Intelligent experiments through real-time AI: Fast Data Processing and Autonomous Detector Control for sPHENIX and future EIC detectors

This R\&D project, initiated by the DOE Nuclear Physics AI-Machine Learning initiative in 2022, leverages AI to address data processing challenges in high-energy nuclear experiments (RHIC, LHC, and future EIC). Our focus is on developing a demonstrator for real-time processing of high-rate data streams from sPHENIX experiment tracking detectors. The limitations of a 15 kHz maximum trigger rate imposed by the calorimeters can be negated by intelligent use of streaming technology in the tracking system. The approach efficiently identifies low momentum rare heavy flavor events in high-rate p+p collisions (3MHz), using Graph Neural Network (GNN) and High Level Synthesis for Machine Learning (hls4ml). Success at sPHENIX promises immediate benefits, minimizing resources and accelerating the heavy-flavor measurements. The approach is transferable to other fields. For the EIC, we develop a DIS-electron tagger using Artificial Intelligence - Machine Learning (AI-ML) algorithms for real-time identification, showcasing the transformative potential of AI and FPGA technologies in high-energy nuclear and particle experiments real-time data processing pipelines.

A Multi-task Two-stream Spatiotemporal Convolutional Neural Network for Convective Storm Nowcasting

The goal of convective storm nowcasting is local prediction of severe and imminent convective storms. Here, we consider the convective storm nowcasting problem from the perspective of machine learning. First, we use a pixel-wise sampling method to construct spatiotemporal features for nowcasting, and flexibly adjust the proportions of positive and negative samples in the training set to mitigate class-imbalance issues. Second, we employ a concise two-stream convolutional neural network to extract spatial and temporal cues for nowcasting. This simplifies the network structure, reduces the training time requirement, and improves classification accuracy. The two-stream network used both radar and satellite data. In the resulting two-stream, fused convolutional neural network, some of the parameters are entered into a single-stream convolutional neural network, but it can learn the features of many data. Further, considering the relevance of classification and regression tasks, we develop a multi-task learning strategy that predicts the labels used in such tasks. We integrate two-stream multi-task learning into a single convolutional neural network. Given the compact architecture, this network is more efficient and easier to optimize than existing recurrent neural networks.