The above scheme proves particularly relevant when the student network is overparameterized (namely, when larger layer sizes are employed) as compared to the underlying teacher network. Under these operating conditions, it is tempting to speculate that the student ability to handle the given task could be eventually stored in a sub-portion of the whole network.

The above scheme proves particularly relevant when the student network is overparameterized (namely, when larger layer sizes are employed) as compared to the underlying teacher network. Under these operating conditions, it is tempting to speculate that the student ability to handle the given task could be eventually stored in a sub-portion of the whole network.

Chiral photonic metasurfaces provide unique capabilities for tailoring light-matter interactions, which are essential for next-generation photonic devices. Here, we report an advanced optimization framework that combines deep learning and evolutionary algorithms to significantly improve both the design and performance of chiral photonic nanostructures. Building on previous work utilizing a three-layer perceptron reinforced learning and stochastic evolutionary algorithm with decaying changes and mass extinction for chiral photonic optimization, our study introduces a refined pipeline featuring a two-output neural network architecture to reduce the trade-off between high chiral dichroism (CD) and reflectivity. Additionally, we use an improved fitness function, and efficient data augmentation techniques. A comparative analysis between a neural network (NN)-based approach and a genetic algorithm (GA) is presented for structures of different interface pattern depth, material combinations, and geometric complexity. We demonstrate a twice higher CD and the impact of both the corner number and the refractive index contrast at the example of a GaP/air and PMMA/air metasurface as a result of superior optimization performance. Additionally, a substantial increase in the number of structures explored within limited computational resources is highlighted, with tailored spectral reflectivity suggested by our electromagnetic simulations, paving the way for chiral mirrors applicable to polarization-selective light-matter interaction studies.

The above scheme proves particularly relevant when the student network is overparameterized (namely, when larger layer sizes are employed) as compared to the underlying teacher network. Under these operating conditions, it is tempting to speculate that the student ability to handle the given task could be eventually stored in a sub-portion of the whole network.

The above scheme proves particularly relevant when the student network is overparameterized (namely, when larger layer sizes are employed) as compared to the underlying teacher network. Under these operating conditions, it is tempting to speculate that the student ability to handle the given task could be eventually stored in a sub-portion of the whole network.

Minimalistic robot swarms offer a scalable, robust, and cost-effective approach to performing complex tasks with the potential to transform applications in healthcare, disaster response, and environmental monitoring. However, coordinating such decentralised systems remains a fundamental challenge, particularly when robots are constrained in communication, computation, and memory. In our study, individual robots frequently make errors when sensing the environment, yet the swarm can rapidly and reliably reach consensus on the best among $n$ discrete options. We compare two canonical mechanisms of opinion dynamics -- direct-switch and cross-inhibition -- which are simple yet effective rules for collective information processing observed in biological systems across scales, from neural populations to insect colonies. We generalise the existing mean-field models by considering asocial biases influencing the opinion dynamics. While swarms using direct-switch reliably select the best option in absence of asocial dynamics, their performance deteriorates once such biases are introduced, often resulting in decision deadlocks. In contrast, bio-inspired cross-inhibition enables faster, more cohesive, accurate, robust, and scalable decisions across a wide range of biased conditions. Our findings provide theoretical and practical insights into the coordination of minimal swarms and offer insights that extend to a broad class of decentralised decision-making systems in biology and engineering.

As of today, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) are one of the most powerful tools for image analysis. They achieve, thanks to convolutions, an invariance with respect to translations.