Questions tagged [gradient-flows]
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44 questions
1 vote
0 answers
96 views
Deriving conservation laws for gradient flow under finite symmetry group
Let $f: \mathbb{R}^d \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ and $G$ be a finite group of transformations of $\mathbb{R}^d$ that leave $f$ unchanged, i.e. $f \circ g = f$ for every $g \in G$. What are some references ...
- 51
0 votes
0 answers
47 views
Maximal property of c-cyclically monotone sets
Let $X$ and $Y$ be finite sets and $c:X\times Y\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a real cost function. A subset $\Gamma\subseteq X\times Y$ is $c$-cyclically monotone if for all $n$ and $\{(x_i,y_i)\}_{i=1}^...
- 1
2 votes
1 answer
250 views
Existence of first variation
I am trying to compute the first variation of the functional $$\mathcal F(\rho) = \int_{\Omega} R(x;\rho) d\rho(x)$$ where $R$ is some function of $x$ that also depends on $\rho$. Here $\rho$ is a ...
- 21
2 votes
0 answers
114 views
Is it likely that gradient flow trajectories of a $G$-invariant function pass through degenerate points?
This question may be posed somewhat vaguely, but I'm interested to actually get an idea of what to expect, so I try to not target it at a specific result. Assume that $G$ is a compact Lie group, ...
- 137
2 votes
1 answer
207 views
Gradient flows and particle representations
I was looking into gradient flows and their particle representations, mostly in the context of probability. A simple example of this is the continuity equation. Consider evolving a sample $x \sim \...
- 123
3 votes
0 answers
122 views
Harmonic heat flow, formal and rigorous
Let $ (M,g) $ be a smooth Riemann manifold without boundary, $ S^{n-1} $ is an $ n $-dimensional sphere, and $ T>0 $. Consider a weak solution $ u:M\times[0,T]\to S^{n+1} $ of $$ \partial_tu-\Delta ...
- 1,229
4 votes
0 answers
222 views
Exponential map for tangent space of space of distributions $\mathscr{P}_2(X)$
In Chapter 8 of the book Gradient Flows In Metric Spaces and in the Space of Probability Measures by Ambrosio et al., the tangent space to the space of distributions on $X$ (let's say $X=\mathbb{R}^d$)...
- 91
1 vote
1 answer
113 views
Is it true that $\xi \in \partial G (v)$ implies $\frac{\xi}{F'(\phi (v))} \in \partial \phi (v)$?
I am reading the introduction of Chapter 10 in the book Gradient Flows by Ambrosio and his coauthors. As we have seen in Section 1.4, in the classical theory of subdifferential calculus for proper, ...
- 1,163
3 votes
1 answer
258 views
Gradient flows: evolution of geodesics
I’m trying to understand if, when I move the marginals of a Wasserstein geodesic along a contractive flow, the geodesic between the new probability measures is “near” to the geodesic connecting the ...
- 33
2 votes
1 answer
352 views
When does uniqueness of a stable equilibrium imply it is globally stable?
Given a gradient dynamical system $$\dot x=-\nabla f(x),$$ my question is: (1) If there exists only one equilibrium $x^*$ which is stable (if necessary, this can be changed to stable asymptotically ...
- 405
1 vote
1 answer
272 views
Gradient descent under the presence of symmetries
Let $M$ be a Riemannian manifold (I'm happy to assume it is Euclidean space) with a function $f: M \to \mathbb R$ and a group of isometries $G$ acting on $M$ and preserving $f$, i.e., $f(gm) = f(m)$ ...
- 8,081
2 votes
1 answer
942 views
What are the best definitions for smoothness of a 2D curve (real-valued function)?
Sounds like a trivial question, but could not find any answer other than the fact that there are many ways to define it. My problem is this: I look at different elevation maps, some with sharp ...
- 3,158
5 votes
1 answer
496 views
How can we prove that a stochastic process converges to a deterministic value?
As an illustrative example, consider a modified O-U process $dX_t = -X_tdt + \exp(-t)dW_t$. It is not too hard to understand that after a while the behaviour is dominated by the deterministic ...
1 vote
0 answers
199 views
Relation between two gradient dynamics
If $f:\mathbb{R}^n\rightarrow\mathbb{R}_+$ is a nonnegative real analytic function and $g:\mathbb{R}^n\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ is a strongly convex smooth function with a surjective gradient $\nabla g:\...
- 327
2 votes
0 answers
143 views
Dynamical formulation of the 2-Wasserstein distance for *discrete* matrix-valued measures
TL;DR: I want to find a definition generalizing "$t \mapsto \frac{1}{m} \sum_{k = 1}^{m} \delta_{x_k(t)}$ is a Wasserstein gradient flow" to matrix-valued probability measures. Let $(X, d)$ ...
- 87
2 votes
1 answer
382 views
Gradient descent relaxation dynamics of a Euler-Lagrange equation
I want to minimize the functional $$ F=\int{L(u)}dx, $$ where $L= u_x^2-u^2$ is the Lagrangian function of the functional. Even if its Euler-Lagrange equation is easily found and solved, I want to try ...
- 165
3 votes
1 answer
203 views
Does gravity constant affect boundedness of solution?
Consider a second order gradient-like system with linear damping $$\ddot{x}+\dot{x}+\nabla f(x)=0, \quad x(0)=x_0,\quad\dot{x}(0)=0$$ Suppose $f\in C^2(\mathbb{R}^n)$ and $\inf_{x\in\mathbb{R}^n}f(x)&...
- 327
3 votes
1 answer
231 views
Equivalent definition of the Kantorovich-Fisher-Rao distance
I am reading this paper "A JKO splitting scheme for Kantorovich-Fisher-Rao gradient flows" (https://arxiv.org/abs/1602.04457) and in the proof of Proposition 2.2, basically, if the measure ...
user124759
3 votes
0 answers
119 views
Regularity of center manifold
Consider a $C^r$ vector field $f \colon \mathbb{R}^n \to \mathbb{R}^n$ with $r \geq 1$. Let $\bar x$ be a critical point of $f$, that is, $f(\bar x) = 0$. Suppose that the spectrum of $\mathrm{D}f(\...
- 31
0 votes
0 answers
334 views
Geodesics and gradient flow
Is there a construction in Riemannian geometry which relates the gradient flow of a function on a manifold with a certain metric with geodesics on another related manifold with its own metric?
- 41
6 votes
2 answers
696 views
The negative gradient flow of a Morse-Bott function on a compact manifold converges to a critical point?
Let $(M, g)$ be a compact Riemannian manifold and $f: M \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a Morse-Bott function, i.e. the set a critical points of $f$, $Crit(f)$, has connected components which are smooth ...
- 159
0 votes
0 answers
271 views
Convergence of ODE solutions almost everywhere to a stable equilibrium point
Theorem: Suppose ${\bf g} :\mathbb{R}^n \mapsto \mathbb{R}^n$ is continuously differentiable, there exists a set $\mathcal{A} \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ such that $\bf g$ is uniformly Lipschitz on $\...
- 1
2 votes
0 answers
317 views
Do Chern-Simons terms qualitatively alter the behavior of the Yang-Mills gradient flow?
I'm reading about the Yang-Mills heat flow, and I'm curious how adding a Chern-Simons term alters its solutions. This is probably elementary or folklore, but I don't know well enough to say. ...
- 6,074
1 vote
1 answer
535 views
Rewriting PDE as "push-forward"
Suppose that we have the following PDE $$\partial_t \mu_t = \nabla\cdot \left(\nabla \mu_t - (b*\mu_t)\mu_t\right), \tag{1}$$ with $\mu_0$ being a (smooth) probability measure/density on $\mathbb{R}^d$...
- 732
3 votes
1 answer
560 views
Geometric flow by the level sets of a harmonic function
Let $u$ be an harmonic function in a cylindrical domain $B_2^{n-1}\times(-1,1)\subset\mathbb{R}^n$, and suppose its level sets $\Gamma_t=\{u=t\}$ are graphs of functions on $B_2^{n-1}$. Consider a ...
- 781
2 votes
0 answers
83 views
Chain recurrent points of a gradient-like system
Let $X$ be a compact metric space and $f:X\to X $ homeomorphism. Let $V:X\to \mathbb{R}$ be a Lyapunov function for $(X,f)$ (continuous function such that $(\forall x\notin Fix(f))\ \ V(f(x))<V(x))...
- 141
1 vote
1 answer
197 views
Gradient-like dynamical systems
I've tried asking this question on Mathematics site, but I only got an upvote and no answer. I've searched online, tried to find something about this topic, but I haven't found much (and the things I ...
- 141
6 votes
1 answer
309 views
Intersection of self-shrinkers
I have a problem regarding a statement in the paper Smooth compactness of self-shrinkers by Colding and Minicozzi. In the article, they define a surface $\Sigma$ in $\mathbb R^3$ to be a self-shrinker ...
- 422
5 votes
0 answers
158 views
What kinds of gradient-flows on $\mathbb R^d$ preserve the log-concavity of the distribution $\mu_0$ of starting point $x_0$
Let $\mu_0$ be a log-concave distribution on $\mathbb R^d$ and let $f:\mathbb R^d \to \mathbb R$ be $C^2$. Let $x_0$ be sampled uniformly at random from a log-concave distribution $\mu_0$, meaning ...
- 7,033
2 votes
0 answers
69 views
A question about strong slopes (nonsmooth analysis)
Context. I'm reading the manuscrip "Nonlinear Error Bounds via a Change of Function" by Dominique Azé and Jean-Noël Corvellec (J Optim Theory Appl 2016), and I'm having a hard time ...
- 7,033
0 votes
0 answers
192 views
Metric obstructions for area-preserving diffeomorphisms with constant singular values
Let $\mathbb{T}^2$ be the topological $2$-dimensional torus, and let $0<\sigma_1 < \sigma_2$ satisfy $\sigma_1 \sigma_2=1$. Let $g$ be an arbitrary smooth Riemannian metric on $\mathbb{T}^2$. ...
- 6,851
1 vote
1 answer
230 views
Metric / strong slope restriction of function on unit ball in $\mathbb R^m$
Diclaimer. I'm not sure this is the right venue for this question, but I'll give it a try Definition [Strong / metric slope]. Given a complete metric space $(M,d)$ and a function $f:M \to (-\infty,+\...
- 7,033
5 votes
3 answers
717 views
What quantities are conserved under a general gradient-flow $\dot X(t) = -\nabla L(X(t))$?
Let $L:\mathbb R^N \to \mathbb R$ be a continuously differential function with gradient $x \mapsto \nabla L(x)$ and consider induced gradient-flow $$ \dot X(t) = -\nabla L(X(t)). $$ Question. Is ...
- 7,033
3 votes
1 answer
278 views
Kac-Rice formula and Borell-TIS inequalities for gradient-flow of centered gaussian random field
Let $x\mapsto g(x)$ be a centered gaussian random field on $\mathbb R^m$. Let $x_0 \in \mathbb R^n$, and (assuming regularity conditions) consider the gradient-flow $$ \dot{x}(t) = -\nabla g(x(t)), \;...
- 7,033
3 votes
0 answers
127 views
Concentration inequalities for gradient flows induced by random fields
Let $G=(G(x))_{x \in \mathbb R^m}$ be a conservative random field with values in $\mathbb R^m$, for large positive integer $m$. That is, there exists a scalar random field $g=(g(x))_{x \in \mathbb R^m}...
- 7,033
0 votes
0 answers
118 views
Relation between test and train error with gradient descent iterates
My question is about establishing an inequality between population error and expected training error (i.e, expected training error < population error) for a model trained with gradient descent on a ...
- 1
3 votes
1 answer
541 views
Flow induced by differentiable velocity field is differentiable
Let $E$ be a $\mathbb R$-Banach space, $\tau>0$ and $v:[0,\tau]\times E\to E$ such that$^1$ $$x\mapsto t\mapsto v(t,x)\tag1$$ belongs to $C^{0,\:1}(E,C^0([0,\tau],E))$. This is enough to ensure ...
- 249
2 votes
0 answers
107 views
Center-stable manifold theorem on manifold with boundary
I would like to see if there is a Center-stable manifold theorem on the phase space that is a manifold with boundary. Suppose $f:M\rightarrow M$ is a diffeomorphism, according to Theorem III.7 in "...
- 21
4 votes
2 answers
973 views
Gradient flows: convex potential vs. contractive flow?
Take a $\mathcal C^2$ potential $V:\mathbb R^d\to \mathbb R$, and assume that it is bounded from below (say $\min V=0$ for simplicity, so that $V\geq 0$). Consider the autonomous gradient-flow $$ \dot ...
- 5,465
8 votes
0 answers
321 views
What is nice in gradient flows?
First of all, I am sorry for such naivety. I have not all the intuition in hard analysis as I wish. I am studying Perelman's work and his big first contribution is to prove that the Ricci flow is in ...
- 1,814
5 votes
0 answers
313 views
Basin of attraction of gradient flow
Suppose we have a compact Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$, and a Morse function $f : M \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$. Suppose we consider the gradient flow generated by this function, i.e. $$\dot{x_t} = - \...
- 151
1 vote
0 answers
175 views
Well-posedness of gradient flows
For a convex lower-semicontinuous functional on a Hilbert space $I\colon H\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$, it is shown in Evans' PDE that the Hilbert-space-valued ODE $$\begin{cases}\mathbf{u}'(t)\in-\partial ...
- 123
1 vote
0 answers
278 views
Expressing the Ricci flow as a gradient flow in a case that manifold $(M,g)$ is a Riemannian manifold with boundary
I want to express the Ricci flow as a gradient flow in a case that manifold $(M,g)$ is a Riemannian manifold with boundary. For this I use the Einstein-Hilbert action $$S(g_{\mu \nu})=\frac{1}{16\pi}\...
- 1,333
11 votes
2 answers
3k views
Textbooks or notes on gradient flows in metric spaces
What is a good introduction in gradient flows in metric spaces? I know the book Gradient flows: in metric spaces and in the space of probability measures by Luigi Ambrosio, Nicola Gigli and Giuseppe ...