2026-08-13 –, Room 2
X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) are the latest generation of light sources, designed specifically to create coherent x-ray radiation for scientific experiments. During these experiments it's critical to get feedback in real-time to assess how the experiment is proceeding. In this talk we will describe how Julia is used for doing such real-time analysis at the European XFEL.
Light sources are facilities designed to create coherent x-ray radiation for scientific experiments. The majority of light sources around the world are synchrotrons, which use a circular particle accelerator to create radiation. X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) are the next generation of light sources that can produce orders of magnitude higher peak radiation intensity for experiments. Though compared to synchrotrons they can also produce orders of magnitudes more data to analyze, which presents a significant challenge.
One of the most powerful XFELs today is the European XFEL in Hamburg, Germany. It's a user facility that invites external scientists to perform experiments in fields ranging from structural biology, to materials science, to attosecond physics. The scientists who come to the facility to do experiments typically get 1 week or less to setup the experiment and take data, so having fast feedback in real-time is critical to assess how the experiment is going. In this talk we will describe how Julia is used for doing such real-time analysis at the European XFEL.
Data scientist at the European XFEL. Likes sleeping.