Application of interpretable data-driven methods for the reconstruction of supernova neutrino energy spectra following fast neutrino flavor conversions

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shi, Haihao, Huang, Zhenyang, Yan, Qiyu, Zhou, Junda, Lü, Guoliang, Chen, Xuefei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866910060379111424
author Shi, Haihao
Huang, Zhenyang
Yan, Qiyu
Zhou, Junda
Lü, Guoliang
Chen, Xuefei
author_facet Shi, Haihao
Huang, Zhenyang
Yan, Qiyu
Zhou, Junda
Lü, Guoliang
Chen, Xuefei
contents Neutrinos can experience fast flavor conversions (FFCs) in highly dense astrophysical environments, such as core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers, potentially affecting energy transport and other processes. Simulating fast flavor conversions under realistic astrophysical conditions requires substantial computational resources and poses significant analytical challenges. While machine learning methods such as multilayer perceptrons have been used to accurately predict the asymptotic outcomes of FFCs, their "black-box" nature limits the extraction of direct physical insight. To mitigate this limitation, we employ two distinct interpretable machine learning frameworks, Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs) and Sparse Identification of Nonlinear Dynamics (SINDy), to learn interpretable surrogates for the asymptotic input-output mapping from an FFC simulation dataset. Our analysis reveals a fundamental trade-off between predictive accuracy and model simplicity. KANs demonstrate high fidelity in reconstructing post-conversion neutrino energy spectra, achieving accuracies of up to 90%. In contrast, SINDy yields a low-rank, compact closed-form approximation of the input-output mapping, at the expense of some predictive accuracy. Critically, using these structured and sparse surrogates as diagnostic tools, we identify that the system's evolution is most sensitive to the initial number density of heavy-lepton neutrinos when FFCs are triggered, compared with other physical quantities. Ultimately, this work provides a methodological framework for interpretable machine learning that supports genuine data-driven scientific discovery in astronomy and astrophysics, going beyond prediction alone.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_09632
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Application of interpretable data-driven methods for the reconstruction of supernova neutrino energy spectra following fast neutrino flavor conversions
Shi, Haihao
Huang, Zhenyang
Yan, Qiyu
Zhou, Junda
Lü, Guoliang
Chen, Xuefei
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Neutrinos can experience fast flavor conversions (FFCs) in highly dense astrophysical environments, such as core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers, potentially affecting energy transport and other processes. Simulating fast flavor conversions under realistic astrophysical conditions requires substantial computational resources and poses significant analytical challenges. While machine learning methods such as multilayer perceptrons have been used to accurately predict the asymptotic outcomes of FFCs, their "black-box" nature limits the extraction of direct physical insight. To mitigate this limitation, we employ two distinct interpretable machine learning frameworks, Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs) and Sparse Identification of Nonlinear Dynamics (SINDy), to learn interpretable surrogates for the asymptotic input-output mapping from an FFC simulation dataset. Our analysis reveals a fundamental trade-off between predictive accuracy and model simplicity. KANs demonstrate high fidelity in reconstructing post-conversion neutrino energy spectra, achieving accuracies of up to 90%. In contrast, SINDy yields a low-rank, compact closed-form approximation of the input-output mapping, at the expense of some predictive accuracy. Critically, using these structured and sparse surrogates as diagnostic tools, we identify that the system's evolution is most sensitive to the initial number density of heavy-lepton neutrinos when FFCs are triggered, compared with other physical quantities. Ultimately, this work provides a methodological framework for interpretable machine learning that supports genuine data-driven scientific discovery in astronomy and astrophysics, going beyond prediction alone.
title Application of interpretable data-driven methods for the reconstruction of supernova neutrino energy spectra following fast neutrino flavor conversions
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.09632