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Published work

55 published item(s)

preprint2026arXiv

Dictionary learning for Kernel EDMD

Studying nonlinear dynamical systems through their state space behavior can be challenging, and one possible alternative is to analyze them via their associated Koopman operator. This turns the nonlinear problem into a linear, infinite-dimensional one. To approximate the operator in finite dimensions, extended dynamic mode decomposition (EDMD) is a commonly used algorithm. It requires a finite list of functionals and a set of snapshots from the system to compute an approximation of the operator and its corresponding spectrum. Instead of choosing the list of functionals directly, it can be implicitly defined via kernels, a method known as kernel extended dynamic mode decomposition (kEDMD). However, one still needs to define the kernel and choose its parameter values. In this paper, we aim to streamline this process by extending dictionary learning for EDMD to kernel learning in kEDMD. By simplifying kEDMD we show how to perform gradient-based optimization over the learnable kernel parameters, and demonstrate that this method leads to useful kernels for the original kEDMD. The focus of our work is a method that takes a weighted list of kernels with randomly initialized values as input and outputs a list of kernels and parameter values suitable for approximating the Koopman operator of the underlying system. We demonstrate that unimportant kernels can be removed from the list by analyzing the weights in the weighted sum. We evaluate the method across several experiments, including the Duffing oscillator and the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky PDE, showcasing the method's different strengths.

preprint2026arXiv

Optimal Transport, Timesteppers, Newton-Krylov Methods and Steady States of Collective Particle Dynamics

Timesteppers constitute a powerful tool in modern computational science and engineering. Although they are typically used to advance the system forward in time, they can also be viewed as nonlinear mappings that implicitly encode steady states and stability information. In this work, we present an extension of the matrix-free framework for calculating, via timesteppers, steady states of deterministic systems to stochastic particle simulations, where intrinsic randomness prevents direct steady state extraction. By formulating stochastic timesteppers in the language of optimal transport, we reinterpret them as operators acting on probability measures rather than on individual particle trajectories. This perspective enables the construction of smooth cumulative- and inverse-cumulative-distribution-function ((I)CDF) timesteppers that evolve distributions rather than particles. Combined with matrix-free Newton-Krylov solvers, these smooth timesteppers allow efficient computation of steady-state distributions even under high stochastic noise. We perform an error analysis quantifying how noise affects finite-difference Jacobian action approximations, and demonstrate that convergence can be obtained even in high noise regimes. Finally, we introduce higher-dimensional generalizations based on smooth CDF-related representations of particles and validate their performance on a non-trivial two-dimensional distribution. Together, these developments establish a unified variational framework for computing meaningful steady states of both deterministic and stochastic timesteppers.

preprint2022arXiv

Algorithmic (Semi-)Conjugacy via Koopman Operator Theory

Iterative algorithms are of utmost importance in decision and control. With an ever growing number of algorithms being developed, distributed, and proprietarized, there is a similarly growing need for methods that can provide classification and comparison. By viewing iterative algorithms as discrete-time dynamical systems, we leverage Koopman operator theory to identify (semi-)conjugacies between algorithms using their spectral properties. This provides a general framework with which to classify and compare algorithms.

preprint2022arXiv

An Operator Theoretic View on Pruning Deep Neural Networks

The discovery of sparse subnetworks that are able to perform as well as full models has found broad applied and theoretical interest. While many pruning methods have been developed to this end, the naïve approach of removing parameters based on their magnitude has been found to be as robust as more complex, state-of-the-art algorithms. The lack of theory behind magnitude pruning's success, especially pre-convergence, and its relation to other pruning methods, such as gradient based pruning, are outstanding open questions in the field that are in need of being addressed. We make use of recent advances in dynamical systems theory, namely Koopman operator theory, to define a new class of theoretically motivated pruning algorithms. We show that these algorithms can be equivalent to magnitude and gradient based pruning, unifying these seemingly disparate methods, and find that they can be used to shed light on magnitude pruning's performance during the early part of training.

preprint2022arXiv

Data-driven Discovery of Chemotactic Migration of Bacteria via Machine Learning

E. coli chemotactic motion in the presence of a chemoattractant field has been extensively studied using wet laboratory experiments, stochastic computational models as well as partial differential equation-based models (PDEs). The most challenging step in bridging these approaches, is establishing a closed form of the so-called chemotactic term, which describes how bacteria bias their motion up chemonutrient concentration gradients, as a result of a cascade of biochemical processes. Data-driven models can be used to learn the entire evolution operator of the chemotactic PDEs (black box models), or, in a more targeted fashion, to learn just the chemotactic term (gray box models). In this work, data-driven Machine Learning approaches for learning the underlying model PDEs are (a) validated through the use of simulation data from established continuum models and (b) used to infer chemotactic PDEs from experimental data. Even when the data at hand are sparse (coarse in space and/or time), noisy (due to inherent stochasticity in measurements) or partial (e.g. lack of measurements of the associated chemoattractant field), we can attempt to learn the right-hand-side of a closed PDE for an evolving bacterial density. In fact we show that data-driven PDEs including a short history of the bacterial density field (e.g. in the form of higher-order in time PDEs in terms of the measurable bacterial density) can be successful in predicting further bacterial density evolution, and even possibly recovering estimates of the unmeasured chemonutrient field. The main tool in this effort is the effective low-dimensionality of the dynamics (in the spirit of the Whitney and Takens embedding theorems). The resulting data-driven PDE can then be simulated to reproduce/predict computational or experimental bacterial density profile data, and estimate the underlying (unmeasured) chemonutrient field evolution.

preprint2022arXiv

Learning black- and gray-box chemotactic PDEs/closures from agent based Monte Carlo simulation data

We propose a machine learning framework for the data-driven discovery of macroscopic chemotactic Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) -- and the closures that lead to them -- from high-fidelity, individual-based stochastic simulations of E.coli bacterial motility. The fine scale, detailed, hybrid (continuum - Monte Carlo) simulation model embodies the underlying biophysics, and its parameters are informed from experimental observations of individual cells. We exploit Automatic Relevance Determination (ARD) within a Gaussian Process framework for the identification of a parsimonious set of collective observables that parametrize the law of the effective PDEs. Using these observables, in a second step we learn effective, coarse-grained "Keller-Segel class" chemotactic PDEs using machine learning regressors: (a) (shallow) feedforward neural networks and (b) Gaussian Processes. The learned laws can be black-box (when no prior knowledge about the PDE law structure is assumed) or gray-box when parts of the equation (e.g. the pure diffusion part) is known and "hardwired" in the regression process. We also discuss data-driven corrections (both additive and functional) of analytically known, approximate closures.

preprint2022arXiv

Learning the temporal evolution of multivariate densities via normalizing flows

In this work, we propose a method to learn multivariate probability distributions using sample path data from stochastic differential equations. Specifically, we consider temporally evolving probability distributions (e.g., those produced by integrating local or nonlocal Fokker-Planck equations). We analyze this evolution through machine learning assisted construction of a time-dependent mapping that takes a reference distribution (say, a Gaussian) to each and every instance of our evolving distribution. If the reference distribution is the initial condition of a Fokker-Planck equation, what we learn is the time-T map of the corresponding solution. Specifically, the learned map is a multivariate normalizing flow that deforms the support of the reference density to the support of each and every density snapshot in time. We demonstrate that this approach can approximate probability density function evolutions in time from observed sampled data for systems driven by both Brownian and Lévy noise. We present examples with two- and three-dimensional, uni- and multimodal distributions to validate the method.

preprint2022arXiv

On the Parameter Combinations That Matter and on Those That do Not

We present a data-driven approach to characterizing nonidentifiability of a model's parameters and illustrate it through dynamic as well as steady kinetic models. By employing Diffusion Maps and their extensions, we discover the minimal combinations of parameters required to characterize the output behavior of a chemical system: a set of effective parameters for the model. Furthermore, we introduce and use a Conformal Autoencoder Neural Network technique, as well as a kernel-based Jointly Smooth Function technique, to disentangle the redundant parameter combinations that do not affect the output behavior from the ones that do. We discuss the interpretability of our data-driven effective parameters, and demonstrate the utility of the approach both for behavior prediction and parameter estimation. In the latter task, it becomes important to describe level sets in parameter space that are consistent with a particular output behavior. We validate our approach on a model of multisite phosphorylation, where a reduced set of effective parameters (nonlinear combinations of the physical ones) has previously been established analytically.

preprint2022arXiv

Personalized Algorithm Generation: A Case Study in Learning ODE Integrators

We study the learning of numerical algorithms for scientific computing, which combines mathematically driven, handcrafted design of general algorithm structure with a data-driven adaptation to specific classes of tasks. This represents a departure from the classical approaches in numerical analysis, which typically do not feature such learning-based adaptations. As a case study, we develop a machine learning approach that automatically learns effective solvers for initial value problems in the form of ordinary differential equations (ODEs), based on the Runge-Kutta (RK) integrator architecture. We show that we can learn high-order integrators for targeted families of differential equations without the need for computing integrator coefficients by hand. Moreover, we demonstrate that in certain cases we can obtain superior performance to classical RK methods. This can be attributed to certain properties of the ODE families being identified and exploited by the approach. Overall, this work demonstrates an effective learning-based approach to the design of algorithms for the numerical solution of differential equations. This can be readily extended to other numerical tasks.

preprint2022arXiv

Questionnaires to PDEs: From Disorganized Data to Emergent Generative Dynamic Models

Starting with sets of disorganized observations of spatially varying and temporally evolving systems, obtained at different (also disorganized) sets of parameters, we demonstrate the data-driven derivation of parameter dependent, evolutionary partial differential equation (PDE) models capable of generating the data. This tensor type of data is reminiscent of shuffled (multi-dimensional) puzzle tiles. The independent variables for the evolution equations (their "space" and "time") as well as their effective parameters are all "emergent", i.e., determined in a data-driven way from our disorganized observations of behavior in them. We use a diffusion map based "questionnaire" approach to build a parametrization of our emergent space/time/parameter space for the data. This approach iteratively processes the data by successively observing them on the "space", the "time", and the "parameter" axes of a tensor. Once the data are organized, we use machine learning (here, neural networks) to approximate the operators governing the evolution equations in this emergent space. Our illustrative example is based on a previously developed vertex-plus-signaling model of Drosophila embryonic development. This allows us to discuss features of the process like symmetry breaking, translational invariance, and autonomousness of the emergent PDE model, as well as its interpretability.

preprint2022arXiv

Staggered grids for multidimensional multiscale modelling

Numerical schemes for wave-like systems with small dissipation are often inaccurate and unstable due to truncation errors and numerical roundoff errors. Hence, numerical simulations of wave-like systems lacking proper handling of these numerical issues often fail to represent the physical characteristics of wave phenomena. This challenge gets even more intricate for multiscale modelling, especially in multiple dimensions. When using the usual collocated grid, about two-thirds of the resolved wave modes are incorrect with significant dispersion. But, numerical schemes on staggered grids (with alternating variable arrangement) are significantly less dispersive and preserve much of the wave characteristics. Also, the group velocity of the energy propagation in the numerical waves on a staggered grid is in the correct direction, in contrast to the collocated grid. For high accuracy and to preserve much of the wave characteristics, this article extends the concept of staggered grids in full-domain modelling to multidimensional multiscale modelling. Specifically, this article develops 120 multiscale staggered grids and demonstrates their stability, accuracy, and wave-preserving characteristic for equation-free multiscale modelling of weakly damped linear waves. But most characteristics of the developed multiscale staggered grids must also hold in general for multiscale modelling of many complex spatio-temporal physical phenomena such as the general computational fluid dynamics.

preprint2022arXiv

Weakly Supervised Indoor Localization via Manifold Matching

Inferring the location of a mobile device in an indoor setting is an open problem of utmost significance. A leading approach that does not require the deployment of expensive infrastructure is fingerprinting, where a classifier is trained to predict the location of a device based on its captured signal. The main caveat of this approach is that acquiring a sufficiently large and accurate training set may be prohibitively expensive. Here, we propose a weakly supervised method that only requires the location of a small number of devices. The localization is done by matching a low-dimensional spectral representation of the signals to a given sketch of the indoor environment. We test our approach on simulated and real data and show that it yields an accuracy of a few meters, which is on par with fully supervised approaches. The simplicity of our method and its accuracy with minimal supervision makes it ideal for implementation in indoor localization systems.

preprint2021arXiv

Coarse-scale PDEs from fine-scale observations via machine learning

Complex spatiotemporal dynamics of physicochemical processes are often modeled at a microscopic level (through e.g. atomistic, agent-based or lattice models) based on first principles. Some of these processes can also be successfully modeled at the macroscopic level using e.g. partial differential equations (PDEs) describing the evolution of the right few macroscopic observables (e.g. concentration and momentum fields). Deriving good macroscopic descriptions (the so-called "closure problem") is often a time-consuming process requiring deep understanding/intuition about the system of interest. Recent developments in data science provide alternative ways to effectively extract/learn accurate macroscopic descriptions approximating the underlying microscopic observations. In this paper, we introduce a data-driven framework for the identification of unavailable coarse-scale PDEs from microscopic observations via machine learning algorithms. Specifically, using Gaussian Processes, Artificial Neural Networks, and/or Diffusion Maps, the proposed framework uncovers the relation between the relevant macroscopic space fields and their time evolution (the right-hand-side of the explicitly unavailable macroscopic PDE). Interestingly, several choices equally representative of the data can be discovered. The framework will be illustrated through the data-driven discovery of macroscopic, concentration-level PDEs resulting from a fine-scale, Lattice Boltzmann level model of a reaction/transport process. Once the coarse evolution law is identified, it can be simulated to produce long-term macroscopic predictions. Different features (pros as well as cons) of alternative machine learning algorithms for performing this task (Gaussian Processes and Artificial Neural Networks), are presented and discussed.

preprint2021arXiv

LOCA: LOcal Conformal Autoencoder for standardized data coordinates

We propose a deep-learning based method for obtaining standardized data coordinates from scientific measurements.Data observations are modeled as samples from an unknown, non-linear deformation of an underlying Riemannian manifold, which is parametrized by a few normalized latent variables. By leveraging a repeated measurement sampling strategy, we present a method for learning an embedding in $\mathbb{R}^d$ that is isometric to the latent variables of the manifold. These data coordinates, being invariant under smooth changes of variables, enable matching between different instrumental observations of the same phenomenon. Our embedding is obtained using a LOcal Conformal Autoencoder (LOCA), an algorithm that constructs an embedding to rectify deformations by using a local z-scoring procedure while preserving relevant geometric information. We demonstrate the isometric embedding properties of LOCA on various model settings and observe that it exhibits promising interpolation and extrapolation capabilities. Finally, we apply LOCA to single-site Wi-Fi localization data, and to $3$-dimensional curved surface estimation based on a $2$-dimensional projection.

preprint2021arXiv

Spectral Discovery of Jointly Smooth Features for Multimodal Data

In this paper, we propose a spectral method for deriving functions that are jointly smooth on multiple observed manifolds. This allows us to register measurements of the same phenomenon by heterogeneous sensors, and to reject sensor-specific noise. Our method is unsupervised and primarily consists of two steps. First, using kernels, we obtain a subspace spanning smooth functions on each separate manifold. Then, we apply a spectral method to the obtained subspaces and discover functions that are jointly smooth on all manifolds. We show analytically that our method is guaranteed to provide a set of orthogonal functions that are as jointly smooth as possible, ordered by increasing Dirichlet energy from the smoothest to the least smooth. In addition, we show that the extracted functions can be efficiently extended to unseen data using the Nyström method. We demonstrate the proposed method on both simulated and real measured data and compare the results to nonlinear variants of the seminal Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA). Particularly, we show superior results for sleep stage identification. In addition, we show how the proposed method can be leveraged for finding minimal realizations of parameter spaces of nonlinear dynamical systems.

preprint2021arXiv

Transformations between deep neural networks

We propose to test, and when possible establish, an equivalence between two different artificial neural networks by attempting to construct a data-driven transformation between them, using manifold-learning techniques. In particular, we employ diffusion maps with a Mahalanobis-like metric. If the construction succeeds, the two networks can be thought of as belonging to the same equivalence class. We first discuss transformation functions between only the outputs of the two networks; we then also consider transformations that take into account outputs (activations) of a number of internal neurons from each network. In general, Whitney's theorem dictates the number of measurements from one of the networks required to reconstruct each and every feature of the second network. The construction of the transformation function relies on a consistent, intrinsic representation of the network input space. We illustrate our algorithm by matching neural network pairs trained to learn (a) observations of scalar functions; (b) observations of two-dimensional vector fields; and (c) representations of images of a moving three-dimensional object (a rotating horse). The construction of such equivalence classes across different network instantiations clearly relates to transfer learning. We also expect that it will be valuable in establishing equivalence between different Machine Learning-based models of the same phenomenon observed through different instruments and by different research groups.

preprint2020arXiv

Domain Adaptation with Optimal Transport on the Manifold of SPD matrices

In this paper, we address the problem of Domain Adaptation (DA) using Optimal Transport (OT) on Riemannian manifolds. We model the difference between two domains by a diffeomorphism and use the polar factorization theorem to claim that OT is indeed optimal for DA in a well-defined sense, up to a volume preserving map. We then focus on the manifold of Symmetric and Positive-Definite (SPD) matrices, whose structure provided a useful context in recent applications. We demonstrate the polar factorization theorem on this manifold. Due to the uniqueness of the weighted Riemannian mean, and by exploiting existing regularized OT algorithms, we formulate a simple algorithm that maps the source domain to the target domain. We test our algorithm on two Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) data sets and observe state of the art performance.

preprint2020arXiv

Emergent spaces for coupled oscillators

In this paper we present a systematic, data-driven approach to discovering "bespoke" coarse variables based on manifold learning algorithms. We illustrate this methodology with the classic Kuramoto phase oscillator model, and demonstrate how our manifold learning technique can successfully identify a coarse variable that is one-to-one with the established Kuramoto order parameter. We then introduce an extension of our coarse-graining methodology which enables us to learn evolution equations for the discovered coarse variables via an artificial neural network architecture templated on numerical time integrators (initial value solvers). This approach allows us to learn accurate approximations of time derivatives of state variables from sparse flow data, and hence discover useful approximate differential equation descriptions of their dynamic behavior. We demonstrate this capability by learning ODEs that agree with the known analytical expression for the Kuramoto order parameter dynamics at the continuum limit. We then show how this approach can also be used to learn the dynamics of coarse variables discovered through our manifold learning methodology. In both of these examples, we compare the results of our neural network based method to typical finite differences complemented with geometric harmonics. Finally, we present a series of computational examples illustrating how a variation of our manifold learning methodology can be used to discover sets of "effective" parameters, reduced parameter combinations, for multi-parameter models with complex coupling. We conclude with a discussion of possible extensions of this approach, including the possibility of obtaining data-driven effective partial differential equations for coarse-grained neuronal network behavior.

preprint2020arXiv

Exploring Critical Points of Energy Landscapes: From Low-Dimensional Examples to Phase Field Crystal PDEs

In the present work we explore the application of a few root-finding methods to a series of prototypical examples. The methods we consider include: (a) the so-called continuous-time Nesterov (CTN) flow method; (b) a variant thereof referred to as the squared-operator method (SOM); and (c) the the joint action of each of the above two methods with the so-called deflation method. More traditional methods such as Newton's method (and its variant with deflation) are also brought to bear. Our toy examples start with a naive one degree-of-freedom (dof) system to provide the lay of the land. Subsequently, we turn to a 2-dof system that is motivated by the reduction of an infinite-dimensional, phase field crystal (PFC) model of soft matter crystallisation. Once the landscape of the 2-dof system has been elucidated, we turn to the full PDE model and illustrate how the insights of the low-dimensional examples lead to novel solutions at the PDE level that are of relevance and interest to the full framework of soft matter crystallization.

preprint2020arXiv

Manifold Learning for Accelerating Coarse-Grained Optimization

Algorithms proposed for solving high-dimensional optimization problems with no derivative information frequently encounter the "curse of dimensionality," becoming ineffective as the dimension of the parameter space grows. One feature of a subclass of such problems that are effectively low-dimensional is that only a few parameters (or combinations thereof) are important for the optimization and must be explored in detail. Knowing these parameters/ combinations in advance would greatly simplify the problem and its solution. We propose the data-driven construction of an effective (coarse-grained, "trend") optimizer, based on data obtained from ensembles of brief simulation bursts with an "inner" optimization algorithm, that has the potential to accelerate the exploration of the parameter space. The trajectories of this "effective optimizer" quickly become attracted onto a slow manifold parameterized by the few relevant parameter combinations. We obtain the parameterization of this low-dimensional, effective optimization manifold on the fly using data mining/manifold learning techniques on the results of simulation (inner optimizer iteration) burst ensembles and exploit it locally to "jump" forward along this manifold. As a result, we can bias the exploration of the parameter space towards the few, important directions and, through this "wrapper algorithm," speed up the convergence of traditional optimization algorithms.

preprint2020arXiv

On Learning Hamiltonian Systems from Data

Concise, accurate descriptions of physical systems through their conserved quantities abound in the natural sciences. In data science, however, current research often focuses on regression problems, without routinely incorporating additional assumptions about the system that generated the data. Here, we propose to explore a particular type of underlying structure in the data: Hamiltonian systems, where an "energy" is conserved. Given a collection of observations of such a Hamiltonian system over time, we extract phase space coordinates and a Hamiltonian function of them that acts as the generator of the system dynamics. The approach employs an autoencoder neural network component to estimate the transformation from observations to the phase space of a Hamiltonian system. An additional neural network component is used to approximate the Hamiltonian function on this constructed space, and the two components are trained jointly. As an alternative approach, we also demonstrate the use of Gaussian processes for the estimation of such a Hamiltonian. After two illustrative examples, we extract an underlying phase space as well as the generating Hamiltonian from a collection of movies of a pendulum. The approach is fully data-driven, and does not assume a particular form of the Hamiltonian function.

preprint2020arXiv

On the Koopman operator of algorithms

A systematic mathematical framework for the study of numerical algorithms would allow comparisons, facilitate conjugacy arguments, as well as enable the discovery of improved, accelerated, data-driven algorithms. Over the course of the last century, the Koopman operator has provided a mathematical framework for the study of dynamical systems, which facilitates conjugacy arguments and can provide efficient reduced descriptions. More recently, numerical approximations of the operator have enabled the analysis of a large number of deterministic and stochastic dynamical systems in a completely data-driven, essentially equation-free pipeline. Discrete or continuous time numerical algorithms (integrators, nonlinear equation solvers, optimization algorithms) are themselves dynamical systems. In this paper, we use this insight to leverage the Koopman operator framework in the data-driven study of such algorithms and discuss benefits for analysis and acceleration of numerical computation. For algorithms acting on high-dimensional spaces by quickly contracting them towards low-dimensional manifolds, we demonstrate how basis functions adapted to the data help to construct efficient reduced representations of the operator. Our illustrative examples include the gradient descent and Nesterov optimization algorithms, as well as the Newton-Raphson algorithm.

preprint2020arXiv

Transport map accelerated adaptive importance sampling, and application to inverse problems arising from multiscale stochastic reaction networks

In many applications, Bayesian inverse problems can give rise to probability distributions which contain complexities due to the Hessian varying greatly across parameter space. This complexity often manifests itself as lower dimensional manifolds on which the likelihood function is invariant, or varies very little. This can be due to trying to infer unobservable parameters, or due to sloppiness in the model which is being used to describe the data. In such a situation, standard sampling methods for characterising the posterior distribution, which do not incorporate information about this structure, will be highly inefficient. In this paper, we seek to develop an approach to tackle this problem when using adaptive importance sampling methods, by using optimal transport maps to simplify posterior distributions which are concentrated on lower dimensional manifolds. This approach is applicable to a whole range of problems for which Monte Carlo Markov chain (MCMC) methods mix slowly. We demonstrate the approach by considering inverse problems arising from partially observed stochastic reaction networks. In particular, we consider systems which exhibit multiscale behaviour, but for which only the slow variables in the system are observable. We demonstrate that certain multiscale approximations lead to more consistent approximations of the posterior than others. The use of optimal transport maps stabilises the ensemble transform adaptive importance sampling (ETAIS) method, and allows for efficient sampling with smaller ensemble sizes. This approach allows us to take advantage of the large increases of efficiency when using adaptive importance sampling methods for previously intractable Bayesian inverse problems with complex posterior structure.

preprint2019arXiv

Manifold Learning for Organizing Unstructured Sets of Process Observations

Data mining is routinely used to organize ensembles of short temporal observations so as to reconstruct useful, low-dimensional realizations of an underlying dynamical system. In this paper, we use manifold learning to organize unstructured ensembles of observations ("trials") of a system's response surface. We have no control over where every trial starts; and during each trial operating conditions are varied by turning "agnostic" knobs, which change system parameters in a systematic but unknown way. As one (or more) knobs "turn" we record (possibly partial) observations of the system response. We demonstrate how such partial and disorganized observation ensembles can be integrated into coherent response surfaces whose dimension and parametrization can be systematically recovered in a data-driven fashion. The approach can be justified through the Whitney and Takens embedding theorems, allowing reconstruction of manifolds/attractors through different types of observations. We demonstrate our approach by organizing unstructured observations of response surfaces, including the reconstruction of a cusp bifurcation surface for Hydrogen combustion in a Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor. Finally, we demonstrate how this observation-based reconstruction naturally leads to informative transport maps between input parameter space and output/state variable spaces.

preprint2016arXiv

A classification scheme for chimera states

We present a universal characterization scheme for chimera states applicable to both numerical and experimental data sets. The scheme is based on two correlation measures that enable a meaningful definition of chimera states as well as their classification into three categories: stationary, turbulent and breathing. In addition, these categories can be further subdivided according to the time-stationarity of these two measures. We demonstrate that this approach both is consistent with previously recognized chimera states and enables us to classify states as chimeras which have not been categorized as such before. Furthermore, the scheme allows for a qualitative and quantitative comparison of experimental chimeras with chimeras obtained through numerical simulations.

preprint2016arXiv

Dimension reduction in heterogeneous neural networks: generalized Polynomial Chaos (gPC) and ANalysis-Of-VAriance (ANOVA)

We propose, and illustrate via a neural network example, two different approaches to coarse-graining large heterogeneous networks. Both approaches are inspired from, and use tools developed in, methods for uncertainty quantification in systems with multiple uncertain parameters - in our case, the parameters are heterogeneously distributed on the network nodes. The approach shows promise in accelerating large scale network simulations as well as coarse-grained fixed point, periodic solution and stability analysis. We also demonstrate that the approach can successfully deal with structural as well as intrinsic heterogeneities.

preprint2016arXiv

Equation-free analysis of a dynamically evolving multigraph

In order to illustrate the adaptation of traditional continuum numerical techniques to the study of complex network systems, we use the equation-free framework to analyze a dynamically evolving multigraph. This approach is based on coupling short intervals of direct dynamic network simulation with appropriately-defined lifting and restriction operators, mapping the detailed network description to suitable macroscopic (coarse-grained) variables and back. This enables the acceleration of direct simulations through Coarse Projective Integration (CPI), as well as the identification of coarse stationary states via a Newton-GMRES method. We also demonstrate the use of data-mining, both linear (principal component analysis, PCA) and nonlinear (diffusion maps, DMAPS) to determine good macroscopic variables (observables) through which one can coarse-grain the model. These results suggest methods for decreasing simulation times of dynamic real-world systems such as epidemiological network models. Additionally, the data-mining techniques could be applied to a diverse class of problems to search for a succint, low-dimensional description of the system in a small number of variables.

preprint2016arXiv

Experimental Study of Nonlinear Resonances and Anti-resonances in a Forced, Ordered Granular Chain

We experimentally study a one-dimensional uncompressed granular chain composed of a finite number of identical spherical beads with Hertzian interactions. The chain is harmonically excited by an amplitude- and frequency-dependent boundary drive at its left end and has a fixed boundary at its right end. Such ordered granular media represent an interesting new class of nonlinear acoustic metamaterials, since they exhibit essentially nonlinear acoustics and have been designated as 'sonic vacua' due to the fact that their corresponding speed of sound (as defined in classical acoustics) is zero.This paves the way for essentially nonlinear and energy-dependent acoustics with no counterparts in linear theory. We experimentally detect time-periodic, strongly nonlinear resonances whereby the particles (beads) of the granular chain respond at integer multiples of the excitation period, and which correspond to local peaks of the maximum transmitted force at the chain's right, fixed end.In between these resonances we detect a local minimum of the maximum transmitted forces corresponding to an anti-resonance in the stationary-state dynamics. The experimental results of this work confirm previous theoretical predictions, and verify the existence of strongly nonlinear resonance responses in a system with a complete absence of any linear spectrum; as such, the experimentally detected nonlinear resonance spectrum is passively tunable with energy and sensitive to dissipative effects such as internal structural damping in the beads, and friction or plasticity effects. The experimental results are verified by direct numerical simulations and by numerical stability analysis.

preprint2016arXiv

No equations, no parameters, no variables: data, and the reconstruction of normal forms by learning informed observation geometries

The discovery of physical laws consistent with empirical observations lies at the heart of (applied) science and engineering. These laws typically take the form of nonlinear differential equations depending on parameters, dynamical systems theory provides, through the appropriate normal forms, an "intrinsic", prototypical characterization of the types of dynamical regimes accessible to a given model. Using an implementation of data-informed geometry learning we directly reconstruct the relevant "normal forms": a quantitative mapping from empirical observations to prototypical realizations of the underlying dynamics. Interestingly, the state variables and the parameters of these realizations are inferred from the empirical observations, without prior knowledge or understanding, they parametrize the dynamics {\em intrinsically}, without explicit reference to fundamental physical quantities.

preprint2015arXiv

A Kernel-Based Approach to Data-Driven Koopman Spectral Analysis

A data driven, kernel-based method for approximating the leading Koopman eigenvalues, eigenfunctions, and modes in problems with high dimensional state spaces is presented. This approach approximates the Koopman operator using a set of scalar observables, which are functions defined on state space, that is determined {\em implicitly} by the choice of a kernel. This circumvents the computational issues that arise due to the number of basis functions required to span a "sufficiently rich" subspace of the space of scalar observables in these problems. We illustrate this method on the FitzHugh-Nagumo PDE, a prototypical example of a one-dimensional reaction diffusion system, and compare our results with related methods such as Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) that have the same computational cost as our approach. In this example, the resulting approximations of the leading Koopman eigenvalues, eigenfunctions, and modes are both more accurate and less sensitive to the distribution of the data used in the computation than those produced by DMD.

preprint2015arXiv

Data-Driven Reduction for Multiscale Stochastic Dynamical Systems

Multiple time scale stochastic dynamical systems are ubiquitous in science and engineering, and the reduction of such systems and their models to only their slow components is often essential for scientific computation and further analysis. Rather than being available in the form of an explicit analytical model, often such systems can only be observed as a data set which exhibits dynamics on several time scales. We will focus on applying and adapting data mining and manifold learning techniques to detect the slow components in such multiscale data. Traditional data mining methods are based on metrics (and thus, geometries) which are not informed of the multiscale nature of the underlying system dynamics; such methods cannot successfully recover the slow variables. Here, we present an approach which utilizes both the local geometry and the local dynamics within the data set through a metric which is both insensitive to the fast variables and more general than simple statistical averaging. Our analysis of the approach provides conditions for successfully recovering the underlying slow variables, as well as an empirical protocol guiding the selection of the method parameters.

preprint2015arXiv

Modeling epidemics on adaptively evolving networks: a data-mining perspective

The exploration of epidemic dynamics on dynamically evolving ("adaptive") networks poses nontrivial challenges to the modeler, such as the determination of a small number of informative statistics of the detailed network state (that is, a few "good observables") that usefully summarize the overall (macroscopic, systems level) behavior. Trying to obtain reduced, small size, accurate models in terms of these few statistical observables - that is, coarse-graining the full network epidemic model to a small but useful macroscopic one - is even more daunting. Here we describe a data-based approach to solving the first challenge: the detection of a few informative collective observables of the detailed epidemic dynamics. This will be accomplished through Diffusion Maps, a recently developed data-mining technique. We illustrate the approach through simulations of a simple mathematical model of epidemics on a network: a model known to exhibit complex temporal dynamics. We will discuss potential extensions of the approach, as well as possible shortcomings.

preprint2015arXiv

Modeling Heterogeneity in Networks using Uncertainty Quantification Tools

Using the dynamics of information propagation on a network as our illustrative example, we present and discuss a systematic approach to quantifying heterogeneity and its propagation that borrows established tools from Uncertainty Quantification. The crucial assumption underlying this mathematical and computational "technology transfer" is that the evolving states of the nodes in a network quickly become correlated with the corresponding node "identities": features of the nodes imparted by the network structure (e.g. the node degree, the node clustering coefficient). The node dynamics thus depend on heterogeneous (rather than uncertain) parameters, whose distribution over the network results from the network structure. Knowing these distributions allows us to obtain an efficient coarse-grained representation of the network state in terms of the expansion coefficients in suitable orthogonal polynomials. This representation is closely related to mathematical/computational tools for uncertainty quantification (the Polynomial Chaos approach and its associated numerical techniques). The Polynomial Chaos coefficients provide a set of good collective variables for the observation of dynamics on a network, and subsequently, for the implementation of reduced dynamic models of it. We demonstrate this idea by performing coarse-grained computations of the nonlinear dynamics of information propagation on our illustrative network model using the Equation-Free approach

preprint2015arXiv

Parsimonious Representation of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Through Manifold Learning: A Chemotaxis Case Study

Nonlinear manifold learning algorithms, such as diffusion maps, have been fruitfully applied in recent years to the analysis of large and complex data sets. However, such algorithms still encounter challenges when faced with real data. One such challenge is the existence of "repeated eigendirections," which obscures the detection of the true dimensionality of the underlying manifold and arises when several embedding coordinates parametrize the same direction in the intrinsic geometry of the data set. We propose an algorithm, based on local linear regression, to automatically detect coordinates corresponding to repeated eigendirections. We construct a more parsimonious embedding using only the eigenvectors corresponding to unique eigendirections, and we show that this reduced diffusion maps embedding induces a metric which is equivalent to the standard diffusion distance. We first demonstrate the utility and flexibility of our approach on synthetic data sets. We then apply our algorithm to data collected from a stochastic model of cellular chemotaxis, where our approach for factoring out repeated eigendirections allows us to detect changes in dynamical behavior and the underlying intrinsic system dimensionality directly from data.

preprint2014arXiv

A Data-Driven Approximation of the Koopman Operator: Extending Dynamic Mode Decomposition

The Koopman operator is a linear but infinite dimensional operator that governs the evolution of scalar observables defined on the state space of an autonomous dynamical system, and is a powerful tool for the analysis and decomposition of nonlinear dynamical systems. In this manuscript, we present a data driven method for approximating the leading eigenvalues, eigenfunctions, and modes of the Koopman operator. The method requires a data set of snapshot pairs and a dictionary of scalar observables, but does not require explicit governing equations or interaction with a "black box" integrator. We will show that this approach is, in effect, an extension of Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD), which has been used to approximate the Koopman eigenvalues and modes. Furthermore, if the data provided to the method are generated by a Markov process instead of a deterministic dynamical system, the algorithm approximates the eigenfunctions of the Kolmogorov backward equation, which could be considered as the "stochastic Koopman operator" [1]. Finally, four illustrative examples are presented: two that highlight the quantitative performance of the method when presented with either deterministic or stochastic data, and two that show potential applications of the Koopman eigenfunctions.

preprint2014arXiv

Coarse graining, dynamic renormalization and the kinetic theory of shock clustering

We demonstrate the utility of the equation free methodology developed by one of the authors (I.G.K) for the study of scalar conservation laws with disordered initial conditions. The numerical scheme is benchmarked on exact solutions in Burgers turbulence corresponding to Levy process initial data. For these initial data, the kinetics of shock clustering is described by Smoluchowski's coagulation equation with additive kernel. The equation free methodology is used to develop a particle scheme that computes self-similar solutions to the coagulation equation, including those with fat tails.

preprint2014arXiv

Data Fusion via Intrinsic Dynamic Variables: An Application of Data-Driven Koopman Spectral Analysis

We demonstrate that numerically computed approximations of Koopman eigenfunctions and eigenvalues create a natural framework for data fusion in applications governed by nonlinear evolution laws. This is possible because the eigenvalues of the Koopman operator are invariant to invertible transformations of the system state, so that the values of the Koopman eigenfunctions serve as a set of intrinsic coordinates that can be used to map between different observations (e.g., measurements obtained through different sets of sensors) of the same fundamental behavior. The measurements we wish to merge can also be nonlinear, but must be "rich enough" to allow (an effective approximation of) the state to be reconstructed from a single set of measurements. This approach requires independently obtained sets of data that capture the evolution of the heterogeneous measurements and a single pair of "joint" measurements taken at one instance in time. Computational approximations of eigenfunctions and their corresponding eigenvalues from data are accomplished using Extended Dynamic Mode Decomposition. We illustrate this approach on measurements of spatio-temporal oscillations of the FitzHugh-Nagumo PDE, and show how to fuse point measurements with principal component measurements, after which either set of measurements can be used to estimate the other set.

preprint2014arXiv

On the acceleration of spatially distributed agent-based computations: a patch dynamics scheme

In recent years, individual-based/agent-based modeling has been applied to study a wide range of applications, ranging from engineering problems to phenomena in sociology, economics and biology. Simulating such agent-based models over extended spatiotemporal domains can be prohibitively expensive due to stochasticity and the presence of multiple scales. Nevertheless, many agent-based problems exhibit smooth behavior in space and time on a macroscopic scale, suggesting that a useful coarse-grained continuum model could be obtained. For such problems, the equation-free framework [16-18] can significantly reduce the computational cost. Patch dynamics is an essential component of this framework. This scheme is designed to perform numerical simulations of an unavailable macroscopic equation on macroscopic time and length scales; it uses appropriately initialized simulations of the fine-scale agent-based model in a number of small "patches", which cover only a fraction of the spatiotemporal domain. In this work, we construct a finite-volume-inspired conservative patch dynamics scheme and apply it to a financial market agent-based model based on the work of Omurtag and Sirovich [22]. We first apply our patch dynamics scheme to a continuum approximation of the agent-based model, to study its performance and analyze its accuracy. We then apply the scheme to the agent-based model itself. Our computational experiments indicate that here, typically, the patch dynamics-based simulation requires only 20% of the full agent-based simulation in space, and need occur over only 10% of the temporal domain.

preprint2013arXiv

Analysis of data in the form of graphs

We discuss the problem of extending data mining approaches to cases in which data points arise in the form of individual graphs. Being able to find the intrinsic low-dimensionality in ensembles of graphs can be useful in a variety of modeling contexts, especially when coarse-graining the detailed graph information is of interest. One of the main challenges in mining graph data is the definition of a suitable pairwise similarity metric in the space of graphs. We explore two practical solutions to solving this problem: one based on finding subgraph densities, and one using spectral information. The approach is illustrated on three test data sets (ensembles of graphs); two of these are obtained from standard graph generating algorithms, while the graphs in the third example are sampled as dynamic snapshots from an evolving network simulation.

preprint2013arXiv

Nonlinear Intrinsic Variables and State Reconstruction in Multiscale Simulations

Finding informative low-dimensional descriptions of high-dimensional simulation data (like the ones arising in molecular dynamics or kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of physical and chemical processes) is crucial to understanding physical phenomena, and can also dramatically assist in accelerating the simulations themselves. In this paper, we discuss and illustrate the use of nonlinear intrinsic variables (NIV) in the mining of high-dimensional multiscale simulation data. In particular, we focus on the way NIV allows us to functionally merge different simulation ensembles, and different partial observations of these ensembles, as well as to infer variables not explicitly measured. The approach relies on certain simple features of the underlying process variability to filter out measurement noise and systematically recover a unique reference coordinate frame. We illustrate the approach through two distinct sets of atomistic simulations: a stochastic simulation of an enzyme reaction network exhibiting both fast and slow time scales, and a molecular dynamics simulation of alanine dipeptide in explicit water.

preprint2012arXiv

A mesoscopic model for microscale hydrodynamics and interfacial phenomena: Slip, films, and contact angle hysteresis

We present a model based on the lattice Boltzmann equation that is suitable for the simulation of dynamic wetting. The model is capable of exhibiting fundamental interfacial phenomena such as weak adsorption of fluid on the solid substrate and the presence of a thin surface film within which a disjoining pressure acts. Dynamics in this surface film, tightly coupled with hydrodynamics in the fluid bulk, determine macroscopic properties of primary interest: the hydrodynamic slip; the equilibrium contact angle; and the static and dynamic hysteresis of the contact angles. The pseudo- potentials employed for fluid-solid interactions are composed of a repulsive core and an attractive tail that can be independently adjusted. This enables effective modification of the functional form of the disjoining pressure so that one can vary the static and dynamic hysteresis on surfaces that exhibit the same equilibrium contact angle. The modeled solid-fluid interface is diffuse, represented by a wall probability function which ultimately controls the momentum exchange between solid and fluid phases. This approach allows us to effectively vary the slip length for a given wettability (i.e. the static contact angle) of the solid substrate.

preprint2012arXiv

An equation-free approach to coarse-graining the dynamics of networks

We propose and illustrate an approach to coarse-graining the dynamics of evolving networks (networks whose connectivity changes dynamically). The approach is based on the equation-free framework: short bursts of detailed network evolution simulations are coupled with lifting and restriction operators that translate between actual network realizations and their (appropriately chosen) coarse observables. This framework is used here to accelerate temporal simulations (through coarse projective integration), and to implement coarsegrained fixed point algorithms (through matrix-free Newton-Krylov GMRES). The approach is illustrated through a simple network evolution example, for which analytical approximations to the coarse-grained dynamics can be independently obtained, so as to validate the computational results. The scope and applicability of the approach, as well as the issue of selection of good coarse observables are discussed.

preprint2012arXiv

Coarse-graining the dynamics of network evolution: the rise and fall of a networked society

We explore a systematic approach to studying the dynamics of evolving networks at a coarse-grained, system level. We emphasize the importance of finding good observables (network properties) in terms of which coarse grained models can be developed. We illustrate our approach through a particular social network model: the "rise and fall" of a networked society [1]: we implement our low-dimensional description computationally using the equation-free approach and show how it can be used to (a) accelerate simulations and (b) extract system-level stability/bifurcation information from the detailed dynamic model. We discuss other system-level tasks that can be enabled through such a computer-assisted coarse graining approach.

preprint2012arXiv

Multiscale analysis of collective motion and decision-making in swarms: An advection-diffusion equation with memory approach

We propose a (time) multiscale method for the coarse-grained analysis of self--propelled particle models of swarms comprising a mixture of `naïve' and `informed' individuals, used to address questions related to collective motion and collective decision--making in animal groups. The method is based on projecting the particle configuration onto a single `meta-particle' that consists of the group elongation and the mean group velocity and position. The collective states of the configuration can be associated with the transient and asymptotic transport properties of the random walk followed by the meta-particle. These properties can be accurately predicted by an advection-diffusion equation with memory (ADEM) whose parameters are obtained from a mean group velocity time series obtained from a single simulation run of the individual-based model.

preprint2012arXiv

Simulating Stochastic Inertial Manifolds by a Backward-Forward Approach

A numerical approach for the approximation of inertial manifolds of stochastic evolutionary equations with multiplicative noise is presented and illustrated. After splitting the stochastic evolutionary equations into a backward and a forward part, a numerical scheme is devised for solving this backward-forward stochastic system, and an ensemble of graphs representing the inertial manifold is consequently obtained. This numerical approach is tested in two illustrative examples: one is for a system of stochastic ordinary differential equations and the other is for a stochastic partial differential equation.

preprint2011arXiv

Coarse Graining the Dynamics of Heterogeneous Oscillators in Networks with Spectral Gaps

We present a computer-assisted approach to coarse-graining the evolutionary dynamics of a system of nonidentical oscillators coupled through a (fixed) network structure. The existence of a spectral gap for the coupling network graph Laplacian suggests that the graph dynamics may quickly become low-dimensional. Our first choice of coarse variables consists of the components of the oscillator states -their (complex) phase angles- along the leading eigenvectors of this Laplacian. We then use the equation-free framework [1], circumventing the derivation of explicit coarse-grained equations, to perform computational tasks such as coarse projective integration, coarse fixed point and coarse limit cycle computations. In a second step, we explore an approach to incorporating oscillator heterogeneity in the coarse-graining process. The approach is based on the observation of fastdeveloping correlations between oscillator state and oscillator intrinsic properties, and establishes a connection with tools developed in the context of uncertainty quantification.

preprint2011arXiv

Noisy dynamic simulations in the presence of symmetry: data alignment and model reduction

We process snapshots of trajectories of evolution equations with intrinsic symmetries, and demonstrate the use of recently developed eigenvector-based techniques to successfully quotient out the degrees of freedom associated with the symmetries in the presence of noise. Our illustrative examples include a one-dimensional evolutionary partial differential (the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky) equation with periodic boundary conditions, as well as a stochastic simulation of nematic liquid crystals which can be effectively modeled through a nonlinear Smoluchowski equation on the surface of a sphere. This is a useful first step towards data mining the "symmetry-adjusted" ensemble of snapshots in search of an accurate low-dimensional parametrization (and the associated reduction of the original dynamical system). We also demonstrate a technique ("vector diffusion maps") that combines, in a single formulation, the symmetry removal step and the dimensionality reduction step.

preprint2010arXiv

An approach for both the computation of coarse-scale steady state solutions and initialization on a slow manifold

We present a simple technique for the computation of coarse-scale steady states of dynamical systems with time scale separation in the form of a "wrapper" around a fine-scale simulator. We discuss how this approach alleviates certain problems encountered by comparable existing approaches, and illustrate its use by computing coarse-scale steady states of a lattice Boltzmann fine scale code. Interestingly, in the same context of multiple time scale problems, the approach can be slightly modified to provide initial conditions (on the slow manifold) with prescribed coarse-scale observables. The approach is based on appropriately designed short bursts of the fine-scale simulator whose results are used to track changes in the coarse variables of interest, a core component of the equation-free framework.

preprint2010arXiv

Ergodic directional switching in mobile insect groups

We obtain a Fokker-Planck equation describing experimental data on the collective motion of locusts. The noise is of internal origin and due to the discrete character and finite number of constituents of the swarm. The stationary probability distribution shows a rich phenomenology including non-monotonic behavior of several order/disorder transition indicators in noise intensity. This complex behavior arises naturally as a result of the randomness in the system. Its counterintuitive character challenges standard interpretations of noise induced transitions and calls for an extension of this theory in order to capture the behavior of certain classes of biologically motivated models. Our results suggest that the collective switches of the group's direction of motion might be due to a random ergodic effect and, as such, they are inherent to group formation.

preprint2010arXiv

Manifold learning techniques and model reduction applied to dissipative PDEs

We link nonlinear manifold learning techniques for data analysis/compression with model reduction techniques for evolution equations with time scale separation. In particular, we demonstrate a `"nonlinear extension" of the POD-Galerkin approach to obtaining reduced dynamic models of dissipative evolution equations. The approach is illustrated through a reaction-diffusion PDE, and the performance of different simulators on the full and the reduced models is compared. We also discuss the relation of this nonlinear extension with the so-called "nonlinear Galerkin" methods developed in the context of Approximate Inertial Manifolds.

preprint2009arXiv

Coarse-graining the Dynamics of a Driven Interface in the Presence of Mobile Impurities: Effective Description via Diffusion Maps

Developing effective descriptions of the microscopic dynamics of many physical phenomena can both dramatically enhance their computational exploration and lead to a more fundamental understanding of the underlying physics. Previously, an effective description of a driven interface in the presence of mobile impurities, based on an Ising variant model and a single empirical coarse variable, was partially successful; yet it underlined the necessity of selecting additional coarse variables in certain parameter regimes. In this paper we use a data mining approach to help identify the coarse variables required. We discuss the implementation of this diffusion map approach, the selection of a similarity measure between system snapshots required in the approach, and the correspondence between empirically selected and automatically detected coarse variables. We conclude by illustrating the use of the diffusion map variables in assisting the atomistic simulations, and we discuss the translation of information between fine and coarse descriptions using lifting and restriction operators.

preprint2008arXiv

Exploration of Effective Potential Landscapes using Coarse Reverse Integration

We describe a reverse integration approach for the exploration of low-dimensional effective potential landscapes. Coarse reverse integration initialized on a ring of coarse states enables efficient "navigation" on the landscape terrain: escape from local effective potential wells, detection of saddle points, and identification of significant transition paths between wells. We consider several distinct ring evolution modes: backward stepping in time, solution arc--length, and effective potential. The performance of these approaches is illustrated for a deterministic problem where the energy landscape is known explicitly. Reverse ring integration is then applied to "noisy" problems where the ring integration routine serves as an outer "wrapper" around a forward-in-time inner simulator. Three versions of such inner simulators are considered: a system of stochastic differential equations, a Gillespie--type stochastic simulator, and a molecular dynamics simulator. In these "equation-free" computational illustrations, estimation techniques are applied to the results of short bursts of "inner" simulation to obtain the unavailable (in closed form) quantities (local drift and diffusion coefficient estimates) required for reverse ring integration; this naturally leads to approximations of the effective landscape.

preprint2006arXiv

Variable-free exploration of stochastic models: a gene regulatory network example

Finding coarse-grained, low-dimensional descriptions is an important task in the analysis of complex, stochastic models of gene regulatory networks. This task involves (a) identifying observables that best describe the state of these complex systems and (b) characterizing the dynamics of the observables. In a previous paper [13], we assumed that good observables were known a priori, and presented an equation-free approach to approximate coarse-grained quantities (i.e, effective drift and diffusion coefficients) that characterize the long-time behavior of the observables. Here we use diffusion maps [9] to extract appropriate observables ("reduction coordinates") in an automated fashion; these involve the leading eigenvectors of a weighted Laplacian on a graph constructed from network simulation data. We present lifting and restriction procedures for translating between physical variables and these data-based observables. These procedures allow us to perform equation-free coarse-grained, computations characterizing the long-term dynamics through the design and processing of short bursts of stochastic simulation initialized at appropriate values of the data-based observables.

preprint2003arXiv

Steady State Multiplicity in a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell

A simplified differential reactor model that embodies the essential physics controlling PEM fuel cell (PEM-FC) dynamics is presented. A remarkable analogy exists between water management in the differential PEM-FC and energy balance in the classical exothermic stirred tank reactor. Water, the reaction product in the PEM-FC autocatalytically accelerates the reaction rate by enhancing proton transport through the PEM. Established analyses of heat autocatalyticity in a CSTR are modified to present water management autocatalyticity in a stirred tank reactor PEM-FC.

preprint1993arXiv

Identification of Continuous-Time Dynamical Systems: Neural Network Based Algorithms and Parallel Implementation

Time-delay mappings constructed using neural networks have proven successful in performing nonlinear system identification; however, because of their discrete nature, their use in bifurcation analysis of continuous-time systems is limited. This shortcoming can be avoided by embedding the neural networks in a training algorithm that mimics a numerical integrator. Both explicit and implicit integrators can be used. The former case is based on repeated evaluations of the network in a feedforward implementation; the latter relies on a recurrent network implementation. Here the algorithms and their implementation on parallel machines (SIMD and MIMD architectures) are discussed.