Generalization Error Bounds for Picard-Type Operator Learning in Nonlinear Parabolic PDEs

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Taniguchi, Koichi, Sonoda, Sho
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Taniguchi, Koichi
Sonoda, Sho
author_facet Taniguchi, Koichi
Sonoda, Sho
contents Operator learning for partial differential equations (PDEs) aims to learn solution operators on infinite-dimensional function spaces from finite-resolution data. In this setting, it is important for the learned model to be discretization-invariant, or resolution-robust, and to reflect PDE-specific structure. It is therefore natural to ask how such structure should be encoded in the model architecture, hypothesis class, or learning procedure. In this paper, we study operator learning for solution operators of nonlinear parabolic PDEs based on Duhamel--Picard iteration. We formulate Picard iteration as an abstract state-transition model and present a theoretical framework for Picard-type operator learning. We derive implementation-agnostic generalization error bounds that separate the implementation error from the estimation error associated with the abstract state-transition model induced by Picard iteration. A key consequence is that increasing the Picard depth reduces the Picard truncation error without causing an unbounded growth of the entropy-based estimation error. We also extend the analysis to long-time prediction by rolling out the same learned local model over successive time blocks. Finally, we illustrate the theory for nonlinear heat equations on the torus using a Picard-type Fourier neural operator as a concrete implementation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_10277
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Generalization Error Bounds for Picard-Type Operator Learning in Nonlinear Parabolic PDEs
Taniguchi, Koichi
Sonoda, Sho
Machine Learning
Analysis of PDEs
Operator learning for partial differential equations (PDEs) aims to learn solution operators on infinite-dimensional function spaces from finite-resolution data. In this setting, it is important for the learned model to be discretization-invariant, or resolution-robust, and to reflect PDE-specific structure. It is therefore natural to ask how such structure should be encoded in the model architecture, hypothesis class, or learning procedure. In this paper, we study operator learning for solution operators of nonlinear parabolic PDEs based on Duhamel--Picard iteration. We formulate Picard iteration as an abstract state-transition model and present a theoretical framework for Picard-type operator learning. We derive implementation-agnostic generalization error bounds that separate the implementation error from the estimation error associated with the abstract state-transition model induced by Picard iteration. A key consequence is that increasing the Picard depth reduces the Picard truncation error without causing an unbounded growth of the entropy-based estimation error. We also extend the analysis to long-time prediction by rolling out the same learned local model over successive time blocks. Finally, we illustrate the theory for nonlinear heat equations on the torus using a Picard-type Fourier neural operator as a concrete implementation.
title Generalization Error Bounds for Picard-Type Operator Learning in Nonlinear Parabolic PDEs
topic Machine Learning
Analysis of PDEs
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.10277