Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2608.14247

Particle tracking with physics-informed deep learning methods

Abstract

Simulating the motion of charged particles in electromagnetic fields is essential for designing and optimising particle accelerators. Conventional tools rely on symplectic integration schemes, which provide high accuracy but are computationally expensive. As a consequence, optimisation in moderate to high-dimensional parameter spaces as well as simulations of tens of thousands to millions of particles can be computationally prohibitive. This contribution explores the possibilities of employing modern machine-learning based tools, in particular SympNet and DeepONet, to enable fast particle simulations. A major novelty is the modification of the conventional SympNet architecture to enable learning of parametric Hamiltonian dynamics. The models are trained and tested on a toy setup of a circular accelerator comprising two different types of quadrupole magnets with varying field strengths. All models achieved faster inference than the symplectic integrator, at the expanse of significantly reduced accuracy. The SympNet implementation achieved the lowest mean squared error. Additionally, a DeepONet was employed to predict the evolution of particle densities, derived from the single-particle simulations.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Matthias Remta, Anja Beck, Shanthalakshmi Kilambi, Thomas Zhang, Francesco Velotti. 2026-08-14. Particle tracking with physics-informed deep learning methods. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.14247

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Physics-Informed Drift Diagnosis for Laser-Plasma Accelerator Operations

Laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs) sustain accelerating gradients of order $100\,\mathrm{GV/m}$, but routine operation remains difficult: electron beam metrics drift over an operating shift, and the root physical cause is often invisible to the available diagnostics. We formulate LPA operation as a latent state-space model in which three effective interaction-point variables, the normalized laser amplitude $a_0$, the normalized plasma electron density $\tilde n_e$ and the residual pulse chirp $\mathcal{C}$, are inferred from routine electron beam observations by an extended Kalman filter. The emission model, which maps the latent state to the diagnostics, is kept structurally separate from the {transition} model, which describes how the latent state evolves between shots. The separation supports diagnosis in two stages, one asking which latent variable moved and one asking what moved it. The implemented emission model is a toy model, yielding an expected performance in line with current facilities and using 3D blow-out regime dependencies where relevant. We conduct synthetic sessions to test the effectiveness of the detection and attribution protocols, finding that attribution is limited by excitation rather than by shot count or diagnostic resolution. Because the construction needs only a set of physical latent variables, an emission model and a family of hardware-derived transition models, it transfers to other drift-prone subsystems. We argue that the accuracy of the whole procedure is limited by the emission model rather than by the inference method.

physics.acc-ph

Approximate solution of an adapted Bethe transport equation for electron scattering in foils

A new semi-analytical model for electron scattering in foils is presented valid for thin foils and electron-beam kinetic energies up to roughly $100$ keV and from 20 keV at a dimensionless foil thickness of $20$, and higher energies for thinner foils. To perform calculations, an approximate solution is constructed by Hankel transforms of an adapted Bethe transport equation for electron scattering. The Wentzel differential cross section is used in the Bethe transport Eq. and resulting integrals are solved analytically or approximated. These approximate solutions of the transport Eq.'s were compared to the Goudsmit-Saunderson solutions in gold, for thin samples with dimensionless thicknesses $λ=5,10,20$. We also compare to the Kawrakow \cite{Kawr} model, which uses the small angle approximation. We show that in the regime of $20$ to $100$ keV beam energies, our model performs better than Kawrakow's model and this is opposite above about 100 keV. Exactly, some angularly distributed beams and the influence of energy loss of the beam can be simulated with our model.

physics.acc-ph

Moderator Modeling for High Intensity Slow Positron Sources

Slow positron beams enable diverse applications, from surface-sensitive materials studies to positronium physics, but progress is limited by source intensity and brightness. In linac-based sources, mono-energetic, slow positrons are produced by moderating the broad, divergent distribution of fast positrons produced by high-energy electrons incident on a high-Z target. This process is intrinsically inefficient. Conventional linac-based designs place the moderator close to the target. Tungsten moderators become less efficient when heated by high-power, fast positrons, leading to defect-related losses. Cryogenic moderators, like solid neon, melt when exposed to high-power, fast positrons. Following the method of O'Rourke et al., we use Monte Carlo simulations combined with a diffusion model to investigate how moderator geometry, material, and incident fast positron energy affect slow positron production. We compare single tungsten foil and multi-foil configurations with solid neon moderators in reflection and transmission geometries. We find that for fast positron energies below 300 keV, solid neon offers order-of-magnitude higher efficiency than tungsten due to its larger diffusion length, whereas at MeV-scale energies multi-foil tungsten has higher efficiency due to the maximization of scattering. We also find that including a target proxy in simulation increases low-energy efficiency up to fourfold by allowing a fraction of initially reflected positrons to return to the moderator. We conclude that substantial gains in start-to-end efficiency at linac sources will likely require combining a decelerating cavity with a decoupled cryogenic moderator.

physics.acc-ph