Physics-consistent machine learning: output projection onto physical manifolds

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Valente, Matilde, Dias, Tiago C., Guerra, Vasco, Ventura, Rodrigo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Valente, Matilde
Dias, Tiago C.
Guerra, Vasco
Ventura, Rodrigo
author_facet Valente, Matilde
Dias, Tiago C.
Guerra, Vasco
Ventura, Rodrigo
contents Data-driven machine learning models often require extensive datasets, which can be costly or inaccessible, and their predictions may fail to comply with established physical laws. Current approaches for incorporating physical priors mitigate these issues by penalizing deviations from known physical laws, as in physics-informed neural networks, or by designing architectures that automatically satisfy specific invariants. However, penalization approaches do not guarantee compliance with physical constraints for unseen inputs, and invariant-based methods lack flexibility and generality. We propose a novel physics-consistent machine learning method that directly enforces compliance with physical principles by projecting model outputs onto the manifold defined by these laws. This procedure ensures that predictions inherently adhere to the chosen physical constraints, improving reliability and interpretability. Our method is demonstrated on two systems: a spring-mass system and a low-temperature reactive plasma. Compared to purely data-driven models, our approach significantly reduces errors in physical law compliance, enhances predictive accuracy of physical quantities, and outperforms alternatives when working with simpler models or limited datasets. The proposed projection-based technique is versatile and can function independently or in conjunction with existing physics-informed neural networks, offering a powerful, general, and scalable solution for developing fast and reliable surrogate models of complex physical systems, particularly in resource-constrained scenarios.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_15755
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Physics-consistent machine learning: output projection onto physical manifolds
Valente, Matilde
Dias, Tiago C.
Guerra, Vasco
Ventura, Rodrigo
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Plasma Physics
68T07
Data-driven machine learning models often require extensive datasets, which can be costly or inaccessible, and their predictions may fail to comply with established physical laws. Current approaches for incorporating physical priors mitigate these issues by penalizing deviations from known physical laws, as in physics-informed neural networks, or by designing architectures that automatically satisfy specific invariants. However, penalization approaches do not guarantee compliance with physical constraints for unseen inputs, and invariant-based methods lack flexibility and generality. We propose a novel physics-consistent machine learning method that directly enforces compliance with physical principles by projecting model outputs onto the manifold defined by these laws. This procedure ensures that predictions inherently adhere to the chosen physical constraints, improving reliability and interpretability. Our method is demonstrated on two systems: a spring-mass system and a low-temperature reactive plasma. Compared to purely data-driven models, our approach significantly reduces errors in physical law compliance, enhances predictive accuracy of physical quantities, and outperforms alternatives when working with simpler models or limited datasets. The proposed projection-based technique is versatile and can function independently or in conjunction with existing physics-informed neural networks, offering a powerful, general, and scalable solution for developing fast and reliable surrogate models of complex physical systems, particularly in resource-constrained scenarios.
title Physics-consistent machine learning: output projection onto physical manifolds
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Plasma Physics
68T07
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.15755