# KAN we improve on HEP classification tasks? Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks applied to an LHC physics example

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.02743 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.02743/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 52 of its 102 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 5 Aug 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 52)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [PyTorch: An Imperative Style, High-Performance Deep Learning Library](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01703/) (2019)
- [A Unified Approach to Interpreting Model Predictions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.07874/) (2017)
- ["Why Should I Trust You?": Explaining the Predictions of Any Classifier](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.04938/) (2016)
- [Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI): Concepts, Taxonomies, Opportunities and Challenges toward Responsible AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.10045/) (2019)
- [Towards A Rigorous Science of Interpretable Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1702.08608/) (2017)
- [A Survey Of Methods For Explaining Black Box Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.01933/) (2018)
- [Neural Additive Models: Interpretable Machine Learning with Neural Nets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.13912/) (2020)
- [U-KAN Makes Strong Backbone for Medical Image Segmentation and Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.02918/) (2024)
- [Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks are Radial Basis Function Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.06721/) (2024)
- [Wav-KAN: Wavelet Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.12832/) (2024)
- [Interpretable Deep Learning: Interpretation, Interpretability, Trustworthiness, and Beyond](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.10689/) (2021)
- [A comprehensive and FAIR comparison between MLP and KAN representations for differential equations and operator networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.02917/) (2024)
- [Neural Networks Fail to Learn Periodic Functions and How to Fix It](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.08195/) (2020)
- [Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs) for Time Series Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.08790/) (2024)
- [DeepOKAN: Deep Operator Network Based on Kolmogorov Arnold Networks for Mechanics Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.19143/) (2024)
- [A Living Review of Machine Learning for Particle Physics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.02770/) (2021)
- [Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks for Time Series: Bridging Predictive Power and Interpretability](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.02496/) (2024)
- [fKAN: Fractional Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks with trainable Jacobi basis functions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.07456/) (2024)
- [Learning Activation Functions to Improve Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6830/) (2014)
- [A Temporal Kolmogorov-Arnold Transformer for Time Series Forecasting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.02486/) (2024)
- [Machine Learning in the Search for New Fundamental Physics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.03769/) (2021)
- [Error bounds for deep ReLU networks using the Kolmogorov--Arnold superposition theorem](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.11945/) (2019)
- [KAGNNs: Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks meet Graph Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.18380/) (2024)
- [Kolmogorov-Arnold Network for Satellite Image Classification in Remote Sensing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.00600/) (2024)
- [BSRBF-KAN: A combination of B-splines and Radial Basis Functions in Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.11173/) (2024)
- [Demonstrating the Efficacy of Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks in Vision Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.14916/) (2024)
- [Adaptive Training of Grid-Dependent Physics-Informed Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.17611/) (2024)
- [Finite basis Kolmogorov-Arnold networks: domain decomposition for data-driven and physics-informed problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.19662/) (2024)
- [Learning Activation Functions: A new paradigm for understanding Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.09529/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Explainable fault and severity classification for rolling element bearings using Kolmogorov-Arnold networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.01322/) (2024)
- [Optimization, Generalization and Differential Privacy Bounds for Gradient Descent on Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.22409/) (2026)
- [TK-Mamba: Marrying KAN With Mamba for Text-Driven 3D Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.18525/) (2025)
- [Functional anatomy of Pythia-Herwig differences with Kolmogorov-Arnold networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.15952/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Recently, Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs) have been proposed as an alternative to multilayer perceptrons, suggesting advantages in performance and interpretability. We study a typical binary event classification task in high-energy physics including high-level features and comment on the performance and interpretability of KANs in this context. Consistent with expectations, we find that the learned activation functions of a one-layer KAN resemble the univariate log-likelihood ratios of the respective input features. In deeper KANs, the activations in the first layer differ from those in the one-layer KAN, which indicates that the deeper KANs learn more complex representations of the data, a pattern commonly observed in other deep-learning architectures. We study KANs with different depths and widths and we compare them to multilayer perceptrons in terms of performance and number of trainable parameters. For the chosen classification task, we do not find that KANs are more parameter efficient. However, small KANs may offer advantages in terms of interpretability that come at the cost of only a moderate loss in performance.