24–28 Aug 2026
Kirchhoff Institute for Physics (KIP)
Europe/Berlin timezone

Simulation-Based Inference in the Search for the Neutron's Permanent Electric Dipole Moment

26 Aug 2026, 14:20
8m
HS1

HS1

Inference & Uncertainty 🔀 Inference & Uncertainty

Speaker

Husain Mustansir Manasawala (Universität Heidelberg)

Description

Precision tests of fundamental symmetries frequently rely on multi-stage experimental setups where distinct physical mechanisms shape a common observable via an intractable likelihood. Conditional invertible neural networks, trained on high-fidelity forward simulations, learn to reconstruct the full multidimensional posteriors over the parameter space directly from detector-level observables. Applied to ultracold neutron (UCN) storage experiments, which underlie searches for the CP-violating neutron permanent electric dipole moment (nEDM), the trained network accounts for a complex instrument response to disentangle competing capture and decay loss channels. As the next generation of nEDM experiments addresses the core challenge of limited statistics, generative inference offers a path to resolve new systematics via conditional summaries of particle-level simulations.

Author

Husain Mustansir Manasawala (Universität Heidelberg)

Co-authors

Ms Jennifer Franz (TU Munich) Luigi Favaro (UCLouvain - CP3) Prof. Peter Fierlinger (TU Munich) Prof. Skyler Degenkolb (Universität Heidelberg) Mr Thomas Hepworth (Universität Heidelberg) Tilman Plehn (Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg; Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR), Universität Heidelberg)

Presentation materials