Efficient Training of Neural Fractional-Order Differential Equation via Adjoint Backpropagation

Fractional-order differential equations (FDEs) enhance traditional differential equations by extending the order of differential operators from integers to real numbers, offering greater flexibility in modeling complex dynamical systems with nonlocal characteristics. Recent progress at the intersection of FDEs and deep learning has catalyzed a new wave of innovative models, demonstrating the potential to address challenges such as graph representation learning. However, training neural FDEs has primarily relied on direct differentiation through forward-pass operations in FDE numerical solvers, leading to increased memory usage and computational complexity, particularly in large-scale applications. To address these challenges, we propose a scalable adjoint backpropagation method for training neural FDEs by solving an augmented FDE backward in time, which substantially reduces memory requirements. This approach provides a practical neural FDE toolbox and holds considerable promise for diverse applications. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in several tasks, achieving performance comparable to baseline models while significantly reducing computational overhead.

Neural Variable-Order Fractional Differential Equation Networks

Neural differential equation models have garnered significant attention in recent years for their effectiveness in machine learning applications.Among these, fractional differential equations (FDEs) have emerged as a promising tool due to their ability to capture memory-dependent dynamics, which are often challenging to model with traditional integer-order approaches.While existing models have primarily focused on constant-order fractional derivatives, variable-order fractional operators offer a more flexible and expressive framework for modeling complex memory patterns. In this work, we introduce the Neural Variable-Order Fractional Differential Equation network (NvoFDE), a novel neural network framework that integrates variable-order fractional derivatives with learnable neural networks.Our framework allows for the modeling of adaptive derivative orders dependent on hidden features, capturing more complex feature-updating dynamics and providing enhanced flexibility. We conduct extensive experiments across multiple graph datasets to validate the effectiveness of our approach.Our results demonstrate that NvoFDE outperforms traditional constant-order fractional and integer models across a range of tasks, showcasing its superior adaptability and performance.

Structure-Preserving Physics-Informed Neural Networks With Energy or Lyapunov Structure

Recently, there has been growing interest in using physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) to solve differential equations. However, the preservation of structure, such as energy and stability, in a suitable manner has yet to be established. This limitation could be a potential reason why the learning process for PINNs is not always efficient and the numerical results may suggest nonphysical behavior. Besides, there is little research on their applications on downstream tasks. To address these issues, we propose structure-preserving PINNs to improve their performance and broaden their applications for downstream tasks. Firstly, by leveraging prior knowledge about the physical system, a structure-preserving loss function is designed to assist the PINN in learning the underlying structure. Secondly, a framework that utilizes structure-preserving PINN for robust image recognition is proposed. Here, preserving the Lyapunov structure of the underlying system ensures the stability of the system. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method improves the numerical accuracy of PINNs for partial differential equations. Furthermore, the robustness of the model against adversarial perturbations in image data is enhanced.