arXiv subjects

Ivo F. Sbalzarini

Publications and source records attributed to Ivo F. Sbalzarini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Globally Adaptive and Locally Regular Point Discretization of Implicit Surface Geometries

Point discretization of implicitly defined curved surfaces is required throughout computer-aided design, engineering analysis, and scientific computing. These applications often impose that surfaces are sampled with local regularity and global curvature adaptivity for unambiguous geometry representation. Finding a numerically well-conditioned point discretization, however, is not trivial, even for simple analytic surfaces. We present an algorithm for finding near-optimal surface point distributions governed by a prescribed resolution field on a curved surface. The algorithm works by approximately minimizing a global potential over local point-point interactions. We leverage a high-order meshfree level-set method to implicitly describe the surface and to perform all required projections without additional surface-attractive forces. To accelerate convergence, the algorithm dynamically fuses and inserts points where a local excess or lack is detected, for which it introduces an integral support measure. We test the proposed algorithm on a variety of shapes, ranging from parametric to non-parametric surfaces. We find point discretizations with different curvature adaptivity and low deviation from the prescribed target spacing. In all cases, the presented algorithm rapidly and robustly converges to the final number and distribution of surface points.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2026

A meshfree solver for coupled bulk-surface problems with self-organizing surface geometry

In many systems, the interaction between a deformable surface or interface and the surrounding bulk fluid is coupled with intrinsic spatiotemporal dynamics within the moving surface. Examples include tumor growth, biological tissue morphogenesis, cardiac mechanics, multi-phase surfactant chemistry, additive manufacturing, clothing wear-and-tear, and reactive combustion flows. Solving such problems requires both geometric computing algorithms to track and resolve the surface and numerical methods to solve the coupled governing equations in the surface and the surrounding bulk phase. Here, we present a fully meshfree numerical solver for such coupled bulk-surface problems with deformable interfaces. The presented solver tracks the surface implicitly, solving for the dynamic surface geometry based on stress balance coupled to surrounding fluid phases. We show convergence for a mass-conserving case on a growing sphere and solve bulk-surface problems with incompressible Navier-Stokes fluids coupled to in-surface nonlinear reaction-diffusion dynamics. Finally, we show a model of biological morphogenesis, solving simultaneously for the dynamic surface shape and the fields on the curved surface with two-way coupling.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2026

Solving the Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations on Oriented Curved Surfaces Discretized by Point Clouds

We present a meshfree numerical solver for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on oriented curved surfaces that are represented by surface point clouds. On curved surfaces, numerical challenges pertaining to stiffness and pressure-velocity coupling are exacerbated. Moreover, vector calculus on curved surfaces differs from its Euclidean counterpart. The presented method operates on surface point clouds in an Eulerian frame of reference without requiring a computational grid or mesh. It achieves consistent approximation in space and time with high order of accuracy; we demonstrate up to order six. The incompressibility constraint is locally imposed as a weak artificial compressibility approximation, avoiding global matrix inversion. We show that the method provides consistent and convergent approximations of surface vector fields and differential operators. We study the relationship between error, spatial resolution, and artificial Mach number and characterize the frequency spectrum of the artificial oscillations. We provide numerical solutions of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on symmetric surfaces, such as the sphere and torus, and on parametric and non-parametric asymmetric surfaces. Since the proposed method works directly on unstructured surface point clouds, it provides a promising approach for simulations on image-derived geometries, such as in biological morphogenesis from microscopy videos.

math.NA↗

arXiv2026

The Push-Forward Transform for Continuous and Robust Comparison of Dynamic Shapes

We introduce a mathematical framework for shape comparison based on mapping functions from the shape domain to a common reference domain. This Push-Forward Transform enables invariant and robust comparison of shapes, preserving intrinsic geometric information. Quantitatively comparing shapes and their temporal evolution is a fundamental challenge in image analysis. Meaningful shape comparison requires representations that are invariant to transformations that do not alter shape itself, such as translation, rotation, reflection, re-parametrization, and uniform scaling, while remaining sensitive to intrinsic geometric variation. Existing approaches often rely on sensitive parameterizations, landmark correspondence, or learned representations that are difficult to interpret and reproduce. We show that the Push-Forward Transform (PF-T) applied to Signed Distance Functions (SDFs) yields a continuous representation that captures both boundary and interior geometry. We derive an interpretable morphometric that quantifies shape similarity and reveals features such as skeletal topology and rotational symmetries. The push-forward transform applies consistently to two- and three-dimensional shapes, extends to time-evolving geometries, and supports the joint analysis of shape and additional scalar fields defined over shapes, such as intensity or molecular signals. We present the mathematical formulation, describe an efficient algorithm, and benchmark the approach on 2D, 3D, and temporal data sets.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2026

Spatiotemporal Control of Charge +1 Topological Defects in Polar Active Matter

Topological defects are a conspicuous feature of active liquid crystals that have been associated with important morphogenetic transitions in organismal development. Robust development thus requires a tight control of the motion and placement of topological defects. In this manuscript, we study a mechanism to control +1 topological defects in an active polar fluid confined to a disk. If activity is localized in an annulus within the disk, the defect moves on a circular trajectory around the center of the disk. Using an ansatz for the polar field, we determine the dependence of the angular speed and the circle radius on the boundary orientation of the polar field and the active annulus. Using a proportional integral controller, we guide the defect along complex trajectories by changing the active annulus size and the boundary orientation.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2026

Chemical Reaction Networks Learn Better than Spiking Neural Networks

We mathematically prove that chemical reaction networks without hidden layers can solve tasks for which spiking neural networks require hidden layers. Our proof uses the deterministic mass-action kinetics formulation of chemical reaction networks. Specifically, we prove that a certain reaction network without hidden layers can learn a classification task previously proved to be achievable by a spiking neural network with hidden layers. We provide analytical regret bounds for the global behavior of the network and analyze its asymptotic behavior and Vapnik-Chervonenkis dimension. In a numerical experiment, we confirm the learning capacity of the proposed chemical reaction network for classifying handwritten digits in pixel images, and we show that it solves the task more accurately and efficiently than a spiking neural network with hidden layers. This provides a motivation for machine learning in chemical computers and a mathematical explanation for how biological cells might exhibit more efficient learning behavior within biochemical reaction networks than neuronal networks.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2025

A Continuous and Interpretable Morphometric for Robust Quantification of Dynamic Biological Shapes

We introduce the Push-Forward Signed Distance Morphometric (PF-SDM) for shape quantification in biomedical imaging. The PF-SDM compactly encodes geometric and topological properties of closed shapes, including their skeleton and symmetries. This provides robust and interpretable features for shape comparison and machine learning. The PF-SDM is mathematically smooth, providing access to gradients and differential-geometric quantities. It also extends to temporal dynamics and allows fusing spatial intensity distributions, such as genetic markers, with shape dynamics. We present the PF-SDM theory, benchmark it on synthetic data, and apply it to predicting body-axis formation in mouse gastruloids, outperforming a CNN baseline in both accuracy and speed.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2025

Robust variable selection for spatial point processes observed with noise

We propose a method for variable selection in the intensity function of spatial point processes that combines sparsity-promoting estimation with noise-robust model selection. As high-resolution spatial data becomes increasingly available through remote sensing and automated image analysis, identifying spatial covariates that influence the localization of events is crucial to understand the underlying mechanism. However, results from automated acquisition techniques are often noisy, for example due to measurement uncertainties or detection errors, which leads to spurious displacements and missed events. We study the impact of such noise on sparse point-process estimation across different models, including Poisson and Thomas processes. To improve noise robustness, we propose to use stability selection based on point-process subsampling and to incorporate a non-convex best-subset penalty to enhance model-selection performance. In extensive simulations, we demonstrate that such an approach reliably recovers true covariates under diverse noise scenarios and improves both selection accuracy and stability. We then apply the proposed method to a forestry data set, analyzing the distribution of trees in relation to elevation and soil nutrients in a tropical rain forest. This shows the practical utility of the method, which provides a systematic framework for robust variable selection in spatial point-process models under noise, without requiring additional knowledge of the process.

stat.ME↗

arXiv2025

Integrating Odeint Time Stepping into OpenFPM for Distributed and GPU Accelerated Numerical Solvers

We present a software implementation integrating the time-integration library Odeint from Boost with the OpenFPM framework for scalable scientific computing. This enables compact and scalable codes for multi-stage, multi-step, and adaptive explicit time integration on distributed-memory parallel computers and on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The present implementation is based on extending OpenFPM's metaprogramming system to Odeint data types. This makes the time-integration methods from Odeint available in a concise template-expression language for numerical simulations distributed and parallelized using OpenFPM. We benchmark the present software for exponential and sigmoidal dynamics and present application examples to the 3D Gray-Scott reaction-diffusion problem and the "dam break" problem from fluid mechanics. We find a strong-scaling efficiency of 80% on up to 512 CPU cores and a five-fold speedup on a single GPU.

cs.MS↗

arXiv2025

An Overview of Meshfree Collocation Methods

We provide a comprehensive overview of meshfree collocation methods for numerically approximating differential operators on continuously labeled unstructured point clouds. Meshfree collocation methods do not require a computational grid or mesh. Instead, they approximate smooth functions and their derivatives at potentially irregularly distributed collocation points, often called particles, to a desired order of consistency. We review several meshfree collocation methods from the literature, trace the historical development of key concepts, and propose a classification of methods according to their principle of derivation. Although some of the methods reviewed are similar or identical, there are subtle yet important differences between many, which we highlight and discuss. We present a unifying formulation of meshfree collocation methods that renders these differences apparent and show how each method can be derived from this formulation. Finally, we propose a generalized derivation for meshfree collocation methods going forward.

math.NA↗

arXiv2025

TopoSPAM: Topology grounded Simulation Platform for morphogenesis and biological Active Matter

We present a topology grounded, multiscale simulation platform for morphogenesis and biological active matter. Morphogenesis and biological active matter represent keystone problems in biology with additional, far-reaching implications across the biomedical sciences. Addressing these problems will require flexible, cross-scale models of tissue shape, development, and dysfunction that can be tuned to understand, model, and predict relevant individual cases. Current approaches to simulating anatomical or cellular subsystems tend to rely on static, assumed shapes. Meanwhile, the potential for topology to provide natural dimensionality reduction and organization of shape and dynamical outcomes is not fully exploited. TopoSPAM combines ease of use with powerful simulation algorithms and methodological advances, including active nematic gels, topological-defect-driven shape dynamics, and an active 3D vertex model of tissues. It is capable of determining emergent flows and shapes across scales.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2025

On the Computational Power of Particle Methods

We investigate the computational power of particle methods, a well-established class of algorit hms with applications in scientific computing and computer simulation. The computational power of a compute model determines the class of problems it can solve. Automata theory allows describing the computational power of abstract machines (automata) and the problems they can solve. At the top of the Chomsky hierarchy of formal languages and grammars are Turing machines, which resemble the concept on which most modern computers are built. Although particle methods can be interpreted as automata based on their formal definition, their computational power has so far not been studied. We address this by analyzing Turing completeness of particle methods. In particular, we prove two sets of restrictions under which a particle method is still Turing powerful, and we show when it loses Turing powerfulness. This contributes to understanding the theoretical foundations of particle methods and provides insight into the powerfulness of computer simulations.

cs.FL↗

arXiv2025

Data-efficient inverse design of spinodoid metamaterials

We create an data-efficient and accurate surrogate model for structure-property linkages of spinodoid metamaterials with only 75 data points -- far fewer than the several thousands used in prior works -- and demonstrate its use in multi-objective inverse design. The inverse problem of finding a material microstructure that leads to given bulk properties is of great interest in mechanics and materials science. These inverse design tasks often require a large dataset, which can become unaffordable when considering material behavior that requires more expensive simulations or experiments. We generate a data-efficient surrogate for the mapping between the characteristics of the local material structure and the effective elasticity tensor and use it to inversely design structures with multiple objectives simultaneously. The presented neural network-based surrogate model achieves its data efficiency by inherently satisfying certain requirements, such as equivariance with respect to permutations of structure parameters, which avoids having to learn them from data. The resulting surrogate of the forward model is differentiable, allowing its direct use in gradient-based optimization for the inverse design problem. We demonstrate in three inverse design tasks of varying complexity that this approach yields reliable results while requiring significantly less training data than previous approaches based on neural-network surrogates. This paves the way for inverse design involving nonlinear mechanical behavior, where data efficiency is currently the limiting factor.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2025

Multivariate Newton Interpolation in Downward Closed Spaces Reaches the Optimal Geometric Approximation Rates for Bos--Levenberg--Trefethen Functions

We extend the univariate Newton interpolation algorithm to arbitrary spatial dimensions and for any choice of downward-closed polynomial space, while preserving its quadratic runtime and linear storage cost. The generalisation supports any choice of the provided notion of non-tensorial unisolvent interpolation nodes, whose number coincides with the dimension of the chosen-downward closed space. Specifically, we prove that by selecting Leja-ordered Chebyshev-Lobatto or Leja nodes, the optimal geometric approximation rates for a class of analytic functions -- termed Bos--Levenberg--Trefethen functions -- are achieved and extend to the derivatives of the interpolants. In particular, choosing Euclidean degree results in downward-closed spaces whose dimension only grows sub-exponentially with spatial dimension, while delivering approximation rates close to, or even matching those of the tensorial maximum-degree case, mitigating the curse of dimensionality. Several numerical experiments demonstrate the performance of the resulting multivariate Newton interpolation compared to state-of-the-art alternatives and validate our theoretical results.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Parallel Compositing of Volumetric Depth Images for Interactive Visualization of Distributed Volumes at High Frame Rates

We present a parallel compositing algorithm for Volumetric Depth Images (VDIs) of large three-dimensional volume data. Large distributed volume data are routinely produced in both numerical simulations and experiments, yet it remains challenging to visualize them at smooth, interactive frame rates. VDIs are view-dependent piecewise constant representations of volume data that offer a potential solution. They are more compact and less expensive to render than the original data. So far, however, there is no method for generating VDIs from distributed data. We propose an algorithm that enables this by sort-last parallel generation and compositing of VDIs with automatically chosen content-adaptive parameters. The resulting composited VDI can then be streamed for remote display, providing responsive visualization of large, distributed volume data.

cs.GR↗

arXiv2024

Multivariate Interpolation in Unisolvent Nodes -- Lifting the Curse of Dimensionality

We extend Newton and Lagrange interpolation to arbitrary dimensions. The core contribution that enables this is a generalized notion of non-tensorial unisolvent nodes, i.e., nodes on which the multivariate polynomial interpolant of a function is unique. By validation, we reach the optimal exponential Trefethen rates for a class of analytic functions, we term Trefethen functions. The number of interpolation nodes required for computing the optimal interpolant depends sub-exponentially on the dimension, hence resisting the curse of dimensionality. Based on these results, we propose an algorithm to efficiently and numerically stably solve arbitrary-dimensional interpolation problems, with at most quadratic runtime and linear memory requirement.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Proven Distributed Memory Parallelization of Particle Methods

We provide a mathematically proven parallelization scheme for particle methods on distributed-memory computer systems. Particle methods are a versatile and widely used class of algorithms for computer simulations and numerical predictions in various applications, ranging from continuum fluid dynamics and granular flows, using methods such as Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and Discrete Element Methods (DEM) to Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations in molecular modeling. Particle methods naturally lend themselves to implementation on parallel-computing hardware. So far, however, a mathematical proof of correctness and equivalence to sequential implementations was only available for shared-memory parallelism. Here, we leverage a formal definition of the algorithmic class of particle methods to provide a proven parallelization scheme for distributed-memory computers. We prove that these parallelized particle methods on distributed memory computers are formally equivalent to their sequential counterpart for a well-defined class of particle methods. Notably, the here analyzed parallelization scheme is well-known and commonly used. Our analysis is, therefore, of immediate practical relevance to existing and new parallel software implementations of particle methods and places them on solid theoretical grounds.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2023

A meshfree collocation scheme for surface differential operators on point clouds

We present a meshfree collocation scheme to discretize intrinsic surface differential operators over scalar fields on smooth curved surfaces with given normal vectors and a non-intersecting tubular neighborhood. The method is based on Discretization-Corrected Particle Strength Exchange (DC-PSE), which generalizes finite difference methods to meshfree point clouds. The proposed Surface DC-PSE method is derived from an embedding theorem, but we analytically reduce the operator kernels along surface normals to obtain a purely intrinsic computational scheme over surface point clouds. We benchmark Surface DC-PSE by discretizing the Laplace-Beltrami operator on a circle and a sphere, and we present convergence results for both explicit and implicit solvers. We then showcase the algorithm on the problem of computing Gauss and mean curvature of an ellipsoid and of the Stanford Bunny by approximating the intrinsic divergence of the normal vector field. Finally, we compare Surface DC-PSE with Surface Finite Elements (SFEM) and Diffuse-Interface Finite Elements (DI FEM) in a validation case.

math.NA↗