ParetoEnsembles.jl: A Julia Package for Multiobjective Parameter Estimation Using Pareto Optimal Ensemble Techniques

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Varner, Jeffrey D.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866912992664223744
author Varner, Jeffrey D.
author_facet Varner, Jeffrey D.
contents Mathematical models of natural and man-made systems often have many adjustable parameters that must be estimated from multiple, potentially conflicting datasets. Rather than reporting a single best-fit parameter vector, it is often more informative to generate an ensemble of parameter sets that collectively map out the trade-offs among competing objectives. This paper presents ParetoEnsembles.jl, an open-source Julia package that generates such ensembles using Pareto Optimal Ensemble Techniques (POETs), a simulated-annealing-based algorithm that requires no gradient information. The implementation corrects the original dominance relation from weak to strict Pareto dominance, reduces the per-iteration ranking cost from $O(n^2 m)$ to $O(nm)$ through an incremental update scheme, and adds multi-chain parallel execution for improved front coverage. We demonstrate the package on a cell-free gene expression model fitted to experimental data and a blood coagulation cascade model with ten estimated rate constants and three objectives. A controlled synthetic-data study reveals parameter identifiability structure, with individual rate constants off by several-fold yet model predictions accurate to 7%. A five-replicate coverage analysis confirms that timing features are reliably covered while peak amplitude is systematically overconfident. Validation against published experimental thrombin generation data demonstrates that the ensemble predicts held-out conditions to within 10% despite inherent model approximation error. By making ensemble generation lightweight and accessible, ParetoEnsembles.jl aims to lower the barrier to routine uncertainty characterization in mechanistic modeling.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_29986
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle ParetoEnsembles.jl: A Julia Package for Multiobjective Parameter Estimation Using Pareto Optimal Ensemble Techniques
Varner, Jeffrey D.
Quantitative Methods
Mathematical Software
Mathematical models of natural and man-made systems often have many adjustable parameters that must be estimated from multiple, potentially conflicting datasets. Rather than reporting a single best-fit parameter vector, it is often more informative to generate an ensemble of parameter sets that collectively map out the trade-offs among competing objectives. This paper presents ParetoEnsembles.jl, an open-source Julia package that generates such ensembles using Pareto Optimal Ensemble Techniques (POETs), a simulated-annealing-based algorithm that requires no gradient information. The implementation corrects the original dominance relation from weak to strict Pareto dominance, reduces the per-iteration ranking cost from $O(n^2 m)$ to $O(nm)$ through an incremental update scheme, and adds multi-chain parallel execution for improved front coverage. We demonstrate the package on a cell-free gene expression model fitted to experimental data and a blood coagulation cascade model with ten estimated rate constants and three objectives. A controlled synthetic-data study reveals parameter identifiability structure, with individual rate constants off by several-fold yet model predictions accurate to 7%. A five-replicate coverage analysis confirms that timing features are reliably covered while peak amplitude is systematically overconfident. Validation against published experimental thrombin generation data demonstrates that the ensemble predicts held-out conditions to within 10% despite inherent model approximation error. By making ensemble generation lightweight and accessible, ParetoEnsembles.jl aims to lower the barrier to routine uncertainty characterization in mechanistic modeling.
title ParetoEnsembles.jl: A Julia Package for Multiobjective Parameter Estimation Using Pareto Optimal Ensemble Techniques
topic Quantitative Methods
Mathematical Software
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.29986