Colloque - Olga Mula : Gradient Flows on Neural Network Manifolds

Yvon MadayChaire Informatique et sciences numériquesCollège de FranceAnnée 2025-2026Colloque - Olga Mula : Gradient Flows on Neural Network ManifoldsOlga MulaProfessor of Mathematics, University of Vienna, AustriaRésuméThis talk addresses numerical methods for gradient flows in Hilbert spaces based on neural network approximations. The central idea is to represent the solution on a neural network manifold and evolve its parameters in time. At first glance, this approach appears general, elegant, and easy to implement, and it has achieved notable empirical success in machine learning and scientific computing for PDEs. A closer look, however, reveals significant challenges. Developing a proper functional framework that ensures existence of solutions and rigorously connects to practical algorithms raises subtle issues. In this talk, I will present a framework to address these challenges, and show why they are not merely technical obstacles, but rather reflect fundamental aspects of neural approximation.