Contributor info: Prof. Michael Hance

Mike Hance, Juan Robles

SciPost Phys. Core 8, 079 (2025) · published 7 November 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

Many analyses in high-energy physics rely on selection thresholds (cuts) applied to detector, particle, or event properties. Initial cut values can often be guessed from physical intuition, but cut optimization, especially for multiple features, is commonly performed by hand, or skipped entirely in favor of multivariate algorithms like BDTs or neural networks. We revisit this problem, and develop a cut optimization approach based on gradient descent. Cut thresholds are learned as parameters of a network with a simple architecture, and can be tuned to achieve a target signal efficiency through the use of custom loss functions. Contractive terms in the loss can be used to ensure a smooth evolution of cuts as functions of efficiency, particle kinematics, or event features. The method is used to classify events in a search for Supersymmetry, and the performance is compared with common classification tools. An implementation of this approach is available in a public code repository and python package.

Giordon Stark, Camila Aristimuno Ots, Mike Hance

SciPost Phys. Codebases 27-r0.5 (2024) · published 28 February 2024 | Toggle abstract · src

Searches for new physics at the Large Hadron Collider have constrained many models of physics beyond the Standard Model. Many searches also provide resources that allow them to be reinterpreted in the context of other models. We describe a reinterpretation pipeline that examines previously untested models of new physics using supplementary information from ATLAS Supersymmetry (SUSY) searches in a way that provides accurate constraints even for models that differ meaningfully from the benchmark models of the original analysis. The public analysis information, such as public analysis routines and serialized probability models, is combined with common event generation and simulation toolkits MADGRAPH, PYTHIA8, and DELPHES into workflows steered by TOML configuration files, and bundled into the mapyde Python package. The use of mapyde is demonstrated by constraining previously untested SUSY models with compressed sleptons and electroweakinos using ATLAS results.

Giordon Stark, Camila Aristimuno Ots, Mike Hance

SciPost Phys. Codebases 27 (2024) · published 28 February 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

Searches for new physics at the Large Hadron Collider have constrained many models of physics beyond the Standard Model. Many searches also provide resources that allow them to be reinterpreted in the context of other models. We describe a reinterpretation pipeline that examines previously untested models of new physics using supplementary information from ATLAS Supersymmetry (SUSY) searches in a way that provides accurate constraints even for models that differ meaningfully from the benchmark models of the original analysis. The public analysis information, such as public analysis routines and serialized probability models, is combined with common event generation and simulation toolkits MADGRAPH, PYTHIA8, and DELPHES into workflows steered by TOML configuration files, and bundled into the mapyde Python package. The use of mapyde is demonstrated by constraining previously untested SUSY models with compressed sleptons and electroweakinos using ATLAS results.