Stochastic gradient descent based variational inference for infinite-dimensional inverse problems

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Sui, Jiaming, Jia, Junxiong, Li, Jinglai
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Sui, Jiaming
Jia, Junxiong
Li, Jinglai
author_facet Sui, Jiaming
Jia, Junxiong
Li, Jinglai
contents This paper introduces two variational inference approaches for infinite-dimensional inverse problems, developed through gradient descent with a constant learning rate. The proposed methods enable efficient approximate sampling from the target posterior distribution using a constant-rate stochastic gradient descent (cSGD) iteration. Specifically, we introduce a randomization strategy that incorporates stochastic gradient noise, allowing the cSGD iteration to be viewed as a discrete-time process. This transformation establishes key relationships between the covariance operators of the approximate and true posterior distributions, thereby validating cSGD as a variational inference method. We also investigate the regularization properties of the cSGD iteration and provide a theoretical analysis of the discretization error between the approximated posterior mean and the true background function. Building on this framework, we develop a preconditioned version of cSGD to further improve sampling efficiency. Finally, we apply the proposed methods to two practical inverse problems: one governed by a simple smooth equation and the other by the steady-state Darcy flow equation. Numerical results confirm our theoretical findings and compare the sampling performance of the two approaches for solving linear and non-linear inverse problems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_08380
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Stochastic gradient descent based variational inference for infinite-dimensional inverse problems
Sui, Jiaming
Jia, Junxiong
Li, Jinglai
Numerical Analysis
This paper introduces two variational inference approaches for infinite-dimensional inverse problems, developed through gradient descent with a constant learning rate. The proposed methods enable efficient approximate sampling from the target posterior distribution using a constant-rate stochastic gradient descent (cSGD) iteration. Specifically, we introduce a randomization strategy that incorporates stochastic gradient noise, allowing the cSGD iteration to be viewed as a discrete-time process. This transformation establishes key relationships between the covariance operators of the approximate and true posterior distributions, thereby validating cSGD as a variational inference method. We also investigate the regularization properties of the cSGD iteration and provide a theoretical analysis of the discretization error between the approximated posterior mean and the true background function. Building on this framework, we develop a preconditioned version of cSGD to further improve sampling efficiency. Finally, we apply the proposed methods to two practical inverse problems: one governed by a simple smooth equation and the other by the steady-state Darcy flow equation. Numerical results confirm our theoretical findings and compare the sampling performance of the two approaches for solving linear and non-linear inverse problems.
title Stochastic gradient descent based variational inference for infinite-dimensional inverse problems
topic Numerical Analysis
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08380