arXiv:2606.30687physics.chem-phcond-mat.stat-mech2026-06

将分子扩散模型转化为可审计的热力学计算器,直接读取自由能差。

Unsupervised Thermodynamics of Molecular Diffusion Models: Action-Operator Semantics and Auditable Free-Energy Readout

  • 构建动作-算子框架,让模型梯度对应热力学导数。
  • 在185L/IND系统中,自由能差估算误差小于1 kBT。
  • 仅用坐标和标签即可部分恢复自由能尺度,无需力场监督。

扩散模型在分子结构与构象系综建模中日益重要,但其学习表征与得分的热力学意义仍不明确。为此,我们提出一个数学自洽的动作-算子框架,天然兼容扩散模型。将固定分子环境定义为基动作 $S_0(x)$,化学扰动作为算子 $O(x)$,标准扩散去噪过程诱导出有效噪声动作与算子,其梯度及化学微分可由模型学习场直接表示。该严格自洽性实现‘噪声算子桥’,可从端点系综和逐帧评估中读取自由能差(ΔF)。在丙氨酸二肽系统上,引入物理归纳偏置使基动作与扰动算子部分恢复。应用于具有极小相空间重叠的C6-H至C6-F配体-口袋非键扰动(185L/IND)时,监督桥估计的阿尔化学ΔF与19状态MBAR参考值相差约1 kBT。最后,我们证明仅端点坐标与二元标签即可部分恢复算子形状与中心化自由能尺度,无需任何力或动作监督。本工作为将生成式分子扩散模型从黑箱坐标采样器转变为可审计热力学估计算器提供了严谨路径。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Diffusion models are increasingly utilized for modeling molecular structures and conformational ensembles, yet the thermodynamic meaning of their learned representations and scores remains elusive. To resolve this ambiguity, we introduce a mathematically consistent action-operator framework natively compatible with diffusion models. By defining a fixed molecular environment as a base action $S_0(x)$ and an alchemical perturbation as an operator $O(x)$, standard diffusion noising induces effective noised actions and operators whose gradients and alchemical derivatives are directly represented by the model's learned fields. This rigorous self-consistency enables a ``noisy operator bridge'' capable of reading out free-energy differences ($ΔF$) from endpoint ensembles and per-frame evaluations. In controlled experiments on alanine dipeptide systems, we show that incorporating physical inductive biases enables partial recovery of the base action and perturbation operator. When applied to a challenging C6-H to C6-F ligand-pocket nonbonded perturbation (185L/IND) with negligible phase-space overlap, our supervised bridge estimates the alchemical $ΔF$ within approximately $1\ k_\mathrm{B}T$ of a stable 19-state MBAR reference. Finally, we demonstrate that endpoint coordinates and binary labels alone are sufficient to partially recover the operator shape and a centered free-energy scale without any force or action supervision. This work provides a rigorous path toward transforming generative molecular diffusion models from black-box coordinate samplers into auditable thermodynamic estimators.

分子模拟扩散模型自由能无监督

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