Auditable Human-Agent Teams for Autonomous X-ray Experimentation

Abstract:Closed-loop autonomous experimentation can accelerate scientific discovery, but implementation effort limits accessibility. Agentic systems may lower this barrier, although sustained operation on physical instruments remains largely unexplored. Here, using coding-agent infrastructure grounded in validated scientific methods, we demonstrate autonomous synchrotron X-ray experiments on nanoparticle superlattices under evolving, human-defined objectives. Complete human-agent and agent-agent transcripts enable an audit that reconstructs decision provenance and characterizes the division of cognitive labor. Across three experiments, 61-67% of messages involved interpretation or judgment, while the share of methodological and scientific contributions increased from 46% in the setup-focused first experiment to 56-61% in later experiments. Provenance showed that 59-68% of error corrections involved multiple participants and that about half of all decisions incorporated the input of another participant. These results may guide design principles for multi-agent scientific systems and inform future agent harnesses, model training, and accessible autonomous experimentation. Submission history Access Paper: View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source Additional Features Audio Summary Current browse context: References & Citations Google Scholar Semantic Scholar Bookmark Institution arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.