Christoffel-DPS: Optimal sensor placement in diffusion posterior sampling for arbitrary distributions

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Rowbottom, James, Huang, Nick, Schönlieb, Carola-Bibiane, Adcock, Ben
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Rowbottom, James
Huang, Nick
Schönlieb, Carola-Bibiane
Adcock, Ben
author_facet Rowbottom, James
Huang, Nick
Schönlieb, Carola-Bibiane
Adcock, Ben
contents State estimation is a critical task in scientific, engineering and control applications. Since the reliability of reconstructions depends on the number and position of sensors, optimal sensor placement (OSP) is essential in scenarios where measurements are sparse and expensive. Classical OSP approaches rely on Gaussian assumptions and are consequently unable to account for the complex distributions encountered in many real-world systems. Generative-model-based reconstruction using sensor guided diffusion posterior sampling (DPS) has emerged as a promising technique for reconstructing states from highly complex distributions. However, existing sensor-selection methods either require unrealistically many sensors or emulate classical OSP, creating a mismatch between modern recovery models with classical OSP tools motivating the need for fundamentally new ideas towards OSP that match the recent advances made in powerful recovery models. We introduce a distribution-free sensor placement framework based on the Christoffel function: a mathematical formulation of optimal sampling and recovery guarantees for posterior sampling with arbitrary sensors and signal distributions, from which we derive a new OSP strategy with non-asymptotic bounds on the number of sensors needed for recovery. We develop Christoffel-DPS, with offline and online variants, instantiating Christoffel sampling for generative models. Christoffel-DPS outperforms Gaussian OSP baselines and existing generative-model placement methods, validating that distribution-free sensing is both theoretically principled and practically superior. The framework is model-agnostic; we demonstrate its application to a range of unconditional DPS and flow-matching models on structurally non-Gaussian benchmarks, showing the efficacy of Christoffel-DPS in low sensor budget regimes.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_06861
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Christoffel-DPS: Optimal sensor placement in diffusion posterior sampling for arbitrary distributions
Rowbottom, James
Huang, Nick
Schönlieb, Carola-Bibiane
Adcock, Ben
Machine Learning
Numerical Analysis
State estimation is a critical task in scientific, engineering and control applications. Since the reliability of reconstructions depends on the number and position of sensors, optimal sensor placement (OSP) is essential in scenarios where measurements are sparse and expensive. Classical OSP approaches rely on Gaussian assumptions and are consequently unable to account for the complex distributions encountered in many real-world systems. Generative-model-based reconstruction using sensor guided diffusion posterior sampling (DPS) has emerged as a promising technique for reconstructing states from highly complex distributions. However, existing sensor-selection methods either require unrealistically many sensors or emulate classical OSP, creating a mismatch between modern recovery models with classical OSP tools motivating the need for fundamentally new ideas towards OSP that match the recent advances made in powerful recovery models. We introduce a distribution-free sensor placement framework based on the Christoffel function: a mathematical formulation of optimal sampling and recovery guarantees for posterior sampling with arbitrary sensors and signal distributions, from which we derive a new OSP strategy with non-asymptotic bounds on the number of sensors needed for recovery. We develop Christoffel-DPS, with offline and online variants, instantiating Christoffel sampling for generative models. Christoffel-DPS outperforms Gaussian OSP baselines and existing generative-model placement methods, validating that distribution-free sensing is both theoretically principled and practically superior. The framework is model-agnostic; we demonstrate its application to a range of unconditional DPS and flow-matching models on structurally non-Gaussian benchmarks, showing the efficacy of Christoffel-DPS in low sensor budget regimes.
title Christoffel-DPS: Optimal sensor placement in diffusion posterior sampling for arbitrary distributions
topic Machine Learning
Numerical Analysis
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.06861