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Main Authors: Yan, Yang, Wang, Qiuyan, Huang, Tianjin, Yu, Qiudong, Zhang, Kexin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.10882
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author Yan, Yang
Wang, Qiuyan
Huang, Tianjin
Yu, Qiudong
Zhang, Kexin
author_facet Yan, Yang
Wang, Qiuyan
Huang, Tianjin
Yu, Qiudong
Zhang, Kexin
contents Graph Neural Network pretraining is pivotal for leveraging unlabeled graph data. However, generalizing across heterogeneous domains remains a major challenge due to severe distribution shifts. Existing methods primarily focus on intra-domain patterns, failing to disentangle task-relevant invariant knowledge from domain-specific redundant noise, leading to negative transfer and catastrophic forgetting. To this end, we propose DIB-OD, a novel framework designed to preserve the invariant core for robust heterogeneous graph adaptation through a Decoupled Information Bottleneck and Online Distillation framework. Our core innovation is the explicit decomposition of representations into orthogonal invariant and redundant subspaces. By utilizing an Information Bottleneck teacher-student distillation mechanism and the Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion, we isolate a stable invariant core that transcends domain boundaries. Furthermore, a self-adaptive semantic regularizer is introduced to protect this core from corruption during target-domain adaptation by dynamically gating label influence based on predictive confidence. Extensive experiments across chemical, biological, and social network domains demonstrate that DIB-OD significantly outperforms state-of-the-art methods, particularly in challenging inter-type domain transfers, showcasing superior generalization and anti-forgetting performance.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_10882
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle DIB-OD: Preserving the Invariant Core for Robust Heterogeneous Graph Adaptation via Decoupled Information Bottleneck and Online Distillation
Yan, Yang
Wang, Qiuyan
Huang, Tianjin
Yu, Qiudong
Zhang, Kexin
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Graph Neural Network pretraining is pivotal for leveraging unlabeled graph data. However, generalizing across heterogeneous domains remains a major challenge due to severe distribution shifts. Existing methods primarily focus on intra-domain patterns, failing to disentangle task-relevant invariant knowledge from domain-specific redundant noise, leading to negative transfer and catastrophic forgetting. To this end, we propose DIB-OD, a novel framework designed to preserve the invariant core for robust heterogeneous graph adaptation through a Decoupled Information Bottleneck and Online Distillation framework. Our core innovation is the explicit decomposition of representations into orthogonal invariant and redundant subspaces. By utilizing an Information Bottleneck teacher-student distillation mechanism and the Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion, we isolate a stable invariant core that transcends domain boundaries. Furthermore, a self-adaptive semantic regularizer is introduced to protect this core from corruption during target-domain adaptation by dynamically gating label influence based on predictive confidence. Extensive experiments across chemical, biological, and social network domains demonstrate that DIB-OD significantly outperforms state-of-the-art methods, particularly in challenging inter-type domain transfers, showcasing superior generalization and anti-forgetting performance.
title DIB-OD: Preserving the Invariant Core for Robust Heterogeneous Graph Adaptation via Decoupled Information Bottleneck and Online Distillation
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.10882