Chris Bee | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Building an AI-native Research Ecosystem for Experimental Particle Physics: A Community Vision

Experimental particle physics seeks to understand the universe by probing its fundamental particles and forces and exploring how they govern the large-scale processes that shape cosmic evolution. This whitepaper presents a vision for how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can accelerate discovery in this field. We outline grand challenges that must be addressed to enable transformative breakthroughs and describe how current and planned experimental facilities can implement this vision to advance our understanding of the vast and complex physical world from the smallest to the largest scales. We show how facilities currently under construction, such as the HL-LHC, DUNE and soon EIC, can both benefit from and serve as proving grounds for this vision, while also enabling a longer-term goal for how future experiments -- like FCC-ee at CERN, IceCube-Gen2, a Muon Collider in the U.S., and smaller to mid-scale projects -- can be fully AI-native. We describe how a truly national-scale collaboration, jointly managed across large funding partners, and involving both DOE laboratories and universities, can make this happen.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

The SPace-based InterFerometer Feasibility (SPIFF) Project: Enabling Future High-Resolution Astronomy Across the EM Spectrum

A plethora of astronomical science cases can only be achieved with high angular resolution observations, and we can expect the number of these to grow as astronomers are constrained by the size limitations of single-aperture space telescopes, making space-based interferometry inevitable. However, the enabling technologies do not have flight heritage at the system level, and the concept remains immature to much of the community, meaning no direct-detection synthetic-aperture space-based interferometer has yet flown and an opportunity exists for the UK to take a world leading role. Here we propose the SPace-based InterFerometry Feasibility (SPIFF) Project as a program to address both issues simultaneously by: 1) completing a thorough survey of the science cases across the EM spectrum that would directly benefit from, or be impossible without, space-based interferometry; 2) down selecting key requirements via a Science Traceability Matrix mapping exercise; 3) host a workshop for the UK astronomical community to consolidate these findings; 4) build a technology demonstration mission to raise TRL and achieve flight heritage of critical technologies. Such a program positions the UK as the partner of choice for any future NASA or ESA space-based interferometry mission, allowing the UK to lead groundbreaking scientific discoveries, while also directly benefiting the UK industrial base by advancing domestic exportable technologies and building direct synergy with other UK space priorities. Indeed, the UK is uniquely positioned to lead in space-based interferometry, possessing a rare trifecta of domestic strengths: world-class expertise in ground-based interferometry and space-based instrumentation; commercial entities developing mission-critical technologies; and scientists whose research spans the full range of science cases that would benefit directly from space-based interferometry.

astro-ph.IM↗