arXiv:2605.12997cs.LG2026-05

研究神经算子在波动方程中的分布外泛化能力,发现频域偏差影响显著。

Frequency Bias and OOD Generalization in Neural Operators under a Variable-Coefficient Wave Equation

论文配图:Frequency Bias and OOD Generalization in Neural Operators under a Variable-Coefficient Wave Equation
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 对比FNO与DeepONet在变系数波动方程下的表现
  • 高频输入下FNO误差骤增,而DeepONet更稳定
  • 揭示架构表示偏差对物理模拟泛化性的影响

神经算子可学习从初值到微分方程终解的映射,实现不同输入配置下的快速预测。尽管近期架构在多种偏微分方程任务中表现优异,但其在结构化分布偏移下的行为仍不明确。本文以一维变系数波动方程为设置,采用FNO和DeepONet两种代表性架构,考察其在输入频率与系数平滑度独立变化的结构化分布外(OOD)场景下的泛化能力。结果表明:在平滑度偏移下,两模型均保持稳定性能,且FNO误差更低;而在频率偏移下,FNO在未见高频输入时误差急剧上升,而DeepONet虽整体误差较高但退化更温和。分析显示,差异源于两类架构对频率结构表示与响应机制的不同。研究揭示了神经算子在分布内强性能与分布外泛化间存在根本差距,强调了架构表示偏差在构建可靠物理基偏微分方程模拟器中的关键作用。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Neural operators learn to map initial conditions to the terminal solution of partial differential equations (PDEs), providing a surrogate for the full operator mapping. This enables rapid prediction across different input configurations. While recent neural operator architectures have demonstrated strong performance on diverse PDE tasks, their behavior under structured distribution shifts remains insufficiently understood. To investigate this, we study operator learning in a wave propagation setting governed by a one-dimensional variable-coefficient wave equation, using two representative architectures, the Fourier Neural Operator (FNO) and the Deep Operator Network (DeepONet). To examine their generalization under distribution shifts, we consider structured out-of-distribution (OOD) settings that independently vary input frequency and coefficient smoothness. The results show that under smoothness shifts, both models maintain stable performance, with FNO achieving lower error. In contrast, under frequency shifts, FNO exhibits a sharp increase in error under unseen high-frequency inputs, whereas DeepONet shows milder degradation despite higher overall error. Our analysis reveals that these differences arise from how each architecture represents and responds to variations in frequency structure. Together, these findings highlight a fundamental gap between strong in-distribution performance and generalization under distribution shifts in operator learning, underscoring the role of architectural representation bias in developing more reliable neural operators for physics-based PDE simulations beyond the training distribution.

神经算子分布外泛化波动方程频率偏差

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