@article{AndresArconesWeiserKoutsourelakisetal.2024, author = {Andr{\´e}s Arcones, Daniel and Weiser, Martin and Koutsourelakis, Phaedon-Stelios and Unger, J{\"o}rg F.}, title = {Bias Identification Approaches for Model Updating of Simulation-based Digital Twins of Bridges}, volume = {2}, journal = {Structural Health Monitoring in the Light of Climate Impact and Data Science. Research and Review Journal of Nondestructive Testing}, number = {2}, doi = {10.58286/30524}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Simulation-based digital twins of bridges have the potential not only to serve as monitoring devices of the current state of the structure but also to generate new knowledge through physical predictions that allow for better-informed decisionmaking. For an accurate representation of the bridge, the underlying models must be tuned to reproduce the real system. Nevertheless, the necessary assumptions and simplifications in these models irremediably introduce discrepancies between measurements and model response. We will show that quantifying the extent of the uncertainties introduced through the models that lead to such discrepancies provides a better understanding of the real system, enhances the model updating process, and creates more robust and trustworthy digital twins. The inclusion of an explicit bias term will be applied to a representative demonstrator case based on the thermal response of the Nibelungenbr{\"u}cke of Worms. The findings from this work are englobed in the initiative SPP 100+, whose main aim is the extension of the service life of structures, especially through the implementation of digital twins.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CheginiKopanicakovaWeiseretal.2022, author = {Chegini, Fatemeh and Kopanicakova, Alena and Weiser, Martin and Krause, Rolf}, title = {Quantitative Analysis of Nonlinear MultifidelityOptimization for Inverse Electrophysiology}, booktitle = {Domain Decomposition Methods in Science and Engineering XXVI}, publisher = {Springer}, pages = {65 -- 76}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The electric conductivity of cardiac tissue determines excitation propagation and is important for quantifying ischemia and scar tissue and for building personalized models. Estimating conductivity distributions from endocardial mapping data is a challenging inverse problem due to the computational complexity of the monodomain equation, which describes the cardiac excitation. For computing a maximum posterior estimate, we investigate different optimization approaches based on adjoint gradient computation: steepest descent, limited memory BFGS, and recursive multilevel trust region methods, which are using mesh hierarchies or heterogeneous model hierarchies. We compare overall performance, asymptotic convergence rate, and pre-asymptotic progress on selected examples in order to assess the benefit of our multifidelity acceleration.}, language = {en} } @article{AlhaddadFoerstnerGrothetal.2022, author = {Alhaddad, Samer and F{\"o}rstner, Jens and Groth, Stefan and Gr{\"u}newald, Daniel and Grynko, Yevgen and Hannig, Frank and Kenter, Tobias and Pfreundt, F.J. and Plessl, Christian and Schotte, Merlind and Steinke, Thomas and Teich, J. and Weiser, Martin and Wende, Florian}, title = {The HighPerMeshes Framework for Numerical Algorithms on Unstructured Grids}, volume = {34}, journal = {Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience}, number = {14}, doi = {10.1002/cpe.6616}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Solving PDEs on unstructured grids is a cornerstone of engineering and scientific computing. Heterogeneous parallel platforms, including CPUs, GPUs, and FPGAs, enable energy-efficient and computationally demanding simulations. In this article, we introduce the HPM C++-embedded DSL that bridges the abstraction gap between the mathematical formulation of mesh-based algorithms for PDE problems on the one hand and an increasing number of heterogeneous platforms with their different programming models on the other hand. Thus, the HPM DSL aims at higher productivity in the code development process for multiple target platforms. We introduce the concepts as well as the basic structure of the HPM DSL, and demonstrate its usage with three examples. The mapping of the abstract algorithmic description onto parallel hardware, including distributed memory compute clusters, is presented. A code generator and a matching back end allow the acceleration of HPM code with GPUs. Finally, the achievable performance and scalability are demonstrated for different example problems.}, language = {en} } @misc{WeiserChegini2022, author = {Weiser, Martin and Chegini, Fatemeh}, title = {Higher-order time integration using spectral deferred correction method (SDC) in a cell by cell discretization of cardiac excitation}, doi = {10.35097/716}, year = {2022}, abstract = {This C++ code implements a cell-by-cell model of cardiac excitation using a piecewise-continuous finite element discretization and spectral deferred correction time stepping. The code is based on the Kaskade 7 finite element toolbox and forms a prototype for the µCarp code to be implemented in the Microcard project.}, language = {en} } @article{NiemannUramWolfetal.2024, author = {Niemann, Jan-Hendrik and Uram, Samuel and Wolf, Sarah and Conrad, Natasa Djurdjevac and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Multilevel Optimization for Policy Design with Agent-Based Epidemic Models}, volume = {77}, journal = {Computational Science}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2304.02281}, doi = {10.1016/j.jocs.2024.102242}, pages = {102242}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Epidemiological models can not only be used to forecast the course of a pandemic like COVID-19, but also to propose and design non-pharmaceutical interventions such as school and work closing. In general, the design of optimal policies leads to nonlinear optimization problems that can be solved by numerical algorithms. Epidemiological models come in different complexities, ranging from systems of simple ordinary differential equations (ODEs) to complex agent-based models (ABMs). The former allow a fast and straightforward optimization, but are limited in accuracy, detail, and parameterization, while the latter can resolve spreading processes in detail, but are extremely expensive to optimize. We consider policy optimization in a prototypical situation modeled as both ODE and ABM, review numerical optimization approaches, and propose a heterogeneous multilevel approach based on combining a fine-resolution ABM and a coarse ODE model. Numerical experiments, in particular with respect to convergence speed, are given for illustrative examples.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{GanderKrauseWeiseretal.2023, author = {Gander, Lia and Krause, Rolf and Weiser, Martin and Costabal, Francisco and Pezzuto, Simone}, title = {On the Accuracy of Eikonal Approximations in Cardiac Electrophysiology in the Presence of Fibrosis}, volume = {13958}, booktitle = {Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart. FIMH 2023.}, publisher = {Springer, Cham}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-35302-4_14}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Fibrotic tissue is one of the main risk factors for cardiac arrhythmias. It is therefore a key component in computational studies. In this work, we compare the monodomain equation to two eikonal models for cardiac electrophysiology in the presence of fibrosis. We show that discontinuities in the conductivity field, due to the presence of fibrosis, introduce a delay in the activation times. The monodomain equation and eikonal-diffusion model correctly capture these delays, contrarily to the classical eikonal equation. Importantly, a coarse space discretization of the monodomain equation amplifies these delays, even after accounting for numerical error in conduction velocity. The numerical discretization may also introduce artificial conduction blocks and hence increase propagation complexity. Therefore, some care is required when comparing eikonal models to the discretized monodomain equation.}, language = {en} } @article{SubramaniamHubigMuggenthaleretal.2023, author = {Subramaniam, Jayant S. and Hubig, Michael and Muggenthaler, Holger and Schenkl, Sebastian and Ullrich, Julia and Pourtier, Gr{\´e}groire and Weiser, Martin and Mall, Gita}, title = {Sensitivity of temperature-based time since death estimation on measurement location}, volume = {137}, journal = {International Journal of Legal Medicine}, doi = {10.1007/s00414-023-03040-y}, pages = {1815 -- 1837}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Rectal temperature measurement (RTM) from crime scenes is an important parameter for temperature-based time of death estimation (TDE). Various influential variables exist in TDE methods like the uncertainty in thermal and environmental parameters. Although RTM depends in particular on the location of measurement position, this relationship has never been investigated separately. The presented study fills this gap using Finite Element (FE) simulations of body cooling. A manually meshed coarse human FE model and an FE geometry model developed from the CT scan of a male corpse are used for TDE sensitivity analysis. The coarse model is considered with and without a support structure of moist soil. As there is no clear definition of ideal rectal temperature measurement location for TDE, possible variations in RTM location (RTML) are considered based on anatomy and forensic practice. The maximum variation of TDE caused by RTML changes is investigated via FE simulation. Moreover, the influence of ambient temperature, of FE model change and of the models positioning on a wet soil underground are also discussed. As a general outcome, we notice that maximum TDE deviations of up to ca. 2-3 h due to RTML deviations have to be expected. The direction of maximum influence of RTML change on TDE generally was on the line caudal to cranial.}, language = {en} } @article{SemlerWeiser2023, author = {Semler, Phillip and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Adaptive Gaussian Process Regression for Efficient Building of Surrogate Models in Inverse Problems}, volume = {39}, journal = {Inverse Problems}, number = {12}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2303.05824}, doi = {10.1088/1361-6420/ad0028}, pages = {125003}, year = {2023}, abstract = {In a task where many similar inverse problems must be solved, evaluating costly simulations is impractical. Therefore, replacing the model y with a surrogate model y(s) that can be evaluated quickly leads to a significant speedup. The approximation quality of the surrogate model depends strongly on the number, position, and accuracy of the sample points. With an additional finite computational budget, this leads to a problem of (computer) experimental design. In contrast to the selection of sample points, the trade-off between accuracy and effort has hardly been studied systematically. We therefore propose an adaptive algorithm to find an optimal design in terms of position and accuracy. Pursuing a sequential design by incrementally appending the computational budget leads to a convex and constrained optimization problem. As a surrogate, we construct a Gaussian process regression model. We measure the global approximation error in terms of its impact on the accuracy of the identified parameter and aim for a uniform absolute tolerance, assuming that y(s) is computed by finite element calculations. A priori error estimates and a coarse estimate of computational effort relate the expected improvement of the surrogate model error to computational effort, resulting in the most efficient combination of sample point and evaluation tolerance. We also allow for improving the accuracy of already existing sample points by continuing previously truncated finite element solution procedures.}, language = {en} } @article{UllrichWeiserSubramaniametal.2023, author = {Ullrich, Julia and Weiser, Martin and Subramaniam, Jayant and Schenkl, Sebastian and Muggenthaler, Holger and Hubig, Michael and Mall, Gita}, title = {The impact of anatomy variation on temperature based time of death estimation}, volume = {137}, journal = {International Journal of Legal Medicine}, doi = {10.1007/s00414-023-03026-w}, pages = {1615 -- 1627}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Temperature-based time of death estimation (TTDE) using simulation methods such as the finite element (FE) method promises higher accuracy and broader applicability in nonstandard cooling scenarios than established phenomenological methods. Their accuracy depends crucially on the simulation model to capture the actual situation. The model fidelity in turn hinges on the representation of the corpse's anatomy in form of computational meshes as well as on the thermodynamic parameters. While inaccuracies in anatomy representation due to coarse mesh resolution are known to have a minor impact on the estimated time of death, the sensitivity with respect to larger differences in the anatomy has so far not been studied. We assess this sensitivity by comparing four independently generated and vastly different anatomical models in terms of the estimated time of death in an identical cooling scenario. In order to isolate the impact of shape variation, the models are scaled to a reference size, and the possible impact of measurement location variation is excluded explicitly, which gives a lower bound on the impact of anatomy on the estimated time of death.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CheginiSteinkeWeiser2022, author = {Chegini, Fatemeh and Steinke, Thomas and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Efficient adaptivity for simulating cardiac electrophysiology with spectral deferred correction methods}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2311.07206}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The locality of solution features in cardiac electrophysiology simulations calls for adaptive methods. Due to the overhead incurred by established mesh refinement and coarsening, however, such approaches failed in accelerating the computations. Here we investigate a different route to spatial adaptivity that is based on nested subset selection for algebraic degrees of freedom in spectral deferred correction methods. This combination of algebraic adaptivity and iterative solvers for higher order collocation time stepping realizes a multirate integration with minimal overhead. This leads to moderate but significant speedups in both monodomain and cell-by-cell models of cardiac excitation, as demonstrated at four numerical examples.}, language = {en} } @article{HuynhCheginiPavarinoetal.2023, author = {Huynh, Ngoc and Chegini, Fatemeh and Pavarino, Luca and Weiser, Martin and Scacchi, Simone}, title = {Convergence analysis of BDDC preconditioners for hybrid DG discretizations of the cardiac cell-by-cell model}, volume = {45}, journal = {SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing}, number = {6}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2212.12295}, pages = {A2836 -- A2857}, year = {2023}, abstract = {A Balancing Domain Decomposition by Constraints (BDDC) preconditioner is constructed and analyzed for the solution of hybrid Discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of reaction-diffusion systems of ordinary and partial differential equations arising in cardiac cell-by-cell models. The latter are different from the classical Bidomain and Monodomain cardiac models based on homogenized descriptions of the cardiac tissue at the macroscopic level, and therefore they allow the representation of individual cardiac cells, cell aggregates, damaged tissues and nonuniform distributions of ion channels on the cell membrane. The resulting discrete cell-by-cell models have discontinuous global solutions across the cell boundaries, hence the proposed BDDC preconditioner is based on appropriate dual and primal spaces with additional constraints which transfer information between cells (subdomains) without influencing the overall discontinuity of the global solution. A scalable convergence rate bound is proved for the resulting BDDC cell-by-cell preconditioned operator, while numerical tests validate this bound and investigate its dependence on the discretization parameters.}, language = {en} } @article{CardereraPokuttaSchuetteetal.2021, author = {Carderera, Alejandro and Pokutta, Sebastian and Sch{\"u}tte, Christof and Weiser, Martin}, title = {An efficient first-order conditional gradient algorithm in data-driven sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics to solve sparse recovery problems under noise}, journal = {Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2101.02630}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Governing equations are essential to the study of nonlinear dynamics, often enabling the prediction of previously unseen behaviors as well as the inclusion into control strategies. The discovery of governing equations from data thus has the potential to transform data-rich fields where well-established dynamical models remain unknown. This work contributes to the recent trend in data-driven sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics of finding the best sparse fit to observational data in a large library of potential nonlinear models. We propose an efficient first-order Conditional Gradient algorithm for solving the underlying optimization problem. In comparison to the most prominent alternative algorithms, the new algorithm shows significantly improved performance on several essential issues like sparsity-induction, structure-preservation, noise robustness, and sample efficiency. We demonstrate these advantages on several dynamics from the field of synchronization, particle dynamics, and enzyme chemistry.}, language = {en} } @article{CheginiKopanicakovaKrauseetal.2021, author = {Chegini, Fatemeh and Kopanicakova, Alena and Krause, Rolf and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Efficient Identification of Scars using Heterogeneous Model Hierarchies}, volume = {23}, journal = {EP Europace}, doi = {10.1093/europace/euaa402}, pages = {i113 -- i122}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Aims. Detection and quantification of myocardial scars are helpful both for diagnosis of heart diseases and for building personalized simulation models. Scar tissue is generally charac­terized by a different conduction of electrical excitation. We aim at estimating conductivity-related parameters from endocardial mapping data, in particular the conductivity tensor. Solving this inverse problem requires computationally expensive monodomain simulations on fine discretizations. Therefore, we aim at accelerating the estimation using a multilevel method combining electrophysiology models of different complexity, namely the mono­domain and the eikonal model. Methods. Distributed parameter estimation is performed by minimizing the misfit between simulated and measured electrical activity on the endocardial surface, subject to the mono­domain model and regularization, leading to a constrained optimization problem. We formulate this optimization problem, including the modeling of scar tissue and different regularizations, and design an efficient iterative solver. We consider monodomain grid hierarchies and monodomain-eikonal model hierarchies in a recursive multilevel trust-region method. Results. From several numerical examples, both the efficiency of the method and the estimation quality, depending on the data, are investigated. The multilevel solver is significantly faster than a comparable single level solver. Endocardial mapping data of realistic density appears to be just sufficient to provide quantitatively reasonable estimates of location, size, and shape of scars close to the endocardial surface. Conclusion. In several situations, scar reconstruction based on eikonal and monodomain models differ significantly, suggesting the use of the more accurate but more expensive monodomain model for this purpose. Still, eikonal models can be utilized to accelerate the computations considerably, enabling the use of complex electrophysiology models for estimating myocardial scars from endocardial mapping data.}, language = {en} } @book{DeuflhardWeiser2020, author = {Deuflhard, Peter and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Numerische Mathematik 3. Adaptive L{\"o}sung partieller Differentialgleichungen}, edition = {2}, publisher = {de Gruyter}, isbn = {978-3-11-069168-9}, doi = {10.1515/9783110689655}, pages = {456}, year = {2020}, language = {de} } @article{SchielaStoeckleinWeiser2021, author = {Schiela, Anton and St{\"o}cklein, Matthias and Weiser, Martin}, title = {A primal dual projection algorithm for efficient constraint preconditioning}, volume = {43}, journal = {SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing}, number = {6}, doi = {10.1137/20M1380739}, pages = {A4095 -- A4120}, year = {2021}, abstract = {We consider a linear iterative solver for large scale linearly constrained quadratic minimization problems that arise, for example, in optimization with PDEs. By a primal-dual projection (PDP) iteration, which can be interpreted and analysed as a gradient method on a quotient space, the given problem can be solved by computing sulutions for a sequence of constrained surrogate problems, projections onto the feasible subspaces, and Lagrange multiplier updates. As a major application we consider a class of optimization problems with PDEs, where PDP can be applied together with a projected cg method using a block triangular constraint preconditioner. Numerical experiments show reliable and competitive performance for an optimal control problem in elasticity.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SteyerCheginiPotseetal.2023, author = {Steyer, Joshua and Chegini, Fatemeh and Potse, Mark and Loewe, Axel and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Continuity of Microscopic Cardiac Conduction in a Computational Cell-by-Cell Model}, volume = {50}, booktitle = {2023 Computing in Cardiology Conference (CinC)}, publisher = {Computing in Cardiology}, issn = {2325-887X}, doi = {10.22489/CinC.2023.385}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Conduction velocity in cardiac tissue is a crucial electrophysiological parameter for arrhythmia vulnerability. Pathologically reduced conduction velocity facilitates arrhythmogenesis because such conduction velocities decrease the wavelength with which re-entry may occur. Computational studies on CV and how it changes regionally in models at spatial scales multiple times larger than actual cardiac cells exist. However, microscopic conduction within cells and between them have been studied less in simulations. In this work, we study the relation of microscopic conduction patterns and clinically observable macroscopic conduction using an extracellular-membrane-intracellular model which represents cardiac tissue with these subdomains at subcellular resolution. By considering cell arrangement and non-uniform gap junction distribution, it yields anisotropic excitation propagation. This novel kind of model can for example be used to understand how discontinuous conduction on the microscopic level affects fractionation of electrograms in healthy and fibrotic tissue. Along the membrane of a cell, we observed a continuously propagating activation wavefront. When transitioning from one cell to the neighbouring one, jumps in local activation times occurred, which led to lower global conduction velocities than locally within each cell.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CheginiFroehlyHuynhetal.2023, author = {Chegini, Fatemeh and Froehly, Algiane and Huynh, Ngoc Mai Monica and Pavarino, Luca and Potse, Mark and Scacchi, Simone and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Efficient numerical methods for simulating cardiac electrophysiology with cellular resolution}, booktitle = {10th Int. Conf. Computational Methods for Coupled Problems in Science and Engineering 2023}, doi = {10.23967/c.coupled.2023.004}, year = {2023}, abstract = {The cardiac extracellular-membrane-intracellular (EMI) model enables the precise geometrical representation and resolution of aggregates of individual myocytes. As a result, it not only yields more accurate simulations of cardiac excitation compared to homogenized models but also presents the challenge of solving much larger problems. In this paper, we introduce recent advancements in three key areas: (i) the creation of artificial, yet realistic grids, (ii) efficient higher-order time stepping achieved by combining low-overhead spatial adaptivity on the algebraic level with progressive spectral deferred correction methods, and (iii) substructuring domain decomposition preconditioners tailored to address the complexities of heterogeneous problem structures. The efficiency gains of these proposed methods are demonstrated through numerical results on cardiac meshes of different sizes.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SteyerCheginiStaryetal.2024, author = {Steyer, Joshua and Chegini, Fatemeh and Star{\´y}, Tomas and Potse, Mark and Weiser, Martin and Loewe, Axel}, title = {Electrograms in a Cardiac Cell-by-Cell Model}, booktitle = {Workshop Biosignals 2024}, doi = {10.47952/gro-publ-194}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Cardiac electrograms are an important tool to study the spread of excitation waves inside the heart, which in turn underlie muscle contraction. Electrograms can be used to analyse the dynamics of these waves, e.g. in fibrotic tissue. In computational models, these analyses can be done with greater detail than during minimally invasive in vivo procedures. Whilst homogenised models have been used to study electrogram genesis, such analyses have not yet been done in cellularly resolved models. Such high resolution may be required to develop a thorough understanding of the mechanisms behind abnormal excitation patterns leading to arrhythmias. In this study, we derived electrograms from an excitation propagation simulation in the Extracellular, Membrane, Intracellular (EMI) model, which represents these three domains explicitly in the mesh. We studied the effects of the microstructural excitation dynamics on electrogram genesis and morphology. We found that electrograms are sensitive to the myocyte alignment and connectivity, which translates into micro-fractionations in the electrograms.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{WeiserChegini2022, author = {Weiser, Martin and Chegini, Fatemeh}, title = {Adaptive multirate integration of cardiac electrophysiology with spectral deferred correction methods}, booktitle = {CMBE22 - 7th International Conference on Computational \& Mathematical Biomedical Engineering}, pages = {528 -- 531}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The highly localized dynamics of cardiac electrophysiology models call for adaptive simulation methods. Unfortunately, the overhead incurred by classical mesh adaptivity turns out to outweigh the performance improvements achieved by reducing the problem size. Here, we explore a different approach to adaptivity based on algebraic degree of freedom subset selection during spectral deferred correction sweeps, which realizes a kind of multirate higher order integration. Numerical experience indicates a significant performance increase compared to uniform simulations.}, language = {en} } @article{BartelsFisikopoulosWeiser2023, author = {Bartels, Tinko and Fisikopoulos, Vissarion and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Fast Floating-Point Filters for Robust Predicates}, volume = {63}, journal = {BIT Numerical Mathematics}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.00497}, doi = {10.1007/s10543-023-00975-x}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Geometric predicates are at the core of many algorithms, such as the construction of Delaunay triangulations, mesh processing and spatial relation tests. These algorithms have applications in scientific computing, geographic information systems and computer-aided design. With floating-point arithmetic, these geometric predicates can incur round-off errors that may lead to incorrect results and inconsistencies, causing computations to fail. This issue has been addressed using a combination of exact arithmetic for robustness and floating-point filters to mitigate the computational cost of exact computations. The implementation of exact computations and floating-point filters can be a difficult task, and code generation tools have been proposed to address this. We present a new C++ meta-programming framework for the generation of fast, robust predicates for arbitrary geometric predicates based on polynomial expressions. We combine and extend different approaches to filtering, branch reduction, and overflow avoidance that have previously been proposed. We show examples of how this approach produces correct results for data sets that could lead to incorrect predicate results with naive implementations. Our benchmark results demonstrate that our implementation surpasses state-of-the-art implementations.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{DhanakotiMaddocksWeiser2022, author = {Dhanakoti, Siva Prasad Chakri and Maddocks, John and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Navigation of Concentric Tube Continuum Robots using Optimal Control}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics}, doi = {10.5220/0011271000003271}, pages = {146 -- 154}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Recently developed Concentric Tube Continuum Robots (CTCRs) are widely exploited in, for example in minimally invasive surgeries which involve navigating inside narrow body cavities close to sensitive regions. These CTCRs can be controlled by extending and rotating the tubes in order to reach a target point or perform some task. The robot must deviate as little as possible from this narrow space and avoid damaging neighbouring tissue. We consider \emph{open-loop} optimal control of CTCRs parameterized over pseudo-time, primarily aiming at minimizing the robot's working volume during its motion. External loads acting on the system like tip loads or contact with tissues are not considered here. We also discussed the inclusion of tip's orientation in the optimal framework to perform some tasks. We recall a quaternion-based formulation of the robot configuration, discuss discretization, develop optimization objectives addressing different criteria, and investigate their impact on robot path planning for several numerical examples. This optimal framework can be applied to any backbone based continuum robots.}, language = {en} } @misc{BorndoerferDaneckerWeiser2023, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Danecker, Fabian and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Convergence Properties of Newton's Method for Globally Optimal Free Flight Trajectory Optimization}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-91309}, year = {2023}, abstract = {The algorithmic efficiency of Newton-based methods for Free Flight Trajectory Optimization is heavily influenced by the size of the domain of convergence. We provide numerical evidence that the convergence radius is much larger in practice than what the theoretical worst case bounds suggest. The algorithm can be further improved by a convergence-enhancing domain decomposition.}, language = {en} } @misc{SagnolHegeWeiser2016, author = {Sagnol, Guillaume and Hege, Hans-Christian and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Using sparse kernels to design computer experiments with tunable precision}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-59605}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Statistical methods to design computer experiments usually rely on a Gaussian process (GP) surrogate model, and typically aim at selecting design points (combinations of algorithmic and model parameters) that minimize the average prediction variance, or maximize the prediction accuracy for the hyperparameters of the GP surrogate. In many applications, experiments have a tunable precision, in the sense that one software parameter controls the tradeoff between accuracy and computing time (e.g., mesh size in FEM simulations or number of Monte-Carlo samples). We formulate the problem of allocating a budget of computing time over a finite set of candidate points for the goals mentioned above. This is a continuous optimization problem, which is moreover convex whenever the tradeoff function accuracy vs. computing time is concave. On the other hand, using non-concave weight functions can help to identify sparse designs. In addition, using sparse kernel approximations drastically reduce the cost per iteration of the multiplicative weights updates that can be used to solve this problem.}, language = {en} } @article{BorndoerferDaneckerWeiser2021, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Danecker, Fabian and Weiser, Martin}, title = {A Discrete-Continuous Algorithm for Free Flight Planning}, volume = {14}, journal = {Algorithms}, number = {1}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {1438-0064}, doi = {10.3390/a14010004}, pages = {4}, year = {2021}, abstract = {We propose a hybrid discrete-continuous algorithm for flight planning in free flight airspaces. In a first step, our DisCOptER method discrete-continuous optimization for enhanced resolution) computes a globally optimal approximate flight path on a discretization of the problem using the A* method. This route initializes a Newton method that converges rapidly to the smooth optimum in a second step. The correctness, accuracy, and complexity of the method are goverened by the choice of the crossover point that determines the coarseness of the discretization. We analyze the optimal choice of the crossover point and demonstrate the asymtotic superority of DisCOptER over a purely discrete approach.}, language = {en} } @misc{BorndoerferDaneckerWeiser2023, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Danecker, Fabian and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Newton's Method for Global Free Flight Trajectory Optimization}, doi = {10.12752/8987}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-89876}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Globally optimal free flight trajectory optimization can be achieved with a combination of discrete and continuous optimization. A key requirement is that Newton's method for continuous optimization converges in a sufficiently large neighborhood around a minimizer. We show in this paper that, under certain assumptions, this is the case.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BorndoerferDaneckerWeiser2023, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Danecker, Fabian and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Convergence Properties of Newton's Method for Globally Optimal Free Flight Trajectory Optimization}, volume = {115}, booktitle = {23rd Symposium on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS 2023)}, doi = {10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2023.3}, pages = {3:1 -- 3:6}, year = {2023}, abstract = {The algorithmic efficiency of Newton-based methods for Free Flight Trajectory Optimization is heavily influenced by the size of the domain of convergence. We provide numerical evidence that the convergence radius is much larger in practice than what the theoretical worst case bounds suggest. The algorithm can be further improved by a convergence-enhancing domain decomposition.}, language = {en} } @article{BorndoerferDaneckerWeiser2023, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Danecker, Fabian and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Newton's Method for Global Free Flight Trajectory Optimization}, volume = {4}, journal = {Operations Research Forum}, doi = {10.1007/s43069-023-00238-z}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-91846}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Globally optimal free flight trajectory optimization can be achieved with a combination of discrete and continuous optimization. A key requirement is that Newton's method for continuous optimization converges in a sufficiently large neighborhood around a minimizer. We show in this paper that, under certain assumptions, this is the case.}, language = {en} } @article{BorndoerferDaneckerWeiser2023, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Danecker, Fabian and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Error Bounds for Discrete-Continuous Free Flight Trajectory Optimization}, volume = {198}, journal = {Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications}, doi = {10.1007/s10957-023-02264-7}, pages = {830 -- 856}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Flight planning, the computation of optimal routes in view of flight time and fuel consumption under given weather conditions, is traditionally done by finding globally shortest paths in a predefined airway network. Free flight trajectories, not restricted to a network, have the potential to reduce the costs significantly, and can be computed using locally convergent continuous optimal control methods. Hybrid methods that start with a discrete global search and refine with a fast continuous local optimization combine the best properties of both approaches, but rely on a good switchover, which requires error estimates for discrete paths relative to continuous trajectories. Based on vertex density and local complete connectivity, we derive localized and a priori bounds for the flight time of discrete paths relative to the optimal continuous trajectory, and illustrate their properties on a set of benchmark problems. It turns out that localization improves the error bound by four orders of magnitude, but still leaves ample opportunities for tighter bounds using a posteriori error estimators.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BorndoerferDaneckerWeiser2022, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Danecker, Fabian and Weiser, Martin}, title = {A Discrete-Continuous Algorithm for Globally Optimal Free Flight Trajectory Optimization}, volume = {106}, booktitle = {22nd Symposium on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS 2022)}, doi = {10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2022.2}, pages = {1 -- 13}, year = {2022}, abstract = {We present an efficient algorithm that finds a globally optimal solution to the 2D Free Flight Trajectory Optimization Problem (aka Zermelo Navigation Problem) up to arbitrary precision in finite time. The algorithm combines a discrete and a continuous optimization phase. In the discrete phase, a set of candidate paths that densely covers the trajectory space is created on a directed auxiliary graph. Then Yen's algorithm provides a promising set of discrete candidate paths which subsequently undergo a locally convergent refinement stage. Provided that the auxiliary graph is sufficiently dense, the method finds a path that lies within the convex domain around the global minimizer. From this starting point, the second stage will converge rapidly to the optimum. The density of the auxiliary graph depends solely on the wind field, and not on the accuracy of the solution, such that the method inherits the superior asymptotic convergence properties of the optimal control stage.}, language = {en} } @misc{BorndoerferDaneckerWeiser2020, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Danecker, Fabian and Weiser, Martin}, title = {A Discrete-Continuous Algorithm for Free Flight Planning}, issn = {1438-0064}, doi = {10.3390/a14010004}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-81343}, year = {2020}, abstract = {We propose a hybrid discrete-continuous algorithm for flight planning in free flight airspaces. In a first step, our DisCOptER method discrete-continuous optimization for enhanced resolution) computes a globally optimal approximate flight path on a discretization of the problem using the A* method. This route initializes a Newton method that converges rapidly to the smooth optimum in a second step. The correctness, accuracy, and complexity of the method are goverened by the choice of the crossover point that determines the coarseness of the discretization. We analyze the optimal choice of the crossover point and demonstrate the asymtotic superority of DisCOptER over a purely discrete approach.}, language = {en} } @article{CardereraPokuttaSchuetteetal.2025, author = {Carderera, Alejandro and Pokutta, Sebastian and Sch{\"u}tte, Christof and Weiser, Martin}, title = {An efficient first-order conditional gradient algorithm in data-driven sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics to solve sparse recovery problems under noise}, volume = {470}, journal = {Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics}, doi = {10.1016/j.cam.2025.116675}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Governing equations are essential to the study of nonlinear dynamics, often enabling the prediction of previously unseen behaviors as well as the inclusion into control strategies. The discovery of governing equations from data thus has the potential to transform data-rich fields where well-established dynamical models remain unknown. This work contributes to the recent trend in data-driven sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics of finding the best sparse fit to observational data in a large library of potential nonlinear models. We propose an efficient first-order Conditional Gradient algorithm for solving the underlying optimization problem. In comparison to the most prominent alternative framework, the new framework shows significantly improved performance on several essential issues like sparsity-induction, structure-preservation, noise robustness, and sample efficiency. We demonstrate these advantages on several dynamics from the field of synchronization, particle dynamics, and enzyme chemistry.}, language = {en} } @article{AndresArconesWeiserKoutsourelakisetal.2026, author = {Andr{\´e}s Arcones, Daniel and Weiser, Martin and Koutsourelakis, Phaedon-Stelios and Unger, J{\"o}rg F.}, title = {Embedded Model Form Uncertainty Quantification with Measurement Noise for Bayesian Model Calibration}, volume = {7}, journal = {Data-Centric Engineering}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2410.12037}, doi = {10.1017/dce.2025.10035}, year = {2026}, abstract = {A key factor in ensuring the accuracy of computer simulations that model physical systems is the proper calibration of their parameters based on real-world observations or experimental data. Inevitably, uncertainties arise, and Bayesian methods provide a robust framework for quantifying and propagating these uncertainties to model predictions. Nevertheless, Bayesian methods paired with inexact models usually produce predictions unable to represent the observed datapoints. Additionally, the quantified uncertainties of these overconfident models cannot be propagated to other Quantities of Interest (QoIs) reliably. A promising solution involves embedding a model inadequacy term in the inference parameters, allowing the quantified model form uncertainty to influence non-observed QoIs. This paper introduces a more interpretable framework for embedding the model inadequacy compared to existing methods. To overcome the limitations of current approaches, we adapt the existing likelihood models to properly account for noise in the measurements and propose two new formulations designed to address their shortcomings. Moreover, we evaluate the performance of this inadequacy-embedding approach in the presence of discrepancies between measurements and model predictions, including noise and outliers. Particular attention is given to how the uncertainty associated with the model inadequacy term propagates to the QoIs, enabling a more comprehensive statistical analysis of prediction's reliability. Finally, the proposed approach is applied to estimate the uncertainty in the predicted heat flux from a transient thermal simulation using temperature bservations.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BorndoerferJocasWeiser2026, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Jocas, Arturas and Weiser, Martin}, title = {An Eikonal Approach for Globally Optimal Free Flight Trajectories}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2603.11830}, year = {2026}, abstract = {We present an eikonal-based approach that is capable of finding a continuous globally optimal trajectory for an aircraft in a stationary wind field. This minimizes emissions and fuel consumption. If the destination is close to a cut locus of the associated Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, small numerical discretization errors can lead to selecting a merely locally optimal trajectory and missing the globally optimal one. Based on finite element error estimates, we construct a trust region around the cut loci in order to guarantee uniqueness of trajectories for destinations sufficiently far from cut loci.}, language = {en} } @article{SubramaniamHubigSchenkletal.2026, author = {Subramaniam, Jayant Shanmugam and Hubig, Michael and Schenkl, Sebastian and Muggenthaler, Holger and Springer, Steffen and Weiser, Martin and Sudau, Jakob and Shah, Faisal and Mall, Gita}, title = {Reconstructing sudden ambient temperature changes for forensic death time estimation using temperatures in two closed compartments: Proof of concept}, journal = {International Journal of Legal Medicine}, year = {2026}, abstract = {Ambient temperature TA has a strong impact on temperature-based time since death estimation (TTDE). Frequently TA is lowered instantaneously at some time t0 from a previous value TA0 to TA1 < TA0 by, e.g., opening a window or a door. We aim at reconstructing TA0 and t0. TTDE literature suggests temperature measurements in closed compartments such as cupboards or neighboring rooms, where TA0 could have been 'preserved' after t0. We aim to estimate t0 and TA0 from temperature measurements TZ(t) in closed compartments Z at times t > t0. We obtain promising results assuming Newtonian cooling for boxes filled with air, heaps of clothes, or books in two different experimental scenarios. Two different parameter estimators, (TA0^, t0^) based on four temperature measurements and (TA0*, t0*) for 4N measurements were tested. Our results in a climate chamber were partially appropriate for TTDE input. A decline at time t0 from TA0 = 22.5°C ↓ TA1 = 14°C was reconstructed at t = t0 + 95min with relative deviations ρt0^ = 27\% and ρTA0^ = 19\% relative to t - t0 and TA0 - TA1 respectively, for N = 1 with span Δt = 50min. For N = 200 in a time interval [t0 + 95min, t0 + 295min] we found ρt0^ = 5\% and ρTA0^ = 11\% with the same Δt. Further research is necessary to guarantee applicability in routine casework, in particular with respect to more elaborate cooling models, estimation algorithms, and evaluation localization.}, language = {en} } @article{VillaniAndresArconesUngeretal.2026, author = {Villani, Paolo and Andr{\´e}s Arcones, Daniel and Unger, J{\"o}rg F. and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Gaussian mixture models for model improvement}, arxiv = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2603.15101}, year = {2026}, abstract = {Modeling complex physical systems such as they arise in civil engineering applications requires finding a trade-off between physical fidelity and practicality. Consequently, deviations of simulation from measurements are ubiquitous even after model calibration due to the model discrepancy, which may result from deliberate modeling decisions, ignorance, or lack of knowledge. If the mismatch between simulation and measurements are deemed unacceptable, the model has to be improved. Targeted model improvement is challenging due to a non-local impact of model discrepancies on measurements and the dependence on sensor configurations. Many approaches to model improvement, such as Bayesian calibration with additive mismatch terms, gray-box models, symbolic regression, or stochastic model updating, often lack interpretability, generalizability, physical consistency, or practical applicability. This paper introduces a non-intrusive approach to model discrepancy analysis using mixture models. Instead of directly modifying the model structure, the method maps sensor readings to clusters of physically meaningful parameters, automatically assigning sensor readings to parameter vector clusters. This mapping can reveal systematic discrepancies and model biases, guiding targeted, physics-based refinements by the modeler. The approach is formulated within a Bayesian framework, enabling the identification of parameter clusters and their assignments via the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. The methodology is demonstrated through numerical experiments, including an illustrative example and a real-world case study of heat transfer in a concrete bridge.}, language = {en} } @misc{BaumannDudaSchielaetal.2026, author = {Baumann, Felix and Duda, Georg and Schiela, Anton and Weiser, Martin}, title = {Identification of Stress in Heterogeneous Contact Models}, volume = {173}, journal = {Non-Smooth and Complementarity-Based Distributed Parameter Systems}, editor = {Hinterm{\"u}ller, Michael and Herzog, Roland and Kanzow, Christian and Ulbrich, Michael and Ulbrich, Stefan}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, year = {2026}, abstract = {We develop a heterogeneous model of the lower limb system to simulate muscle forces and stresses acting on the knee joint. The modelling of the bone dynamics leads to an index-3 DAE, which we discretize by higher order collocation methods. Furthermore, we present an elastomechanical contact knee joint model of the articular cartilage. For the solution of the contact problem we develop an efficient multigrid solver, based on an Augmented-Lagrangian relaxation of the contact constraints. We formulate the identification of joint forces and resulting stresses with respect to different knee joint models as an inverse problem based on medical gait data.}, language = {en} }