Local and Sparse Kernel Operator Learning for Incompressible Flows: An Operator Lagrange Formulation
Organizations: Kahlert School of Computing, University of Utah, UT, USA · Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, California Institute of Technology, CA, USA
Abstract
We present a local and sparse kernel method for learning the solution operators of incompressible flows. It builds on our earlier property-preserving kernel method, whose global output reconstruction and dense operator regression scale poorly. Our method replaces the global output reconstruction by local divergence-free interpolants with divergence-free polynomials of any degree, solved in parallel on the GPU. These interpolants are divergence free, periodic on periodic domains, and, with a multiscale kernel, approach Kolmogorov statistics under refinement. A compactly supported kernel, positive semidefinite in any input dimension, makes the operator regression sparse. Its support radius, and hence the sparsity, is fitted to data, and optional affine polynomials in the input capture global trends. Operator Lagrange weights join the two. They cost one sparse solve per new input and act on the training fields before the output reconstruction, so their local coefficients are never formed. We show that, unlike direct evaluation, Lagrange evaluation does not amplify solve errors by the cancellation among spatial coefficients. On ten fluid benchmarks, validation selects sparse matrices nearly everywhere, with densities that mostly decrease as the training set grows, and affine augmentation lowers the error by more than an order of magnitude for forced isotropic turbulence. These sparse models are at least as accurate as our earlier dense method and more accurate than neural operators. Lagrange evaluation is as accurate as direct evaluation with local output reconstructions, and up to nearly three orders of magnitude more accurate with global ones. We also present GPU timings and storage.
Figures & tables
| Step | Work | Storage |
| Kernel factorization | , | |
| Affine correction ( columns) | solves with right-hand sides, QR | |
| Lagrange weights, queries | (dense) | |
| Combining training fields | ||
| Local systems (setup) | per stencil | |
| Local evaluation, points | per snapshot | weights, indices |
| Data set | Nodes | Evaluation points | Global | Local |
| Forced isotropic turbulence | 7000 | 3000 | (multiscale) | |
| Turbulent species transport | 7000 | 4388 | (multiscale) | |
| Merging vortices | 500 | 6947 | ||
| Lid-driven cavity | 1000 | 8566 | ||
| Cylinder flow (no shedding) | 1000 | 8520 | ||
| Cylinder flow (vortex shedding) | 1000 | 8520 |
| Data set | Input output | Input coord. | Spatial kernel | |||
| Forced isotropic turbulence | 21000 | 3 | 3 | 7000 | Five-scale Matérn | |
| Turbulent species transport | inflow | 1388 | 2 | 3 | 7000 | Five-scale Matérn |
| Merging vortices | 500 | 3 | 2 | 500 | Cubic PHS | |
| Lid-driven cavity | 2000 | 1 | 2 | 1000 | Cubic PHS | |
| Cylinder flow (no shedding) | 2000 | 1 | 2 | 1000 | Cubic PHS | |
| Cylinder flow (vortex shedding) | 2000 | 1 | 2 | 1000 | Cubic PHS |
| Data set | Ours | PPKM | VKM | Geo-FNO | Transolver | |
| Forced isotropic turbulence | 10000 | |||||
| Turbulent species transport | 10000 | |||||
| Merging vortices | 500 | |||||
| Lid-driven cavity | 10000 | |||||
| Cylinder flow (no shedding) | 100 | |||||
| Cylinder flow (vortex shedding) | 10000 |
| Data set | Global | Local | Largest gain (global) |
| Forced isotropic turbulence | |||
| Turbulent species transport | |||
| Merging vortices | |||
| Lid-driven cavity | |||
| Cylinder flow (no shedding) | |||
| Cylinder flow (vortex shedding) |
| Global output reconstruction | Local output reconstruction | ||||
| Data set | Models | Median | Max | Models | Max ratio |
| Forced isotropic turbulence | 28 | 1.00 | 1.2 | 28 | |
| Turbulent species transport | 28 | 1.00 | 7.1 | 28 | |
| Merging vortices | 28 | 48.96 | 868.1 | 28 | |
| Lid-driven cavity | 28 | 5.07 | 34.5 | 28 | |
| Cylinder flow (no shedding) | 28 | 1.05 | 4.8 | 28 | |
Appendix figures & tables29 assets
Supplementary material from the paper’s appendix.
Appendix
| Data set | Stencils | Retained rank | Truncated stencils |
| Turbulent species transport | 7000 | 45–85 | 4338 |
| Forced isotropic turbulence | 7000 | 85 | 0 |
| Buoyancy-driven cavity | 5000 | 20 | 0 |
| Lid-driven cavity | 1000 | 20 | 0 |
| Cylinder flow (no shedding) | 1000 | 20 | 0 |
| Cylinder flow (vortex shedding) | 1000 | 20 | 0 |
| Direct | Lagrange | Direct/Lagrange | Direct on samples | ||
| 500 | 1.28 | ||||
| 1000 | 1.97 | ||||
| 5000 | 3.34 | ||||
| 10000 | 5.14 |
| Data set | Fixed | Fitted | Fixed + affine | Fitted + affine |
| Forced isotropic turbulence | 0.68 | 0.69 | 0.76 | 0.66 |
| Turbulent species transport | 0.85 | 1.09 | 1.03 | 1.26 |
| Merging vortices | 0.77 | 0.73 | 0.57 | 0.53 |
| Lid-driven cavity | 0.97 | 1.09 | 0.96 | 1.08 |
| Cylinder flow (no shedding) | 0.91 | 0.87 | 0.85 | 0.84 |
| Cylinder flow (vortex shedding) | 0.54 | 0.53 | 0.44 | 0.47 |
| Data set | Fixed | Fitted | Fixed + affine | Fitted + affine |
| Forced isotropic turbulence | ||||
| Turbulent species transport | ||||
| Merging vortices | ||||
| Lid-driven cavity | ||||
| Cylinder flow (no shedding) | ||||
| Cylinder flow (vortex shedding) |
| Data set | Fixed | Fitted | Fixed + affine | Fitted + affine |
| Forced isotropic turbulence | 10.680 / 235.2 | 10.680 / 234.0 | 10.685 / 244.1 | 10.682 / 233.4 |
| Turbulent species transport | 2.662 / 126.6 | 3.130 / 126.0 | 2.630 / 123.3 | 3.137 / 137.4 |
| Merging vortices | 1.397 / 79.6 | 1.029 / 62.4 | 0.772 / 37.7 | 0.767 / 39.0 |
| Lid-driven cavity | 1.135 / 75.9 | 1.135 / 71.5 | 1.136 / 70.2 | 1.136 / 70.3 |
| Cylinder flow (no shedding) | 1.141 / 73.8 | 1.141 / 73.7 | 1.142 / 75.7 | 1.142 / 74.0 |
| Cylinder flow (vortex shedding) | 1.140 / 76.2 | 1.140 / 75.3 | 1.141 / 76.2 | 1.141 / 74.2 |
| Operator model | Test error | Density (%) | Factor ( ) | GB | ms | |
| 500 | Fixed shape | 0.0214 | 90.00 | 0.125 | 0.465 | 60.9 |
| 500 | Fitted shape | 0.013 | 90.00 | 0.125 | 0.465 | 64.3 |
| 500 | Fixed shape + affine | 90.00 | 0.125 | 0.467 | 58.5 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape + affine | 90.00 | 0.126 | 0.467 | 56.5 | |
| 1000 | Fixed shape | 0.0157 | 90.00 | 0.990 | 0.750 | 64.8 |
| 1000 | Fitted shape | 0.0139 | 90.00 | 0.991 | 0.750 | 70.2 |
| Operator model | Test error | Density (%) | Factor ( ) | GB | ms | |
| 500 | Fixed shape | 63.94 | 0.116 | 0.226 | 54.3 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape | 90.00 | 0.129 | 0.228 | 52.8 | |
| 500 | Fixed shape + affine | 40.98 | 0.097 | 0.224 | 53.1 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape + affine | 44.60 | 0.096 | 0.224 | 54.0 | |
| 1000 | Fixed shape | 89.71 | 1.000 | 0.278 | 57.1 | |
| 1000 | Fitted shape | 85.62 | 0.962 | 0.276 | 57.8 |
| Operator model | Test error | Density (%) | Factor ( ) | GB | ms | |
| 500 | Fixed shape | 75.06 | 0.104 | 0.025 | 6.0 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape | 75.00 | 0.106 | 0.025 | 6.8 | |
| 500 | Fixed shape + affine | 37.36 | 0.065 | 0.021 | 7.9 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape + affine | 33.64 | 0.060 | 0.021 | 6.9 | |
| 1000 | Fixed shape | 63.81 | 0.386 | 0.060 | 7.3 | |
| 1000 | Fitted shape | 60.31 | 0.387 | 0.058 | 8.6 |
| Operator model | Test error | Density (%) | Factor ( ) | GB | ms | |
| 500 | Fixed shape | 22.85 | 0.053 | 0.046 | 9.2 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape | 22.85 | 0.053 | 0.046 | 10.8 | |
| 500 | Fixed shape + affine | 21.49 | 0.048 | 0.046 | 10.4 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape + affine | 25.00 | 0.055 | 0.047 | 9.2 | |
| 1000 | Fixed shape | 19.99 | 0.190 | 0.096 | 10.6 | |
| 1000 | Fitted shape | 25.00 | 0.223 | 0.098 | 11.4 |
| Operator model | Test error | Density (%) | Factor ( ) | GB | ms | |
| 500 | Fixed shape | 89.11 | 0.129 | 0.053 | 9.8 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape | 90.00 | 0.128 | 0.053 | 9.6 | |
| 500 | Fixed shape + affine | 85.52 | 0.128 | 0.052 | 10.6 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape + affine | 90.00 | 0.128 | 0.053 | 10.9 | |
| 1000 | Fixed shape | 54.74 | 0.674 | 0.111 | 13.5 | |
| 1000 | Fitted shape | 54.74 | 0.674 | 0.111 | 13.3 |
| Operator model | Test error | Density (%) | Factor ( ) | GB | ms | |
| 500 | Fixed shape | 70.21 | 0.122 | 0.051 | 12.2 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape | 70.21 | 0.122 | 0.051 | 9.7 | |
| 500 | Fixed shape + affine | 68.61 | 0.122 | 0.051 | 12.6 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape + affine | 75.00 | 0.125 | 0.051 | 12.0 | |
| 1000 | Fixed shape | 27.92 | 0.262 | 0.099 | 11.6 | |
| 1000 | Fitted shape | 25.00 | 0.231 | 0.098 | 11.9 |
| Operator model | Test error | Density (%) | Factor ( ) | GB | ms | |
| 500 | Fixed shape | 46.17 | 0.094 | 0.028 | 6.5 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape | 50.00 | 0.097 | 0.029 | 7.7 | |
| 500 | Fixed shape + affine | 40.07 | 0.083 | 0.028 | 7.7 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape + affine | 50.00 | 0.097 | 0.029 | 6.7 | |
| 1000 | Fixed shape | 51.76 | 0.422 | 0.068 | 7.6 | |
| 1000 | Fitted shape | 50.00 | 0.414 | 0.067 | 8.6 |
| Operator model | Test error | Density (%) | Factor ( ) | GB | ms | |
| 500 | Fixed shape | 46.23 | 0.093 | 0.052 | 6.4 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape | 50.00 | 0.097 | 0.053 | 6.3 | |
| 500 | Fixed shape + affine | 39.51 | 0.082 | 0.052 | 8.1 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape + affine | 50.00 | 0.097 | 0.053 | 6.8 | |
| 1000 | Fixed shape | 51.58 | 0.419 | 0.116 | 7.9 | |
| 1000 | Fitted shape | 50.00 | 0.414 | 0.115 | 9.8 |
| Operator model | Test error | Density (%) | Factor ( ) | GB | ms | |
| 500 | Fixed shape | 36.41 | 0.073 | 0.024 | 8.8 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape | 36.41 | 0.073 | 0.024 | 8.6 | |
| 500 | Fixed shape + affine | 34.94 | 0.068 | 0.024 | 9.6 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape + affine | 34.94 | 0.068 | 0.024 | 8.6 | |
| 1000 | Fixed shape | 49.59 | 0.350 | 0.059 | 11.6 | |
| 1000 | Fitted shape | 25.00 | 0.236 | 0.050 | 8.4 |
| Operator model | Test error | Density (%) | Factor ( ) | GB | ms | |
| 500 | Fixed shape | 64.68 | 0.118 | 0.154 | 30.7 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape | 64.68 | 0.118 | 0.154 | 29.6 | |
| 500 | Fixed shape + affine | 10.00 | 0.024 | 0.148 | 29.1 | |
| 500 | Fitted shape + affine | 10.00 | 0.024 | 0.148 | 28.6 | |
| 1000 | Fixed shape | 17.33 | 0.170 | 0.298 | 32.5 | |
| 1000 | Fitted shape | 17.33 | 0.170 | 0.298 | 32.2 |
| Data set | Operator model | Selection (min) | Rebuild (s) | Initialization (s) |
| Forced isotropic turbulence | Fixed shape | 3.83 | 43.27 | 3.71 |
| Fitted shape | 26.32 | 41.63 | 3.28 | |
| Fixed shape + affine | 6.45 | 43.70 | 4.15 | |
| Fitted shape + affine | 27.01 | 42.77 | 3.05 | |
| Turbulent species transport | Fixed shape | 3.24 | 1.48 | 4.17 |
| Fitted shape | 25.89 | 4.64 | 3.70 |
PDE Operator Learning
Partial differential equation (PDE) operator learning builds models that map inputs such as coefficients and initial conditions to solution fields.
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