{"slug": "reinforcement-learning-techniques-for-the-optimization-of-target-polarization-in", "title": "Reinforcement Learning Techniques for the Optimization of Target Polarization in Nuclear Physics Scattering Experiments", "summary": "A data-driven control framework combining surrogate modeling and reinforcement learning achieved an almost 2x improvement over operators' actions in optimizing target polarization in nuclear physics scattering experiments, according to an arXiv paper (arXiv:2610.02452v1) using operational data from the APOLLO cryogenic target system. The authors trained multilayer perceptron and Gaussian process regression models to predict polarization from microwave frequency, beam current, and accumulated radiation dose, finding Gaussian process models provide calibrated uncertainty estimates and reliably flag out-of-distribution regions while MLPs show limited sensitivity to distributional shift. A reinforcement learning agent trained with a lower-confidence-bound reward formulation was embedded in a standardized simulation environment built on a Gaussian process approximation to enable learning and control across multiple target samples.", "body_md": "arXiv:2610.02452v1 Announce Type: new \nAbstract: The operation of dynamically polarized targets in nuclear physics experiments relies on continuous tuning of the microwave frequency to compensate for radiation damage and evolving material properties, a task that is traditionally performed through manual trial-and-error by expert operators. This work presents a data-driven control framework that combines surrogate modeling with reinforcement learning to optimize the target polarization. Using operational data from the APOLLO cryogenic target system, we train and evaluate multilayer perceptron and Gaussian process regression models to predict polarization as a function of microwave frequency, beam current, and accumulated radiation dose. We show that Gaussian process-based models provide calibrated uncertainty estimates and reliably identify regions outside the training distribution, while MLPs exhibit limited sensitivity to distributional shift. To enable learning and control across multiple target samples, we introduce a Gaussian process approximation and embed the surrogate model within a standardized simulation environment. A reinforcement learning agent is trained using a lower-confidence-bound reward formulation that balances performance maximization against uncertainty. We are able to show an almost 2x improvement on the operators actions utilizing our RL agent.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reinforcement-learning-techniques-for-the-optimization-of-target-polarization-in", "canonical_source": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.02452", "published_at": "2026-10-05 04:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-10-05 04:11:35.770128+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["machine-learning", "ai-research"], "entities": ["APOLLO cryogenic target system", "arXiv"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reinforcement-learning-techniques-for-the-optimization-of-target-polarization-in", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reinforcement-learning-techniques-for-the-optimization-of-target-polarization-in.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reinforcement-learning-techniques-for-the-optimization-of-target-polarization-in.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reinforcement-learning-techniques-for-the-optimization-of-target-polarization-in.jsonld"}}