Reinforcement learning-trained optimisers and Bayesian optimisation for online particle accelerator tuning

Online tuning of particle accelerators is a complex optimisation problem that continues to require manual intervention by experienced human operators. Autonomous tuning is a rapidly expanding field of research, where learning-based methods like Bayesian optimisation (BO) hold great promise in improving plant performance and reducing tuning times. At the same time, reinforcement learning (RL) is a capable method of learning intelligent controllers, and recent work shows that RL can also be used to train domain-specialised optimisers in so-called reinforcement learning-trained optimisation (RLO). In parallel efforts, both algorithms have found successful adoption in particle accelerator tuning. Here we present a comparative case study, assessing the performance of both algorithms while providing a nuanced analysis of the merits and the practical challenges involved in deploying them to real-world facilities. Our results will help practitioners choose a suitable learning-based tuning algorithm for their tuning tasks, accelerating the adoption of autonomous tuning algorithms, ultimately improving the availability of particle accelerators and pushing their operational limits.

Subjects

MLE@TUHH

DDC Class

621.3: Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering

Funding(s)

InternLabs-0011

Funding Organisations

Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren

Publication version

publishedVersion

Lizenz

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Name

s41598-024-66263-y.pdf

Type

Main Article

Size

2.29 MB

Format

Adobe PDF

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Reinforcement learning-trained optimisers and Bayesian optimisation for online particle accelerator tuning