Raj Abhijit Dandekar

Fiifi Dawson, Zainab Mosunmola, Sahil Pocker et al.

Although LLMs have been extremely effective in a large number of complex tasks, their understanding and functionality for regional languages and cultures are not well studied. In this paper, we explore the ability of various LLMs to comprehend the cultural aspects of two regional languages: Malayalam (state of Kerala, India) and Yoruba (West Africa). Using Hofstede's six cultural dimensions: Power Distance (PDI), Individualism (IDV), Motivation towards Achievement and Success (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAV), Long Term Orientation (LTO), and Indulgence (IVR), we quantify the cultural awareness of LLM-based responses. We demonstrate that although LLMs show a high cultural similarity for English, they fail to capture the cultural nuances across these 6 metrics for Malayalam and Yoruba. We also highlight the need for large-scale regional language LLM training with culturally enriched datasets. This will have huge implications for enhancing the user experience of chat-based LLMs and also improving the validity of large-scale LLM agent-based market research.

Pranav Ramanathan, Thomas Prellberg, Matthew Lewis et al.

The No-Three-In-Line problem asks for the maximum number of points that can be placed on an n by n grid with no three collinear, representing a famous problem in combinatorial geometry. While classical methods like Integer Linear Programming (ILP) guarantee optimal solutions, they face exponential scaling with grid size, and recent advances in machine learning offer promising alternatives for pattern-based approximation. This paper presents the first systematic comparison of classical optimization and AI approaches to this problem, evaluating their performance against traditional algorithms. We apply PatternBoost transformer learning and reinforcement learning (PPO) to this problem for the first time, comparing them against ILP. ILP achieves provably optimal solutions up to 19 by 19 grids, while PatternBoost matches optimal performance up to 14 by 14 grids with 96% test loss reduction. PPO achieves perfect solutions on 10 by 10 grids but fails at 11 by 11 grids, where constraint violations prevent valid configurations. These results demonstrate that classical optimization remains essential for exact solutions while AI methods offer competitive performance on smaller instances, with hybrid approaches presenting the most promising direction for scaling to larger problem sizes.

Prathamesh Dinesh Joshi, Sahil Pocker, Raj Abhijit Dandekar et al.

As LLMs become increasingly proficient at producing human-like responses, there has been a rise of academic and industrial pursuits dedicated to flagging a given piece of text as "human" or "AI". Most of these pursuits involve modern NLP detectors like T5-Sentinel and RoBERTa-Sentinel, without paying too much attention to issues of interpretability and explainability of these models. In our study, we provide a comprehensive analysis that shows that traditional ML models (Naive-Bayes,MLP, Random Forests, XGBoost) perform as well as modern NLP detectors, in human vs AI text detection. We achieve this by implementing a robust testing procedure on diverse datasets, including curated corpora and real-world samples. Subsequently, by employing the explainable AI technique LIME, we uncover parts of the input that contribute most to the prediction of each model, providing insights into the detection process. Our study contributes to the growing need for developing production-level LLM detection tools, which can leverage a wide range of traditional as well as modern NLP detectors we propose. Finally, the LIME techniques we demonstrate also have the potential to equip these detection tools with interpretability analysis features, making them more reliable and trustworthy in various domains like education, healthcare, and media.

Mohammed Abraar, Raj Abhijit Dandekar, Rajat Dandekar et al.

The exponential growth of AI education has brought millions of learners to online platforms, yet this massive scale has simultaneously exposed critical pedagogical shortcomings. Traditional video-based instruction, while cost-effective and scalable, demonstrates systematic failures in both sustaining learner engagement and facilitating the deep conceptual mastery essential for AI literacy. We present a pilot study evaluating a novel hybrid learning platform that integrates real-time conversational AI tutors with traditional video lectures. Our controlled experiment (N = 58, mean age M = 21.4, SD = 2.8) compared traditional video-based instruction with our AI-augmented video platform. This study employed a sequential within-subjects design where all participants first completed the traditional video condition followed by the AI-augmented condition, providing direct comparisons of learning outcomes. We measured learning effectiveness through immediate post-tests and delayed retention assessments (2-week delay). Results suggest improvements in learning performance: immediate post-test performance showed a large effect size (d = 1.505) with participants scoring 8.3 points higher after AI-augmented instruction (91.8 vs 83.5 out of 100, p < .001). Behavioral analytics revealed increased engagement duration (71.1% improvement with AI tutoring) in the experimental group. This pilot study provides preliminary evidence that conversational AI tutors may enhance traditional educational delivery, suggesting a potential avenue for developing scalable, adaptive learning systems.

Raj Gaurav Maurya, Vaibhav Shukla, Raj Abhijit Dandekar et al.

Misinformation on social media thrives on surprise, emotion, and identity-driven reasoning, often amplified through human cognitive biases. To investigate these mechanisms, we model large language model (LLM) personas as synthetic agents that mimic user-level biases, ideological alignments, and trust heuristics. Within this setup, we introduce an auditor--node framework to simulate and analyze how misinformation evolves as it circulates through networks of such agents. News articles are propagated across networks of persona-conditioned LLM nodes, each rewriting received content. A question--answering-based auditor then measures factual fidelity at every step, offering interpretable, claim-level tracking of misinformation drift. We formalize a misinformation index and a misinformation propagation rate to quantify factual degradation across homogeneous and heterogeneous branches of up to 30 sequential rewrites. Experiments with 21 personas across 10 domains reveal that identity- and ideology-based personas act as misinformation accelerators, especially in politics, marketing, and technology. By contrast, expert-driven personas preserve factual stability. Controlled-random branch simulations further show that once early distortions emerge, heterogeneous persona interactions rapidly escalate misinformation to propaganda-level distortion. Our taxonomy of misinformation severity -- spanning factual errors, lies, and propaganda -- connects observed drift to established theories in misinformation studies. These findings demonstrate the dual role of LLMs as both proxies for human-like biases and as auditors capable of tracing information fidelity. The proposed framework provides an interpretable, empirically grounded approach for studying, simulating, and mitigating misinformation diffusion in digital ecosystems.

Kamalpreet Singh Kainth, Prathamesh Dinesh Joshi, Raj Abhijit Dandekar et al.

Neural differential equations offer a powerful framework for modeling continuous-time dynamics, but forecasting stiff biophysical systems remains unreliable. Standard Neural ODEs and physics informed variants often require orders of magnitude more iterations, and even then may converge to suboptimal solutions that fail to preserve oscillatory frequency or amplitude. We introduce PhysicsInformed Neural ODEs with with Scale-Aware Residuals (PI-NODE-SR), a framework that combines a low-order explicit solver (Heun method) residual normalisation to balance contributions between state variables evolving on disparate timescales. This combination stabilises training under realistic iteration budgets and avoids reliance on computationally expensive implicit solvers. On the Hodgkin-Huxley equations, PI-NODE-SR learns from a single oscillation simulated with a stiff solver (Rodas5P) and extrapolates beyond 100 ms, capturing both oscillation frequency and near-correct amplitudes. Remarkably, end-to-end learning of the vector field enables PI-NODE-SR to recover morphological features such as sharp subthreshold curvature in gating variables that are typically reserved for higher-order solvers, suggesting that neural correction can offset numerical diffusion. While performance remains sensitive to initialisation, PI-NODE-SR consistently reduces long-horizon errors relative to baseline Neural-ODEs and PINNs, offering a principled route to stable and efficient learning of stiff biological dynamics.

Ammar Shaikh, Raj Abhijit Dandekar, Sreedath Panat et al.

Rapid advancements in Large Language models (LLMs) has significantly enhanced their reasoning capabilities. Despite improved performance on benchmarks, LLMs exhibit notable gaps in their cognitive processes. Additionally, as reflections of human-generated data, these models have the potential to inherit cognitive biases, raising concerns about their reasoning and decision making capabilities. In this paper we present a framework to interpret, understand and provide insights into a host of cognitive biases in LLMs. Conducting our research on frontier language models we're able to elucidate reasoning limitations and biases, and provide reasoning behind these biases by constructing influence graphs that identify phrases and words most responsible for biases manifested in LLMs. We further investigate biases such as round number bias and cognitive bias barrier revealed when noting framing effect in language models.

Ranabir Devgupta, Raj Abhijit Dandekar, Rajat Dandekar et al.

In this study, we apply two pillars of Scientific Machine Learning: Neural Ordinary Differential Equations (Neural ODEs) and Universal Differential Equations (UDEs) to the Lotka Volterra Predator Prey Model, a fundamental ecological model describing the dynamic interactions between predator and prey populations. The Lotka-Volterra model is critical for understanding ecological dynamics, population control, and species interactions, as it is represented by a system of differential equations. In this work, we aim to uncover the underlying differential equations without prior knowledge of the system, relying solely on training data and neural networks. Using robust modeling in the Julia programming language, we demonstrate that both Neural ODEs and UDEs can be effectively utilized for prediction and forecasting of the Lotka-Volterra system. More importantly, we introduce the forecasting breakdown point: the time at which forecasting fails for both Neural ODEs and UDEs. We observe how UDEs outperform Neural ODEs by effectively recovering the underlying dynamics and achieving accurate forecasting with significantly less training data. Additionally, we introduce Gaussian noise of varying magnitudes (from mild to high) to simulate real-world data perturbations and show that UDEs exhibit superior robustness, effectively recovering the underlying dynamics even in the presence of noisy data, while Neural ODEs struggle with high levels of noise. Through extensive hyperparameter optimization, we offer insights into neural network architectures, activation functions, and optimizers that yield the best results. This study opens the door to applying Scientific Machine Learning frameworks for forecasting tasks across a wide range of ecological and scientific domains.

Raymundo Vazquez Martinez, Raj Abhijit Dandekar, Rajat Dandekar et al.

In this study, we apply two pillars of Scientific Machine Learning: Neural Ordinary Differential Equations (Neural ODEs) and Universal Differential Equations (UDEs) to the Chandrasekhar White Dwarf Equation (CWDE). The CWDE is fundamental for understanding the life cycle of a star, and describes the relationship between the density of the white dwarf and its distance from the center. Despite the rise in Scientific Machine Learning frameworks, very less attention has been paid to the systematic applications of the above SciML pillars on astronomy based ODEs. Through robust modeling in the Julia programming language, we show that both Neural ODEs and UDEs can be used effectively for both prediction as well as forecasting of the CWDE. More importantly, we introduce the forecasting breakdown point - the time at which forecasting fails for both Neural ODEs and UDEs. Through a robust hyperparameter optimization testing, we provide insights on the neural network architecture, activation functions and optimizers which provide the best results. This study provides opens a door to investigate the applicability of Scientific Machine Learning frameworks in forecasting tasks for a wide range of scientific domains.

Aiswarya Konavoor, Raj Abhijit Dandekar, Rajat Dandekar et al.

Vision-language models (VLM) align images and text in a shared representation space that is useful for retrieval and zero-shot transfer. Yet, this alignment can encode and amplify social stereotypes in subtle ways that are not obvious from standard accuracy metrics. In this study, we test whether the contrastive vision-language encoder exhibits gender-linked associations when it places embeddings of face images near embeddings of short phrases that describe occupations and activities. We assemble a dataset of 220 face photographs split by perceived binary gender and a set of 150 unique statements distributed across six categories covering emotional labor, cognitive labor, domestic labor, technical labor, professional roles, and physical labor. We compute unit-norm image embeddings for every face and unit-norm text embeddings for every statement, then define a statement-level association score as the difference between the mean cosine similarity to the male set and the mean cosine similarity to the female set, where positive values indicate stronger association with the male set and negative values indicate stronger association with the female set. We attach bootstrap confidence intervals by resampling images within each gender group, aggregate by category with a separate bootstrap over statements, and run a label-swap null model that estimates the level of mean absolute association we would expect if no gender structure were present. The outcome is a statement-wise and category-wise map of gender associations in a contrastive vision-language space, accompanied by uncertainty, simple sanity checks, and a robust gender bias evaluation framework.

Kavya Subramanian, Prathamesh Dinesh Joshi, Raj Abhijit Dandekar et al.

Forecasting tumor growth is critical for optimizing treatment. Classical growth models such as the Gompertz and Bertalanffy equations capture general tumor dynamics but may fail to adapt to patient-specific variability, particularly with limited data available. In this study, we leverage Neural Ordinary Differential Equations (Neural ODEs) and Universal Differential Equations (UDEs), two pillars of Scientific Machine Learning (SciML), to construct adaptive tumor growth models capable of learning from experimental data. Using the Gompertz model as a baseline, we replace rigid terms with adaptive neural networks to capture hidden dynamics through robust modeling in the Julia programming language. We use our models to perform forecasting under data constraints and symbolic recovery to transform the learned dynamics into explicit mathematical expressions. Our approach has the potential to improve predictive accuracy, guiding dynamic and effective treatment strategies for improved clinical outcomes.

Miheer Salunke, Prathamesh Dinesh Joshi, Raj Abhijit Dandekar et al.

Auditory sensory overload affects 50-70% of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), yet existing approaches, such as mechanistic models (Hodgkin Huxley type, Wilson Cowan, excitation inhibition balance), clinical tools (EEG/MEG, Sensory Profile scales), and ML methods (Neural ODEs, predictive coding), either assume fixed parameters or lack interpretability, missing autism heterogeneity. We present a Scientific Machine Learning approach using Universal Differential Equations (UDEs) to model sensory adaptation dynamics in autism. Our framework combines ordinary differential equations grounded in biophysics with neural networks to capture both mechanistic understanding and individual variability. We demonstrate that UDEs achieve a 90.8% improvement over pure Neural ODEs while using 73.5% fewer parameters. The model successfully recovers physiological parameters within the 2% error and provides a quantitative risk assessment for sensory overload, predicting 17.2% risk for pulse stimuli with specific temporal patterns. This framework establishes foundations for personalized, evidence-based interventions in autism, with direct applications to wearable technology and clinical practice.

Satyanarayana Raju G. V., Prathamesh Dinesh Joshi, Raj Abhijit Dandekar et al.

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is a foundation of soil health and global climate resilience, yet its prediction remains difficult because of intricate physical, chemical, and biological processes. In this study, we explore a Scientific Machine Learning (SciML) framework built on Universal Differential Equations (UDEs) to forecast SOC dynamics across soil depth and time. UDEs blend mechanistic physics, such as advection diffusion transport, with neural networks that learn nonlinear microbial production and respiration. Using synthetic datasets, we systematically evaluated six experimental cases, progressing from clean, noise free benchmarks to stress tests with high (35%) multiplicative, spatially correlated noise. Our results highlight both the potential and limitations of the approach. In noise free and moderate noise settings, the UDE accurately reconstructed SOC dynamics. In clean terminal profile at 50 years (Case 4) achieved near perfect fidelity, with MSE = 1.6e-5, and R2 = 0.9999. Case 5, with 7% noise, remained robust (MSE = 3.4e-6, R2 = 0.99998), capturing depth wise SOC trends while tolerating realistic measurement uncertainty. In contrast, Case 3 (35% noise at t = 0) showed clear evidence of overfitting: the model reproduced noisy inputs with high accuracy but lost generalization against the clean truth (R2 = 0.94). Case 6 (35% noise at t = 50) collapsed toward overly smooth mean profiles, failing to capture depth wise variability and yielding negative R2, underscoring the limits of standard training under severe uncertainty. These findings suggest that UDEs are well suited for scalable, noise tolerant SOC forecasting, though advancing toward field deployment will require noise aware loss functions, probabilistic modelling, and tighter integration of microbial dynamics.

Nachiket N. Naik, Prathamesh Dinesh Joshi, Raj Abhijit Dandekar et al.

We study learning of continuous-time inventory dynamics under stochastic demand and quantify when structure helps or hurts forecasting of the bullwhip effect. BULL-ODE compares a fully learned Neural ODE (NODE) that models the entire right-hand side against a physics-informed Universal Differential Equation (UDE) that preserves conservation and order-up-to structure while learning a small residual policy term. Classical supply chain models explain the bullwhip through control/forecasting choices and information sharing, while recent physics-informed and neural differential equation methods blend domain constraints with learned components. It is unclear whether structural bias helps or hinders forecasting under different demand regimes. We address this by using a single-echelon testbed with three demand regimes - AR(1) (autocorrelated), i.i.d. Gaussian, and heavy-tailed lognormal. Training is done on varying fractions of each trajectory, followed by evaluation of multi-step forecasts for inventory I, order rate O, and demand D. Across the structured regimes, UDE consistently generalizes better: with 90% of the training horizon, inventory RMSE drops from 4.92 (NODE) to 0.26 (UDE) under AR(1) and from 5.96 to 0.95 under Gaussian demand. Under heavy-tailed lognormal shocks, the flexibility of NODE is better. These trends persist as train18 ing data shrinks, with NODE exhibiting phase drift in extrapolation while UDE remains stable but underreacts to rare spikes. Our results provide concrete guidance: enforce structure when noise is light-tailed or temporally correlated; relax structure when extreme events dominate. Beyond inventory control, the results offer guidance for hybrid modeling in scientific and engineering systems: enforce known structure when conservation laws and modest noise dominate, and relax structure to capture extremes in settings where rare events drive dynamics.

Karthik Pappu, Prathamesh Dinesh Joshi, Raj Abhijit Dandekar et al.

Accurately modeling malware propagation is essential for designing effective cybersecurity defenses, particularly against adaptive threats that evolve in real time. While traditional epidemiological models and recent neural approaches offer useful foundations, they often fail to fully capture the nonlinear feedback mechanisms present in real-world networks. In this work, we apply scientific machine learning to malware modeling by evaluating three approaches: classical Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs), Universal Differential Equations (UDEs), and Neural ODEs. Using data from the Code Red worm outbreak, we show that the UDE approach substantially reduces prediction error compared to both traditional and neural baselines by 44%, while preserving interpretability. We introduce a symbolic recovery method that transforms the learned neural feedback into explicit mathematical expressions, revealing suppression mechanisms such as network saturation, security response, and malware variant evolution. Our results demonstrate that hybrid physics-informed models can outperform both purely analytical and purely neural approaches, offering improved predictive accuracy and deeper insight into the dynamics of malware spread. These findings support the development of early warning systems, efficient outbreak response strategies, and targeted cyber defense interventions.

Karishma Battina, Prathamesh Dinesh Joshi, Raj Abhijit Dandekar et al.

Traditional numerical methods often struggle with the complexity and scale of modeling pollutant transport across vast and dynamic oceanic domains. This paper introduces a Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN) framework to simulate the dispersion of pollutants governed by the 2D advection-diffusion equation. The model achieves physically consistent predictions by embedding physical laws and fitting to noisy synthetic data, generated via a finite difference method (FDM), directly into the neural network training process. This approach addresses challenges such as non-linear dynamics and the enforcement of boundary and initial conditions. Synthetic data sets, augmented with varying noise levels, are used to capture real-world variability. The training incorporates a hybrid loss function including PDE residuals, boundary/initial condition conformity, and a weighted data fit term. The approach takes advantage of the Julia language scientific computing ecosystem for high-performance simulations, offering a scalable and flexible alternative to traditional solvers

Sharv Murgai, Hrishikesh Bhagwat, Raj Abhijit Dandekar et al.

Carbon emissions are rising at an alarming rate, posing a significant threat to global efforts to mitigate climate change. Electric vehicles have emerged as a promising solution, but their reliance on lithium-ion batteries introduces the critical challenge of battery degradation. Accurate prediction and forecasting of battery degradation over both short and long time spans are essential for optimizing performance, extending battery life, and ensuring effective long-term energy management. This directly influences the reliability, safety, and sustainability of EVs, supporting their widespread adoption and aligning with key UN SDGs. In this paper, we present a novel approach to the prediction and long-term forecasting of battery degradation using Scientific Machine Learning framework which integrates domain knowledge with neural networks, offering more interpretable and scientifically grounded solutions for both predicting short-term battery health and forecasting degradation over extended periods. This hybrid approach captures both known and unknown degradation dynamics, improving predictive accuracy while reducing data requirements. We incorporate ground-truth data to inform our models, ensuring that both the predictions and forecasts reflect practical conditions. The model achieved MSE of 9.90 with the UDE and 11.55 with the NeuralODE, in experimental data, a loss of 1.6986 with the UDE, and a MSE of 2.49 in the NeuralODE, demonstrating the enhanced precision of our approach. This integration of data-driven insights with SciML's strengths in interpretability and scalability allows for robust battery management. By enhancing battery longevity and minimizing waste, our approach contributes to the sustainability of energy systems and accelerates the global transition toward cleaner, more responsible energy solutions, aligning with the UN's SDG agenda.