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We consider numerical approaches for deterministic, finite-dimensional optimal control problems whose dynamics depend on unknown or uncertain parameters. We seek to amortize the solution over a set of relevant parameters in an offline stage to enable rapid decision-making and be able to react to changes in the parameter in the online stage. To tackle the curse of dimensionality arising when the state and/or parameter are high-dimensional, we represent the policy using neural networks. We compare two training paradigms: First, our model-based approach leverages the dynamics and definition of the objective function to learn the value function of the parameterized optimal control problem and obtain the policy using a feedback form. Second, we use actor-critic reinforcement learning to approximate the policy in a data-driven way. Using an example involving a two-dimensional convection-diffusion equation, which features high-dimensional state and parameter spaces, we investigate the accuracy and efficiency of both training paradigms. While both paradigms lead to a reasonable approximation of the policy, the model-based approach is more accurate and considerably reduces the number of PDE solves. 

We present a neural network approach for approximating the value function of high- dimensional stochastic control problems. Our training process simultaneously updates our value function estimate and identifies the part of the state space likely to be visited by optimal trajectories. Our approach leverages insights from optimal control theory and the fundamental relation between semi-linear parabolic partial differential equations and forward-backward stochastic differential equations. To focus the sampling on relevant states during neural network training, we use the stochastic Pontryagin maximum principle (PMP) to obtain the optimal controls for the current value function estimate. By design, our approach coincides with the method of characteristics for the non-viscous Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation arising in deterministic control problems. Our training loss consists of a weighted sum of the objective functional of the control problem and penalty terms that enforce the HJB equations along the sampled trajectories. Importantly, training is unsupervised in that it does not require solutions of the control problem. Our numerical experiments highlight our scheme’s ability to identify the relevant parts of the state space and produce meaningful value estimates. Using a two-dimensional model problem, we demonstrate the importance of the stochastic PMP to inform the sampling and compare to a finite element approach. With a nonlinear control affine quadcopter example, we illustrate that our approach can handle complicated dynamics. For a 100-dimensional benchmark problem, we demonstrate that our approach improves accuracy and time-to-solution and, via a modification, we show the wider applicability of our scheme. 

We present a neural network approach for closed-loop deep brain stimulation (DBS). We cast the problem of finding an optimal neurostimulation strategy as a control problem. In this setting, control policies aim to optimize therapeutic outcomes by tailoring the parameters of a DBS system, typically via electrical stimulation, in real time based on the patient’s ongoing neuronal activity. We approximate the value function offline using a neural network to enable generating controls (stimuli) in real time via the feedback form. The neuronal activity is characterized by a nonlinear, stiff system of differential equations as dictated by the Hodgkin-Huxley model. Our training process leverages the relationship between Pontryagin’s maximum principle and Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations to update the value function estimates simultaneously. Our numerical experiments illustrate the accuracy of our approach for out-of-distribution samples and the robustness to moderate shocks and disturbances in the system. 

Abstract We consider the simulation of Bayesian statistical inverse problems governed by large-scale linear and nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms are standard techniques to solve such problems. However, MCMC techniques are computationally challenging as they require a prohibitive number of forward PDE solves. The goal of this paper is to introduce a fractional deep neural network (fDNN) based approach for the forward solves within an MCMC routine. Moreover, we discuss some approximation error estimates. We illustrate the efficiency of fDNN on inverse problems governed by nonlinear elliptic PDEs and the unsteady Navier–Stokes equations. In the former case, two examples are discussed, respectively depending on two and 100 parameters, with significant observed savings. The unsteady Navier–Stokes example illustrates that fDNN can outperform existing DNNs, doing a better job of capturing essential features such as vortex shedding. 

Abstract In this article, we consider nondiffusive variational problems with mixed boundary conditions and (distributional and weak) gradient constraints. The upper bound in the constraint is either a function or a Borel measure, leading to the state space being a Sobolev one or the space of functions of bounded variation. We address existence and uniqueness of the model under low regularity assumptions, and rigorously identify its Fenchel pre-dual problem. The latter in some cases is posed on a nonstandard space of Borel measures with square integrable divergences. We also establish existence and uniqueness of solution to this pre-dual problem under some assumptions. We conclude the article by introducing a mixed finite-element method to solve the primal-dual system. The numerical examples illustrate the theoretical findings. 

For any given neural network architecture a permutation of weights and biases results in the same functional network. This implies that optimization algorithms used to 'train' or 'learn' the network are faced with a very large number (in the millions even for small networks) of equivalent optimal solutions in the parameter space. To the best of our knowledge, this observation is absent in the literature. In order to narrow down the parameter search space, a novel technique is introduced in order to fix the bias vector configurations to be monotonically increasing. This is achieved by augmenting a typical learning problem with inequality constraints on the bias vectors in each layer. A Moreau-Yosida regularization based algorithm is proposed to handle these inequality constraints and a theoretical convergence of this algorithm is established. Applications of the proposed approach to standard trigonometric functions and more challenging stiff ordinary differential equations arising in chemically reacting flows clearly illustrate the benefits of the proposed approach. Further application of the approach on the MNIST dataset within TensorFlow, illustrate that the presented approach can be incorporated in any of the existing machine learning libraries.