Diffusion Crossover: Defining Evolutionary Recombination in Diffusion Models via Noise Sequence Interpolation

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Hauptverfasser: Kumada, Chisatao, Hiwa, Satoru, Hiroyasu, Tomoyuki
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Kumada, Chisatao
Hiwa, Satoru
Hiroyasu, Tomoyuki
author_facet Kumada, Chisatao
Hiwa, Satoru
Hiroyasu, Tomoyuki
contents Interactive Evolutionary Computation (IEC) provides a powerful framework for optimizing subjective criteria such as human preferences and aesthetics, yet it suffers from a fundamental limitation: in high-dimensional generative representations, defining crossover in a semantically consistent manner is difficult, often leading to a mutation-dominated search. In this work, we explicitly define crossover in diffusion models. We propose Diffusion crossover, which formulates evolutionary recombination as step-wise interpolation of noise sequences in the reverse process of Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models (DDPMs). By applying spherical linear interpolation (Slerp) to the noise sequences associated with selected parent images, the proposed method generates offspring that inherit characteristics from both parents while preserving the geometric structure of the diffusion process. Furthermore, controlling the time-step range of interpolation enables a principled trade-off between diversity (exploration) and convergence (exploitation). Experimental results using PCA analysis and perceptual similarity metrics (LPIPS) demonstrate that Diffusion crossover produces perceptually smooth and semantically consistent transitions between parent images. Qualitative interactive evolution experiments further confirm that the proposed method effectively supports human-in-the-loop image exploration. These findings suggest a new perspective: diffusion models are not only powerful generators, but also structured evolutionary search spaces in which recombination can be explicitly defined and controlled.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_14790
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Diffusion Crossover: Defining Evolutionary Recombination in Diffusion Models via Noise Sequence Interpolation
Kumada, Chisatao
Hiwa, Satoru
Hiroyasu, Tomoyuki
Artificial Intelligence
Interactive Evolutionary Computation (IEC) provides a powerful framework for optimizing subjective criteria such as human preferences and aesthetics, yet it suffers from a fundamental limitation: in high-dimensional generative representations, defining crossover in a semantically consistent manner is difficult, often leading to a mutation-dominated search. In this work, we explicitly define crossover in diffusion models. We propose Diffusion crossover, which formulates evolutionary recombination as step-wise interpolation of noise sequences in the reverse process of Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models (DDPMs). By applying spherical linear interpolation (Slerp) to the noise sequences associated with selected parent images, the proposed method generates offspring that inherit characteristics from both parents while preserving the geometric structure of the diffusion process. Furthermore, controlling the time-step range of interpolation enables a principled trade-off between diversity (exploration) and convergence (exploitation). Experimental results using PCA analysis and perceptual similarity metrics (LPIPS) demonstrate that Diffusion crossover produces perceptually smooth and semantically consistent transitions between parent images. Qualitative interactive evolution experiments further confirm that the proposed method effectively supports human-in-the-loop image exploration. These findings suggest a new perspective: diffusion models are not only powerful generators, but also structured evolutionary search spaces in which recombination can be explicitly defined and controlled.
title Diffusion Crossover: Defining Evolutionary Recombination in Diffusion Models via Noise Sequence Interpolation
topic Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.14790