Physics-constrained convolutional neural networks for inverse problems in spatiotemporal partial differential equations

We propose a physics-constrained convolutional neural network (PC-CNN) to solve two types of inverse problems in partial differential equations (PDEs), which are nonlinear and vary both in space and time. In the first inverse problem, we are given data that is offset by spatially varying systematic error (i.e., the bias, also known as the epistemic uncertainty). The task is to uncover from the biased data the true state, which is the solution of the PDE. In the second inverse problem, we are given sparse information on the solution of a PDE. The task is to reconstruct the solution in space with high-resolution. First, we present the PC-CNN, which constrains the PDE with a simple time-windowing scheme to handle sequential data. Second, we analyse the performance of the PC-CNN for uncovering solutions from biased data. We analyse both linear and nonlinear convection-diffusion equations, and the Navier-Stokes equations, which govern the spatiotemporally chaotic dynamics of turbulent flows. We find that the PC-CNN correctly recovers the true solution for a variety of biases, which are parameterised as non-convex functions. Third, we analyse the performance of the PC-CNN for reconstructing solutions from biased data for the turbulent flow. We reconstruct the spatiotemporal chaotic solution on a high-resolution grid from only 2\% of the information contained in it. For both tasks, we further analyse the Navier-Stokes solutions. We find that the inferred solutions have a physical spectral energy content, whereas traditional methods, such as interpolation, do not. This work opens opportunities for solving inverse problems with partial differential equations.