Language Models for Multimessenger Astronomy

With the increasing reliance of astronomy on multi-instrument and multi-messenger observations for detecting transient phenomena, communication among astronomers has become more critical. Apart from automatic prompt follow-up observations, short reports, e.g., GCN circulars and ATels, provide essent...

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Main Authors: Vladimir Sotnikov, Anastasiia Chaikova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-05-01
Series:Galaxies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4434/11/3/63
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author Vladimir Sotnikov
Anastasiia Chaikova
author_facet Vladimir Sotnikov
Anastasiia Chaikova
author_sort Vladimir Sotnikov
collection DOAJ
description With the increasing reliance of astronomy on multi-instrument and multi-messenger observations for detecting transient phenomena, communication among astronomers has become more critical. Apart from automatic prompt follow-up observations, short reports, e.g., GCN circulars and ATels, provide essential human-written interpretations and discussions of observations. These reports lack a defined format, unlike machine-readable messages, making it challenging to associate phenomena with specific objects or coordinates in the sky. This paper examines the use of large language models (LLMs)—machine learning models with billions of trainable parameters or more that are trained on text—such as InstructGPT-3 and open-source Flan-T5-XXL for extracting information from astronomical reports. The study investigates the zero-shot and few-shot learning capabilities of LLMs and demonstrates various techniques to improve the accuracy of predictions. The study shows the importance of careful prompt engineering while working with LLMs, as demonstrated through edge case examples. The study’s findings have significant implications for the development of data-driven applications for astrophysical text analysis.
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spelling doaj.art-9ed647237ded442a86babc839a2708182023-11-18T10:31:07ZengMDPI AGGalaxies2075-44342023-05-011136310.3390/galaxies11030063Language Models for Multimessenger AstronomyVladimir Sotnikov0Anastasiia Chaikova1JetBrains and Astroparticle Physics Lab, JetBrains Research, Paphos 8015, CyprusSchool of Computer Science & Engineering, Constructor University, 28759 Bremen, GermanyWith the increasing reliance of astronomy on multi-instrument and multi-messenger observations for detecting transient phenomena, communication among astronomers has become more critical. Apart from automatic prompt follow-up observations, short reports, e.g., GCN circulars and ATels, provide essential human-written interpretations and discussions of observations. These reports lack a defined format, unlike machine-readable messages, making it challenging to associate phenomena with specific objects or coordinates in the sky. This paper examines the use of large language models (LLMs)—machine learning models with billions of trainable parameters or more that are trained on text—such as InstructGPT-3 and open-source Flan-T5-XXL for extracting information from astronomical reports. The study investigates the zero-shot and few-shot learning capabilities of LLMs and demonstrates various techniques to improve the accuracy of predictions. The study shows the importance of careful prompt engineering while working with LLMs, as demonstrated through edge case examples. The study’s findings have significant implications for the development of data-driven applications for astrophysical text analysis.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4434/11/3/63neural networknatural language processinglarge language modelastronomical reportmulti-messenger astronomy
spellingShingle Vladimir Sotnikov
Anastasiia Chaikova
Language Models for Multimessenger Astronomy
Galaxies
neural network
natural language processing
large language model
astronomical report
multi-messenger astronomy
title Language Models for Multimessenger Astronomy
title_full Language Models for Multimessenger Astronomy
title_fullStr Language Models for Multimessenger Astronomy
title_full_unstemmed Language Models for Multimessenger Astronomy
title_short Language Models for Multimessenger Astronomy
title_sort language models for multimessenger astronomy
topic neural network
natural language processing
large language model
astronomical report
multi-messenger astronomy
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4434/11/3/63
work_keys_str_mv AT vladimirsotnikov languagemodelsformultimessengerastronomy
AT anastasiiachaikova languagemodelsformultimessengerastronomy