Training and validation of the ATLAS pixel clustering neural networks

The high centre-of-mass energy of the LHC gives rise to dense environments, such as the core of high-pT jets, in which the charge clusters left by ionising particles in the silicon sensors of the pixel detector can merge, compromising the tracking and vertexing efficiency. To recover optimal performance, a neural network-based approach is used to separate clusters originating from single and multiple particles and to estimate all hit positions within clusters. This note presents the training strategy employed and a set of benchmark performance measurements on a Monte Carlo sample of high-pT dijet events.