Smooth and Sparse Latent Dynamics in Operator Learning with Jerk Regularization

Data-driven latent dynamics models (LDMs) offer a promising approach for fast and accurate spatiotemporal forecasting by computing solutions in a compressed latent space. However, these models often neglect temporal correlations between consecutive snapshots when constructing the latent space, leading to suboptimal compression, jagged latent trajectories, and limited extrapolation ability over time. To address these issues, this paper introduces a continuous operator learning framework that incorporates a novel jerk regularization into the learning of the compressed latent space. This jerk regularization promotes smoothness and sparsity of latent space dynamics, which not only yields enhanced accuracy and convergence speed but also helps identify intrinsic latent space coordinates. The effectiveness of this framework is demonstrated through a two-dimensional unsteady flow problem governed by the Navier-Stokes equations, highlighting its potential to expedite high-fidelity simulations in various scientific and engineering applications.