2026 - M-Layer ML for Science Learning
Thomas, Jyrki, (Lab)
End Goals
- Pretty visuals
- M-Layer for verifying symmetries induced by scientific laws in
high-dimensional observationspace. - What might be missed in current Theoretical Laws?
Experiment test
- Can the model determine whether X=(q,v,a) is a valid physical state?
Other Topics
- 📍
Unifying fermions and bosons new gravitational-wave- Incorporating Maxwell’s Equations that describe the electromagnetic field into the Dirac Equation has been a long-term goal in physics to unify quantum electrodynamics (QED) and general relativity
Path to M²-Layer
Core Concept: M²-Layer = exp(Mb) * exp(Ma)
-
Observe and define the physical state. In the current experiment, each observation is a Lorentz-state pair $x = (v, E)$. The physical manifold is defined by: \(E^2(1 - v^2) = 1\) with $y = 0$ denoting physical samples and $y = 1$ denoting non-physical samples. The model therefore acts as a physical-law verifier rather than a full dynamical simulator.
-
Learn the original M-Layer generator. The current M-Layer constructs a state-dependent matrix: \(M_\theta(x) = \sum_i x_i T_i\) and evaluates a matrix-exponential score: \(r_\theta(x) = \mathrm{Tr}(\exp(M_\theta(x))S)\) The physical law is represented as an implicit zero set $r_\theta(x) = 0$. Thus, the current model is an algebraic physical-law verifier, not yet a one-step ODE/PDE flow map.
-
Upgrade to a composed M²-Layer. The next architecture should not square the matrix literally as $\exp(M^2)$. Instead, it should compose two learned M-Layer flows: \(g_\theta(x) = \exp(M_b(x))\exp(M_a(x))\) By the Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff expansion: \(\exp(M_b)\exp(M_a) = \exp\left(M_a + M_b + \frac{1}{2}[M_b, M_a] + \dots\right)\) where: \([M_b, M_a] = M_b M_a - M_a M_b\) The commutator term introduces curvature and non-commutative interactions that a single exponential generator cannot express. This is the natural next step suggested by the hard-negative failure in the current ablation.
Three Key Metrics
- ROC-AUC
- Does the learned score separate physical from unphysical samples across thresholds?
- Poincaré section consistency
- 📍 Recover the same phase-space section geometry as the true dynamical system.
- Zero-shot / Systematic Generalization / (Out-of-Distribution (OOD) Generalization Ability)
Lorentz data
- 1D
gamma / energy
^
| /
| /
| /
| /
| /
| __/
| __/
|______/________________________> beta = v/c
0 0.5 0.9 1
- 2D
beta_y
^
| high gamma near boundary
| ***********************
| *** ***
| ** low gamma **
| ** near center **
| *** ***
| ***********************
+-------------------------------> beta_x
When Choose Which Structure
| Space Type | Example | Original M-Layer | M²-Layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algebraic constraint space | ((v,E)), ((p,E)) | Enough | Optional |
| Simple state space | ((q,v,a)) one law | Often enough | Optional |
| Phase space | ((q,p)) with multiple invariants | May fail | Useful |
| Function space | (u(t,x)) PDE field | Limited | Useful |
| Operator / Hilbert space | quantum (H_a,H_b) | Limited | Very useful |
| Gauge / curvature space | field connection, commutator curvature | Not enough | Needed |
What Else Can be Verified?
| Frontier Problem | Core Open Question | Why | AI / M-Layer Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantum Gravity | How can general relativity and quantum mechanics be unified? | It asks what spacetime is at the Planck scale. | Learn whether observed dynamics lie on hidden constraint manifolds consistent with classical, semiclassical, or beyond-GR regimes. |
| Dark Matter | Is dark matter a particle, a field, primordial black holes, or modified gravity? | Most matter in the universe is gravitationally visible but physically unidentified. | Use high-dimensional classifiers to distinguish Newtonian gravity, dark matter halos, and modified-gravity trajectories from lensing and galaxy dynamics. |
| Dark Energy | Is cosmic acceleration caused by a cosmological constant or evolving dark energy? | Recent DESI results strengthen hints that dark energy may evolve over time. (DESI) | Learn deviations from ΛCDM as geometric constraints in cosmological trajectory space. |
| Black Hole Information Problem | Does black hole evaporation preserve quantum information? | It tests the consistency of quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and gravity. | Use AI as a verifier for whether simulated black-hole dynamics obey conservation, entropy, and causal constraints. |
| Testing General Relativity | Does Einstein gravity remain exact in strong-field regimes? | Gravitational waves allow direct tests near merging black holes. Current LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA analyses remain consistent with GR. (aei.mpg.de) | Train physical-law verifiers on waveform manifolds to detect subtle beyond-GR deviations. |
| Gravitational-Wave Discovery | Can we extract weak, noisy, rare signals from detector data? | It opens a new observational channel for black holes, neutron stars, and early-universe physics. | AI is already used for denoising, waveform modeling, and parameter estimation in gravitational-wave pipelines. (Hep Journals) |
| Cosmic Structure Formation | How did galaxies, halos, filaments, and voids emerge from early fluctuations? | It connects gravity, dark matter, baryons, and cosmology across billions of years. | Learn compact latent laws from simulations and surveys; explainable ML has already found interpretable structure in dark-matter halo profiles. (mpa-garching.mpg.de) |
| Weak Lensing and Hidden Mass | Can we reconstruct invisible matter from distorted galaxy images? | Lensing is one of the cleanest probes of dark matter and dark energy. | Use AI-assisted simulation-based inference and constraint learning to map hidden mass fields from sparse observations. (Imperial College London) |
| Modified Gravity | Are cosmic anomalies caused by unseen matter or by a failure of GR at large scales? | It challenges the foundation of modern cosmology. | Build contrastive datasets: GR-valid trajectories vs modified-gravity trajectories, then learn the separating physical manifold. |
| From Galaxies to Cells | Can one learning principle discover lawful dynamics across scales? | It would unify scientific ML beyond domain-specific prediction. | M-Layer can be framed as a high-dimensional physical constraint learner: not predicting one trajectory, but verifying whether a system belongs to the lawful manifold. |
Physical Spaces
| Layer | Physical / Mathematical Theory | Proposed by / Historical Origin | Year / Period | Representative Space | Representative Dimension | Core State Variable | Core Law / Object | Relevance to GOES / NOAA Energetic-Particle Data | Meaning for M-Layer / Stage III |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Euclidean physical space | Euclid | c. 300 BCE | Classical geometric space | 3D | Position $(\mathbf{x}\in\mathbb{R}^3)$ | Distance, angle, straight line | The basic spatial background for satellite position, Earth-centered coordinates, and magnetospheric geometry | The lowest-level space in which GOES occupies a point on a geostationary orbit |
| 2 | Newtonian absolute space and time | Isaac Newton | 1687 | Absolute space plus absolute time | (3+1)D | $(\mathbf{x},t)$ | $\mathbf{F}=m\mathbf{a}$, inverse-square gravity | Provides the classical orbital description of GOES around Earth | Useful for satellite ephemeris, but not sufficient for plasma-field reconstruction |
| 3 | Keplerian orbital geometry | Johannes Kepler | 1609–1619 | Conic-section orbital space | 2D orbital plane embedded in 3D | Orbital elements $(a,e,i,\Omega,\omega,M)$ | Elliptic motion, area law, harmonic law | Describes idealized satellite/planetary motion before perturbations | Gives a controlled synthetic benchmark, but not the real MHD field |
| 4 | Lagrangian mechanics | Joseph-Louis Lagrange | 1788 | Configuration manifold and tangent bundle | $n$-D configuration; $2n$-D tangent state | $(q,\dot{q})$ | Euler–Lagrange equations | Useful for formulating particles moving under electromagnetic fields | Connects observed particle motion to hidden variational structure |
| 5 | Hamiltonian mechanics | William Rowan Hamilton | 1833–1835 | Phase space | $2n$-D for $n$ degrees of freedom | $(q,p)$ | Hamiltonian flow $(\dot{q}=\partial H/\partial p, \dot{p}=-\partial H/\partial q)$ | Charged-particle motion in magnetic fields is naturally Hamiltonian or nearly Hamiltonian | M-Layer can be interpreted as learning a generator of flow rather than a static classifier |
| 6 | Symplectic geometry | Hamilton, Jacobi, Poincaré; modern formalization by Hermann Weyl and others | 19th–20th century | Symplectic manifold |  |  |  |  |  |
ODE
| Person / period | Year | Problem they cared about | Equation style | Essence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newton / Leibniz | 1660s–1670s | Motion, curves, and rates of change | $\frac{dy}{dx}=f(x,y)$ | Differential equations emerge from calculus |
| Newton | 1687 | Planetary motion and mechanics | $m\ddot{q}=F(q)$ | Physical motion as time evolution |
| Jacob Bernoulli / Leibniz | 1695–1696 | Solvable nonlinear first-order equations | $y’ + P(x)y = Q(x)y^n$ | Early named ODE family |
| Euler | 1700s, especially 1730s–1760s | Mechanics, astronomy, fluids, and variational problems | Systematic ODE methods | ODEs become a general mathematical tool |
| Cauchy | Early 1800s | Existence, uniqueness, and initial-value problems | $y(t_0)=y_0$ | Foundation of modern rigorous ODE theory |
PDE
| Person / period | Year | Problem they cared about | Equation style | Essence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| d’Alembert | 1747 | Vibrating strings | $u_{tt}=c^2u_{xx}$ | Wave propagation |
| Euler / Daniel Bernoulli | 1740s–1750s | Strings, fluids, and continuum mechanics | Early PDE models | Motion of continuous media |
| Laplace | Late 1700s | Gravitational and electrostatic potential | $\Delta \phi=0$ | Equilibrium fields |
| Fourier | 1807 / 1822 | Heat conduction | $u_t=\kappa u_{xx}$ | Diffusion of a temperature field |
| Poisson | 1810s | Potential fields with sources | $\Delta \phi=f$ | Fields generated by matter or sources |
| Navier / Stokes | 1822 / 1845 | Viscous fluid flow | Navier–Stokes equations | Evolution of fluid velocity fields |
| Maxwell | 1861–1865 | Electricity and magnetism | Coupled PDEs for $\mathbf{E}$ and $\mathbf{B}$ fields | Electromagnetic field theory |
| Einstein | 1915 | Gravity as spacetime geometry | Einstein field equations | Dynamics of the spacetime metric field |
Simulation
trajectory generation
mission scenario
orbit propagation
lunar / deep-space transfer
navigation analysis
GMAT / Basilisk generates trajectory
→ export trajectory points
→ CesiumJS / Three.js visualizes it beautifully
Visualization
- NASA Eyes / Eyes on the Solar System
- Houdini
3D scene
+ time controller
+ camera fly-through
+ mission trajectory
+ object labels
+ information panel
Web Interaction
- NASA/mission-viz
- link
- CesiumJS / Three.js
References
- 2019 - SO(8) Supergravity and the Magic of Machine Learning
- 2023 - On backpropagating Hessians through ODEs
- 2007 - A systematic approach to multiphysics extensions of finite-element-based micromagnetic simulations: Nmag, Operator-based Abstraction
Bio process
- 1 2012, Analysis, Synthesis, and Design of Chemical Processes.
Lie Group, ODE, and Chaos
- 1 Georgi, Howard. Lie Algebras in Particle Physics. 2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2018.
- 📍 2 Hairer, Ernst, and Gerhard Wanner. Solving Ordinary Differential Equations II: Stiff and Differential-Algebraic Problems. 2nd rev. ed. Berlin: Springer, 2010.
- 3 Sussman, Gerald Jay, and Jack Wisdom. Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2015.
- 📍 4 Strogatz, Steven H. Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: With Applications to Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Engineering. 2nd ed. Boulder: Westview Press, 2018. (Nonlinear Dynamics / Benchmark ODE)
- 5 Hall, Brian C. Lie Groups, Lie Algebras, and Representations: An Elementary Introduction. 2nd ed. Cham: Springer, 2015.
References 2
- 2026 - High-Dimensional Probability
- 2025 - Life at the boundary of chemical kinetics and program execution, physical constraints
- 1931 - Hamiltonian Systems and Transformation in Hilbert Space
- nonlinear dynamics can be represented as linear transformations on a Hilbert space of observables.
- 2024 - Soliton dynamics and multistability analysis of the Hamiltonian amplitude model
- 2026 - Paving the way for agents in biology
Other Topics
- 2026 - Geometric Signatures of Reasoning: A Spectral Perspective on Task Hardness
- 2023 - Seeing a Rose in Five Thousand Ways