Cornell University
Library
Cornell UniversityLibrary

eCommons

Help
Log In(current)
  1. Home
  2. Cornell University Graduate School
  3. Cornell Theses and Dissertations
  4. Theory and Applications of Manifold Interpolation for Learning Empirical Green's Functions

Theory and Applications of Manifold Interpolation for Learning Empirical Green's Functions

File(s)
Brown_cornellgrad_0058F_15127.pdf (3.09 MB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://doi.org/10.7298/c3cw-4m52
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/120950
Collections
Cornell Theses and Dissertations
Author
Brown, Jacob
Abstract

This dissertation develops two complementary, mesh-independent frameworks for data-driven discovery and interpolation of empirical Green’s functions for one-dimensional parameterized linear operators. It also establishes theoretical groundwork for manifold interpolation in an infinite dimensional setting, and suggests some future research in that direction. Chapter 2 introduces $\bf{nsegf}$, a discrete approach requiring only input–output pairs (\lbrace{f_i,u_i\rbrace}). We show that the empirical Green’s function integral operator matrix (G\in\mathbb R^{N\times N}) can be recovered by a least-squares formula (G = U,F^+W^{-1})without adjoint solves, making it applicable to non-self-adjoint operators. This also avoids the need to train neural networks, as is done in our approach in Chapter 3. We then interpolate the low-rank SVD factors ((U,\Sigma,V)) across parameters by lifting orthonormal bases onto the finite dimensional compact Stiefel manifold, (S_K(\mathbb{R}^n)), performing polynomial interpolation in the tangent space, and retracting via a (QR)-based map. Chapter 3 presents $\bf{chebgreen}$, which learns continuous Green’s functions via Rational Neural Networks and computes high-accuracy Singular Value Expansions using a Python Chebfun implementation. By storing the orthonormal bases from the SVE as “quasimatrices” in the Hilbert space (H = (L^2(\Omega))^K), we generalize the interpolation to the infinite-dimensional Hilbert–Stiefel manifold, establish its injectivity radius, and derive analogous error bounds. Numerical experiments on Poisson, advection–diffusion, Airy, and fractional Laplacian problems achieve sub-percent accuracy with just 100 samples—even under 50 % output noise. Both frameworks drastically reduce data requirements compared to prior neural-network-only methods. Furthermore, both frameworks allow for learning of Green's functions from a broader class of problems than in previous approaches as the assumption that the associated differential operator is self-adjoint is not required. Chapter 3 also includes a theoretical framework for interpolation using quasimatrices, and establishes rigorous error bounds. Chapter 4 suggests some future directions for Hilbert manifold interpolation theory and applications beyond the Green's function application. It suggests considering subspace interpolation problems in the Hilbert Grassmannian manifolds, and lays out a framework for functional principal component analysis using Hilbert Stiefel manifold interpolation.

Description
106 pages
Date Issued
2025-08
Keywords
chebfun
•
Green's function
•
Hilbert manifold
•
Manifold interpolation
Committee Chair
Earls, Christopher
Committee Member
Townsend, Alex
Bindel, David
Degree Discipline
Applied Mathematics
Degree Name
Ph. D., Applied Mathematics
Degree Level
Doctor of Philosophy
Rights
Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
Type
dissertation or thesis

Site Statistics | Help

About eCommons | Policies | Terms of use | Contact Us

copyright © 2002-2026 Cornell University Library | Privacy | Web Accessibility Assistance