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With the computational resources becoming available, data-driven methods have emerged as powerful means for equation discovery and model construction. Sparse regression methods such as SINDy (Sparse Identification for Nonlinear Dynamical Systems) can be used for developing reduced-order models of nonlinear systems. In this study, the authors examine how SINDy can be used for developing low-dimensional models for airfoil systems, which experience unsteady aerodynamic loads and flutter instabilities. For a system of multiple closely spaced airfoil oscillators, analytical models are not readily available to determine flutter instabilities, and one has to take recourse to experimental and numerical means. In this work, as a starting point, data collected through simulations of unsteady aerodynamics of a single airfoil oscillator system are considered and a reduced-order model is constructed based on this data.
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This content will become publicly available on January 21, 2026
Data-driven model discovery and model selection for noisy biological systems
Biological systems exhibit complex dynamics that differential equations can often adeptly represent. Ordinary differential equation models are widespread; until recently their construction has required extensive prior knowledge of the system. Machine learning methods offer alternative means of model construction: differential equation models can be learnt from data via model discovery using sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics (SINDy). However, SINDy struggles with realistic levels of biological noise and is limited in its ability to incorporate prior knowledge of the system. We propose a data-driven framework for model discovery and model selection using hybrid dynamical systems: partial models containing missing terms. Neural networks are used to approximate the unknown dynamics of a system, enabling the denoising of the data while simultaneously learning the latent dynamics. Simulations from the fitted neural network are then used to infer models using sparse regression. We show, via model selection, that model discovery using hybrid dynamical systems outperforms alternative approaches. We find it possible to infer models correctly up to high levels of biological noise of different types. We demonstrate the potential to learn models from sparse, noisy data in application to a canonical cell state transition using data derived from single-cell transcriptomics. Overall, this approach provides a practical framework for model discovery in biology in cases where data are noisy and sparse, of particular utility when the underlying biological mechanisms are partially but incompletely known.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2045327
- PAR ID:
- 10573324
- Editor(s):
- Alber, Mark
- Publisher / Repository:
- PLOS
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- PLOS Computational Biology
- Volume:
- 21
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1553-7358
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- e1012762
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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