A physics-constrained deep learning surrogate model of the runaway electron avalanche growth rate

Abstract: A surrogate model of the runaway electron avalanche growth rate in a magnetic fusion plasma is developed. This is accomplished by employing a physics-informed neural network (PINN) to learn the parametric solution of the adjoint to the relativistic Fokker-Planck equation. The resulting PINN is able to evaluate the runaway probability function across a broad range of parameters in the absence of any synthetic or experimental data. This surrogate of the adjoint relativistic Fokker-Planck equation is then used to infer the avalanche growth rate as a function of the electric field, synchrotron radiation and effective charge. Predictions of the avalanche PINN are compared against first principle calculations of the avalanche growth rate with excellent agreement observed across a broad range of parameters.