arXiv:2601.07756physics.data-ancs.LG2026-01

自动优化高能物理事件分类的分箱边界,提升信号敏感度。

Learning to bin: differentiable and Bayesian optimization for multi-dimensional discriminants in high-energy physics

  • 用高斯混合模型灵活定义多维判别变量的分箱边界。
  • 在二维和三维场景下,相比等距分箱,显著提升信号敏感度。
  • 支持可微与贝叶斯优化,易集成到现有分析流程中。

在高能物理分析中,基于判别变量对事件进行分类至关重要,但分箱边界常人为设定。传统方法采用多分类得分的argmax投影及一维判别变量的等距分箱。本文提出直接在多维判别变量上优化分箱以最大化信号显著性。采用高斯混合模型(GMM)为多类得分定义灵活的分箱边界,在一维情形则直接移动分箱边界。研究了两种优化策略:可微优化与贝叶斯优化。在二分类和三分类(两个信号、一个背景)的模拟设置中,一维情况下两种方法相比等距分箱均获得相当的灵敏度提升;在多维情况下,基于GMM的分箱同样能有效识别高敏感度区域,其中可微优化表现最佳。尤其当信号分离能力有限时,该方法优于经过优化的一维投影argmax分类。相关工具已作为轻量级Python插件开源,便于集成到现有分析中。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Categorizing events using discriminant observables is central to many high-energy physics analyses. Yet, bin boundaries are often chosen by hand. A simple, popular choice is to apply argmax projections of multi-class scores and equidistant binning of one-dimensional discriminants. We propose a binning optimization for signal significance directly in multi-dimensional discriminants. We use a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) to define flexible bin boundary shapes for multi-class scores, while in one dimension (binary classification) we move bin boundaries directly. On this binning model, we study two optimization strategies: a differentiable and a Bayesian optimization approach. We study two toy setups: a binary classification and a three-class problem with two signals and backgrounds. In the one-dimensional case, both approaches achieve similar gains in signal sensitivity compared to equidistant binnings for a given number of bins. In the multi-dimensional case, the GMM-based binning defines sensitive categories as well, with the differentiable approach performing best. We show that, in particular for limited separability of the signal processes, our approach outperforms argmax classification even with optimized binning in the one-dimensional projections. Both methods are released as lightweight Python plugins intended for straightforward integration into existing analyses.

高能物理分箱优化可微优化贝叶斯优化

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