Optimization and Control (math.OC)

Abstract: This work is devoted to the mathematical study of an optimization problem regarding control strategies of mosquito population in a heterogeneous environment. Mosquitoes are well known to be vectors of diseases, but, in some cases, they have a reduced vector capacity when carrying the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia. We consider a mathematical model of a replacement strategy, consisting in rearing and releasing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes to replace the wild population. We investigate the question of optimizing the release protocol to have the most effective replacement when the environment is heterogeneous. In other words we focus on the question: where to release, given an inhomogeneous environment, in order to maximize the replacement across the domain. To do so, we consider a simple scalar model in which we assume that the carrying capacity is space dependent. Then, we investigate the existence of an optimal release profile and prove some interesting properties. In particular, neglecting the mobility of mosquitoes and under some assumptions on the biological parameters, we characterize the optimal releasing strategy for a short time horizon, and provide a way to reduce to a one-dimensional optimization problem the case of a long time horizon. Our theoretical results are illustrated with several numerical simulations.

Abstract: In this work, we study physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) constrained by partial differential equations (PDEs) and their application in approximating multiscale PDEs. From a continuous perspective, our formulation corresponds to a non-standard PDE-constrained optimization problem with a PINN-type objective. From a discrete standpoint, the formulation represents a hybrid numerical solver that utilizes both neural networks and finite elements. We propose a function space framework for the problem and develop an algorithm for its numerical solution, combining an adjoint-based technique from optimal control with automatic differentiation. The multiscale solver is applied to a heat transfer problem with oscillating coefficients, where the neural network approximates a fine-scale problem, and a coarse-scale problem constrains the learning process. We show that incorporating coarse-scale information into the neural network training process through our modelling framework acts as a preconditioner for the low-frequency component of the fine-scale PDE, resulting in improved convergence properties and accuracy of the PINN method. The relevance and potential applications of the hybrid solver to computational homogenization and material science are discussed.