on, while smaller datasets risk discarding rare but important atomic environments and compromising MLIP accuracy/reliability. Here, we develop an information-theoretical framework to quantify the efficiency of dataset compression methods and propose an algorithm that maximizes this efficiency. By framing atomistic dataset compression as an instance of the minimum set cover (MSC) problem over atom-centered environments, our method identifies the smallest subset of structures that contains as much information as possible from the original dataset while pruning redundant information. The approach is extensively demonstrated on the GAP-20 and TM23 datasets and validated on 64 varied datasets from the ColabFit repository. Across all cases, MSC consistently retains outliers, preserves dataset diversity, and reproduces the long-tail distributions of forces even at high compression rates, outperforming other subsampling methods. Furthermore, MLIPs trained on MSC-compressed datasets exhibit reduced error for out-of-distribution data even in low-data regimes. We explain these results using an outlier analysis and show that such quantitative conclusions could not be achieved with conventional dimensionality reduction methods. The algorithm is implemented in the open-source QUESTS package and can be used for several tasks in atomistic modeling, from data subsampling, outlier detection, and training improved MLIPs at a lower cost.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Dense autoencoders, clustering techniques, and semi-supervised learning for HPGe $γ$-spectra

Classifying high-resolution gamma spectra by their isotopic content is an essential task in nuclear forensics and other applications. Traditional analysis methods are often time-intensive, but machine learning (ML) may help analysts quickly process many spectra. Such methods tend to rely on abundant, well-labeled data for training. Historical gamma data exists in various fields but is not uniformly useful for supervised ML due to inconsistent labeling. Here, to address some of these challenges, we present a method to classify and organize unlabeled data from high-purity germanium detectors using an autoencoding neural network (autoencoder). We trained dense autoencoders to compress gamma data into latent representations that enable efficient data characterization. By clustering the encoded spectra or lower-dimensional mappings of them, we identified and removed portions of over-abundant data categories, resulting in a more balanced dataset and improved autoencoder performance. This encoding and clustering pipeline also enabled the organization of spectra into self-consistent categories. Finally, we found that encoded representations showed potential as inputs for semi-supervised learning of nuclide identification (NID) labels, achieving an average F1 score of 0.85 ± 0.03 when mapping encodings to a set of 65 isotope labels.

Autoencoders