End-to-End Detector Optimization with Diffusion models: A Case Study in Sampling Calorimeters

TL;DR

This paper presents AIDO, an end-to-end AI framework using diffusion models to optimize detector designs, demonstrated on sampling calorimeters for high-energy physics, enabling efficient exploration of complex design spaces.

Contribution

Introduces the AIDO framework utilizing diffusion models for gradient-based detector design optimization, specifically applied to sampling calorimeters in high-energy physics.

Findings

Diffusion model accurately predicts calorimeter performance metrics.

Automated search identifies optimal layer and material configurations.

Framework shows promise for complex detector system optimization.

Abstract

Recent advances in machine learning have opened new avenues for optimizing detector designs in high-energy physics, where the complex interplay of geometry, materials, and physics processes has traditionally posed a significant challenge. In this work, we introduce the $\textit{end-to-end}$ AI Detector Optimization framework (AIDO) that leverages a diffusion model as a surrogate for the full simulation and reconstruction chain, enabling gradient-based design exploration in both continuous and discrete parameter spaces. Although this framework is applicable to a broad range of detectors, we illustrate its power using the specific example of a sampling calorimeter, focusing on charged pions and photons as representative incident particles. Our results demonstrate that the diffusion model effectively captures critical performance metrics for calorimeter design, guiding the automatic search for layer arrangement and material composition that aligns with known calorimeter principles. The success of this proof-of-concept study provides a foundation for future applications of end-to-end optimization to more complex detector systems, offering a promising path toward systematically exploring the vast design space in next-generation experiments.