Random fields are ubiquitous mathematical structures in physics, with applications ranging from thermodynamics and statistical physics to quantum field theory and cosmology. Recent works on information geometry of Gaussian random fields proposed mathematical expressions for the components of the metric tensor of the underlying parametric space, allowing the computation of the Gaussian curvature in each point of the manifold that represents the space of all possible parameter values that define such mathematical model. A key result in the dynamics of these random fields concerns the curvature effect, a series of variations in the curvature that happens in the parametric space when there are significant increase/decrease in the inverse temperature parameter. In this paper, we propose a numerical algorithm for the computation of geodesic curves in the Gaussian random fields manifold by deriving the 27 Christoffel symbols of the metric required for the definition of the Euler-Lagrange equations. The fourth-order Runge-Kutta method is applied to solve the Euler-Lagrange equations using an iterative approach based in Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation. Our results reveal that, when the system undergoes phase trasitions, the geodesic dispersion phenomenon emerges: the geodesic curve obtained by reversing the system of differential equations in time, diverges from the original geodesic curve, as we move from zero curvature configurations (Euclidean geometry) to negative curvature configurations (hyperbolic-like geometry), and vice-versa. This phenomenon suggest that, time irreversibility in random field dynamics can be a direct consequence of the geometry of the underlying parametric space.
This work considers the nodal finite element approximation of peridynamics, in which the nodal displacements satisfy the peridynamics equation at each mesh node. For the nonlinear bond-based peridynamics model, it is shown that, under the suitable assumptions on an exact solution, the discretized solution associated with the central-in-time and nodal finite element discretization converges to the exact solution in $L^2$ norm at the rate $C_1 \Delta t + C_2 h^2/\epsilon^2$. Here, $\Delta t$, $h$, and $\epsilon$ are time step size, mesh size, and the size of the horizon or nonlocal length scale, respectively. Constants $C_1$ and $C_2$ are independent of $h$ and $\Delta t$ and depend on the norms of the exact solution. Several numerical examples involving pre-crack, void, and notch are considered, and the efficacy of the proposed nodal finite element discretization is analyzed.
Sparse regression and classification estimators that respect group structures have application to an assortment of statistical and machine learning problems, from multitask learning to sparse additive modeling to hierarchical selection. This work introduces structured sparse estimators that combine group subset selection with shrinkage. To accommodate sophisticated structures, our estimators allow for arbitrary overlap between groups. We develop an optimization framework for fitting the nonconvex regularization surface and present finite-sample error bounds for estimation of the regression function. As an application requiring structure, we study sparse semiparametric additive modeling, a procedure that allows the effect of each predictor to be zero, linear, or nonlinear. For this task, the new estimators improve across several metrics on synthetic data compared to alternatives. Finally, we demonstrate their efficacy in modeling supermarket foot traffic and economic recessions using many predictors. These demonstrations suggest sparse semiparametric additive models, fit using the new estimators, are an excellent compromise between fully linear and fully nonparametric alternatives. All of our algorithms are made available in the scalable implementation grpsel.
The activity and dynamics of excitable cells are fundamentally regulated and moderated by extracellular and intracellular ion concentrations and their electric potentials. The increasing availability of dense reconstructions of excitable tissue at extreme geometric detail pose a new and clear scientific computing challenge for computational modelling of ion dynamics and transport. In this paper, we design, develop and evaluate a scalable numerical algorithm for solving the time-dependent and nonlinear KNP-EMI equations describing ionic electrodiffusion for excitable cells with an explicit geometric representation of intracellular and extracellular compartments and interior interfaces. We also introduce and specify a set of model scenarios of increasing complexity suitable for benchmarking. Our solution strategy is based on an implicit-explicit discretization and linearization in time, a mixed finite element discretization of ion concentrations and electric potentials in intracellular and extracellular domains, and an algebraic multigrid-based, inexact block-diagonal preconditioner for GMRES. Numerical experiments with up to $10^8$ unknowns per time step and up to 256 cores demonstrate that this solution strategy is robust and scalable with respect to the problem size, time discretization and number of cores.
Many photonic devices, such as photonic crystal slabs, cross gratings, and periodic metasurfaces, are biperiodic structures with two independent periodic directions, and are sandwiched between two homogeneous media. Many applications of these devices are closely related to resonance phenomena. Therefore, efficient computation of resonant modes is crucial in device design and structure analysis. Since resonant modes satisfy outgoing radiation conditions, perfectly matched layers (PMLs) are usually used to truncate the unbounded spatial variable perpendicular to the periodic directions. In this paper, we develop an efficient method without using PMLs to calculate resonant modes in biperiodic structures. We reduce the original eigenvalue problem to a small matrix nonlinear eigenvalue problem which is solved by the contour integral method. Numerical examples show that our method is efficient with respect to memory usage and CPU time, free of spurious solutions, and determines degenerate resonant modes without any difficulty.
In this study, the impact of turbulent diffusion on mixing of biochemical reaction models is explored by implementing and validating different models. An original codebase called CHAD (Coupled Hydrodynamics and Anaerobic Digestion) is extended to incorporate turbulent diffusion and validate it against results from OpenFOAM with 2D Rayleigh-Taylor Instability and lid-driven cavity simulations. The models are then tested for the applications with Anaerobic Digestion - a widely used wastewater treatment method. The findings demonstrate that the implemented models accurately capture turbulent diffusion when provided with an accurate flow field. Specifically, a minor effect of chemical turbulent diffusion on biochemical reactions within the anaerobic digestion tank is observed, while thermal turbulent diffusion significantly influences mixing. By successfully implementing turbulent diffusion models in CHAD, its capabilities for more accurate anaerobic digestion simulations are enhanced, aiding in optimizing the design and operation of anaerobic digestion reactors in real-world wastewater treatment applications.
We propose a numerical method to solve parameter-dependent hyperbolic partial differential equations (PDEs) with a moment approach, based on a previous work from Marx et al. (2020). This approach relies on a very weak notion of solution of nonlinear equations, namely parametric entropy measure-valued (MV) solutions, satisfying linear equations in the space of Borel measures. The infinite-dimensional linear problem is approximated by a hierarchy of convex, finite-dimensional, semidefinite programming problems, called Lasserre's hierarchy. This gives us a sequence of approximations of the moments of the occupation measure associated with the parametric entropy MV solution, which is proved to converge. In the end, several post-treatments can be performed from this approximate moments sequence. In particular, the graph of the solution can be reconstructed from an optimization of the Christoffel-Darboux kernel associated with the approximate measure, that is a powerful approximation tool able to capture a large class of irregular functions. Also, for uncertainty quantification problems, several quantities of interest can be estimated, sometimes directly such as the expectation of smooth functionals of the solutions. The performance of our approach is evaluated through numerical experiments on the inviscid Burgers equation with parametrised initial conditions or parametrised flux function.
Several mixed-effects models for longitudinal data have been proposed to accommodate the non-linearity of late-life cognitive trajectories and assess the putative influence of covariates on it. No prior research provides a side-by-side examination of these models to offer guidance on their proper application and interpretation. In this work, we examined five statistical approaches previously used to answer research questions related to non-linear changes in cognitive aging: the linear mixed model (LMM) with a quadratic term, LMM with splines, the functional mixed model, the piecewise linear mixed model, and the sigmoidal mixed model. We first theoretically describe the models. Next, using data from two prospective cohorts with annual cognitive testing, we compared the interpretation of the models by investigating associations of education on cognitive change before death. Lastly, we performed a simulation study to empirically evaluate the models and provide practical recommendations. Except for the LMM-quadratic, the fit of all models was generally adequate to capture non-linearity of cognitive change and models were relatively robust. Although spline-based models have no interpretable nonlinearity parameters, their convergence was easier to achieve, and they allow graphical interpretation. In contrast, piecewise and sigmoidal models, with interpretable non-linear parameters, may require more data to achieve convergence.
Multiphysics simulations frequently require transferring solution fields between subproblems with non-matching spatial discretizations, typically using interpolation techniques. Standard methods are usually based on measuring the closeness between points by means of the Euclidean distance, which does not account for curvature, cuts, cavities or other non-trivial geometrical or topological features of the domain. This may lead to spurious oscillations in the interpolant in proximity to these features. To overcome this issue, we propose a modification to rescaled localized radial basis function (RL-RBF) interpolation to account for the geometry of the interpolation domain, by yielding conformity and fidelity to geometrical and topological features. The proposed method, referred to as RL-RBF-G, relies on measuring the geodesic distance between data points. RL-RBF-G removes spurious oscillations appearing in the RL-RBF interpolant, resulting in increased accuracy in domains with complex geometries. We demonstrate the effectiveness of RL-RBF-G interpolation through a convergence study in an idealized setting. Furthermore, we discuss the algorithmic aspects and the implementation of RL-RBF-G interpolation in a distributed-memory parallel framework, and present the results of a strong scalability test yielding nearly ideal results. Finally, we show the effectiveness of RL-RBF-G interpolation in multiphysics simulations by considering an application to a whole-heart cardiac electromecanics model.
This work highlights an approach for incorporating realistic uncertainties into scientific computing workflows based on finite elements, focusing on applications in computational mechanics and design optimization. We leverage Mat\'ern-type Gaussian random fields (GRFs) generated using the SPDE method to model aleatoric uncertainties, including environmental influences, variating material properties, and geometric ambiguities. Our focus lies on delivering practical GRF realizations that accurately capture imperfections and variations and understanding how they impact the predictions of computational models and the topology of optimized designs. We describe a numerical algorithm based on solving a generalized SPDE to sample GRFs on arbitrary meshed domains. The algorithm leverages established techniques and integrates seamlessly with the open-source finite element library MFEM and associated scientific computing workflows, like those found in industrial and national laboratory settings. Our solver scales efficiently for large-scale problems and supports various domain types, including surfaces and embedded manifolds. We showcase its versatility through biomechanics and topology optimization applications. The flexibility and efficiency of SPDE-based GRF generation empower us to run large-scale optimization problems on 2D and 3D domains, including finding optimized designs on embedded surfaces, and to generate topologies beyond the reach of conventional techniques. Moreover, these capabilities allow us to model geometric uncertainties of reconstructed submanifolds, such as the surfaces of cerebral aneurysms. In addition to offering benefits in these specific domains, the proposed techniques transcend specific applications and generalize to arbitrary forward and backward problems in uncertainty quantification involving finite elements.
Graph representation learning for hypergraphs can be used to extract patterns among higher-order interactions that are critically important in many real world problems. Current approaches designed for hypergraphs, however, are unable to handle different types of hypergraphs and are typically not generic for various learning tasks. Indeed, models that can predict variable-sized heterogeneous hyperedges have not been available. Here we develop a new self-attention based graph neural network called Hyper-SAGNN applicable to homogeneous and heterogeneous hypergraphs with variable hyperedge sizes. We perform extensive evaluations on multiple datasets, including four benchmark network datasets and two single-cell Hi-C datasets in genomics. We demonstrate that Hyper-SAGNN significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art methods on traditional tasks while also achieving great performance on a new task called outsider identification. Hyper-SAGNN will be useful for graph representation learning to uncover complex higher-order interactions in different applications.