Louisiana State University is playing a major role through the collaboration of professors and graduate students working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Faculty members Jeffery Blackmon and Phillip Sprunger lead two of the 278 selected projects nationwide, addressing specific challenges in nuclear physics and energy innovation. Their research is part of a larger effort to connect government, industry, and academic experts to tackle urgent issues in science and defense.
AI speeds analysis of nuclear data
Jeffrey Blackmon’s team is focused on cutting the time it takes to interpret complex data from nuclear decay and collision experiments. When a nuclear event takes place, scientists collect data on emitted neutrons and gamma rays. This helps them understand atomic structures and reactions better. However, analyzing this information is often a long and difficult task. Graduate students sometimes take months or even years to process data from an experiment that lasted only a few hours. This time lag delays the application of discoveries to important fields like cancer treatment and defense tactics.
Blackmon emphasized that the manual work involved in analyzing nuclear datasets is particularly difficult because it often requires understanding multiple dimensions at once. To solve this, his team is developing AI systems that can quickly uncover correlations between hundreds of different parameters in the data. These systems are trained using Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s extensive archive of nuclear event data collected over the past decade. The goal is to streamline the analysis process and unlock new insights into the properties of atomic nuclei, which could lead to major scientific and technological advancements.
Predicting failures at the synchrotron
Meanwhile, Phillip Sprunger’s team is tackling a different challenge. They are applying AI to the operation and maintenance of the Louisiana Light Source. As an electron accelerator, the synchrotron produces high-energy light. It comes in the form of visible, X-ray, and ultraviolet beams. These beams are used to probe materials at the atomic level. Maintaining such a complex machine is no small task. But Sprunger believes AI can help predict and prevent machine failures. It can identify issues before they cause major disruptions. It can also keep the facility running efficiently.
Sprunger’s collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory is central to the success of this project. The lab is home to the National Synchrotron Light Source II. Timur Shaftan, director of the Accelerator Division at Brookhaven, highlighted the LSU-Brookhaven partnership. He said it could set new standards in using AI for managing advanced scientific equipment. Shaftan noted that AI tools are already changing how high-tech facilities like synchrotrons are operated and maintained. They have the potential to revolutionize the field of accelerator science.
Sprunger also stressed that the benefits of AI in energy research extend far beyond synchrotrons. For example, the same AI systems used to track the paths of electrons moving at near-light speeds could be applied to count fish in the Gulf of Mexico. They could also be used to analyze environmental data. The adaptability of AI methods makes them valuable across many different scientific domains. The key, Sprunger explained, is understanding how to harness this versatility. It can drive progress in energy and other critical fields.
A national initiative with big ambitions
The Genesis Mission, spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is bringing together university teams, national laboratories, and scientific experts to explore new applications of AI in energy and defense. Kristina Launey, associate professor of physics at LSU, compared the initiative to the Manhattan Project, emphasizing its ambitious scope and potential for groundbreaking discoveries. She pointed out that projects like these rely on combining the expertise of researchers from different backgrounds, including nuclear physics, data science, and computational modeling, to solve complex problems.
Launey also noted that LSU’s inclusion in the Genesis Mission is a strong signal that the university is now competing at a national level for funding and recognition in research. She explained that the collaborative nature of the project brings together experts from various fields, creating a unique opportunity to advance scientific understanding. “It’s an amazing achievement from LSU,” Launey said, underscoring the importance of the university’s contributions to national research efforts.
While AI is clearly a powerful tool, Sprunger acknowledged that some researchers might feel apprehensive about its rapid integration into scientific work. However, he urged the scientific community to embrace the change, pointing out that AI is likely to become an essential part of future research. He emphasized that AI is not a replacement for human ingenuity but rather a tool to enhance it. By using AI to tackle specific challenges in physics and energy, researchers can free up time to focus on higher-level scientific questions and breakthroughs.