Constructing Impactful Machine Learning Research for Astronomy: Best Practices for Researchers and Reviewers

arXiv (Cornell University)

Abstract

Machine learning has rapidly become a tool of choice for the astronomical community. It is being applied across a wide range of wavelengths and problems, from the classification of transients to neural network emulators of cosmological simulations, and is shifting paradigms about how we generate and report scientific results. At the same time, this class of method comes with its own set of best practices, challenges, and drawbacks, which, at present, are often reported on incompletely in the astrophysical literature. With this paper, we aim to provide a primer to the astronomical community, including authors, reviewers, and editors, on how to implement machine learning models and report their results in a way that ensures the accuracy of the results, reproducibility of the findings, and usefulness of the method.

Authors 21

1. Daniela Huppenkothen Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research

   Space Research Organisation Netherlands · University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy , University of Amsterdam , Science Park 904 , 1098 XH , Amsterdam , The Netherlands

   SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research , Niels Bohrweg 4 , 2333CA Leiden , The Netherlands

2. Michelle Ntampaka

   Space Telescope Science Institute · Johns Hopkins University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics & Astronomy , Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore , MD 21218 , USA

   Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore , MD 21218 , USA

3. Matthew Ho

   Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris · Sorbonne Université

   Affiliation as printed

   CNRS & Sorbonne Université , Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP) , UMR 7095 , 98 bis bd Arago , F-75014 Paris , France

4. M. Fouesneau

   Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

   Affiliation as printed

   Max Plank Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) , Königstuhl 17 , D-69117 Heidelberg , Germany

5. B. Nord
6. Joshua E. G. Peek

   Space Telescope Science Institute · Johns Hopkins University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics & Astronomy , Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore , MD 21218 , USA

   Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore , MD 21218 , USA

7. Mike Walmsley

   University of Toronto · University of Manchester

   Affiliation as printed

   Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics , University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street , Toronto , ON M5S 3H4 , Canada

   Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics , Department of Physics & Astronomy , University of Manchester , Manchester , M13 9PL , UK

8. John F. Wu

   Space Telescope Science Institute · Johns Hopkins University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics & Astronomy , Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore , MD 21218 , USA

   Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore , MD 21218 , USA

9. Camille Avestruz

   University of Michigan

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI 48109 , USA

   Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI 48109 , USA

10. Tobias Buck

    Heidelberg University

    Affiliation as printed

    Universität Heidelberg , Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Wissenschaftliches Rechnen , Im Neuenheimer Feld 205 , 69120 Heidelberg , Germany

    Universität Heidelberg , Zentrum für Astronomie , Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik , Albert-Ueberle-Straße 2 , 69120 Heidelberg , Germany

11. M. Brescia

    Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte · Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli · Federico II University Hospital · University of Naples Federico II

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics "E. Pancini , " University Federico II of Napoli , Via Cinthia 21 , I-80126 Napoli , Italy

    INAF Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte , Salita Moiariello 16 , I-80131 Napoli , Italy

12. Douglas P. Finkbeiner

    Harvard University · Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics , Harvard University , 17 Oxford St. , Cambridge , MA 02138 , USA

    Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics , 60 Garden St. , Cambridge , MA 02138 , USA

13. Andy D. Goulding

    Princeton University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astrophysical Sciences , Princeton University , Princeton , NJ 08544 , USA

14. Tomasz Kacprzak

    Paul Scherrer Institute · Swiss Data Science Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Swiss Data Science Center , Paul Scherrer Institute , 5303 Villigen , Switzerland

15. P. Melchior

    Princeton University

    Affiliation as printed

    Center for Statistics & Machine Learning , Princeton University , Princeton , NJ 08544 , USA

    Department of Astrophysical Sciences , Princeton University , Princeton , NJ 08544 , USA

16. Mario Pasquato
17. Nesar Ramachandra

    Argonne National Laboratory

    Affiliation as printed

    Computational Science Division , Argonne National Laboratory , Lemont , IL , USA

    High Energy Physics Division , Argonne National Laboratory , Lemont , IL , USA

18. Yuan-Sen Ting
19. Glenn van de Ven

    University of Vienna

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astrophysics , University of Vienna , Türkenschanzstraße 17 , 1180 Vienna , Austria

20. V. Ashley Villar
21. Elad Zinger