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Physics-Informed Stochastic Configuration Machine: A Backpropagation-Free Neural Network with Fast Training for Nonlinear Differential Equations

Yueze Song Zhongzhe Chen Lihui Cen Liang Wu Kai Zhang School Of Automation Central South University Changsha China J. University Baltimore Usa State Key Laboratory of Simulation Regulation Of Water Cycle In River Basin China Institute of Water Resources Hydropower Research Beijing
Aug 2026 · 0 citations · 30 references
Mathematics Computer Science Engineering

TL;DR

The Physics-Informed Stochastic Configuration Machine is proposed, a novel backpropagation-free framework for both forward and inverse problems in differential equations that achieves high-fidelity predictive accuracy and robust parameter identification while accelerating the training process by orders of magnitude compared to standard PINNs.

Abstract

While Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) have emerged as a transformative paradigm for solving complex differential equations, their reliance on backpropagation-based gradient descent and automatic differentiation (AD) imposes significant computational bottlenecks and severe non-convex optimization challenges. To overcome these fundamental limitations, we propose the Physics-Informed Stochastic Configuration Machine (PI-SCM), a novel backpropagation-free framework for both forward and inverse problems in differential equations. The core mathematical contribution lies in the analytical evaluation of local Jacobians for nonlinear differential operators, which facilitates a linearized representation of the physical loss and projects it into a unified, linearized algebraic subspace. This reformulation allows for the explicit determination of optimal network weights via a sequence of generalized linear least squares solvers, effectively bypassing the iterative traps of traditional nonlinear optimizers. We develop a progressive algorithmic suite comprising localized construction (PI-SC-I), sliding-window updating (PI-SC-II), and global updating (PI-SC-III), and rigorously establish their universal approximation properties. Extensive experiments demonstrate that PI-SCM achieves high-fidelity predictive accuracy and robust parameter identification while accelerating the training process by orders of magnitude compared to standard PINNs. Our work provides a highly efficient and scalable foundation for next-generation, real-time Scientific Machine Learning applications.

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