Leevan Ling

Pankaj K Mishra, Gregory E Fasshauer, Mrinal K Sen et al.

Recent developments have made it possible to overcome grid-based limitations of finite difference (FD) methods by adopting the kernel-based meshless framework using radial basis functions (RBFs). Such an approach provides a meshless implementation and is referred to as the radial basis-generated finite difference (RBF-FD) method. In this paper, we propose a stabilized RBF-FD approach with a hybrid kernel, generated through a hybridization of the Gaussian and cubic RBF. This hybrid kernel was found to improve the condition of the system matrix, consequently, the linear system can be solved with direct solvers which leads to a significant reduction in the computational cost as compared to standard RBF-FD methods coupled with present stable algorithms. Unlike other RBF-FD approaches, the eigenvalue spectra of differentiation matrices were found to be stable irrespective of irregularity, and the size of the stencils. As an application, we solve the frequency-domain acoustic wave equation in a 2D half-space. In order to suppress spurious reflections from truncated computational boundaries, absorbing boundary conditions have been effectively implemented.

Ka-Chun Cheung, Leevan Ling, Robert Schaback

The strong-form asymmetric kernel-based collocation method, commonly referred to as the Kansa method, is easy to implement and hence is widely used for solving engineering problems and partial differential equations despite the lack of theoretical support. The simple least-squares (LS) formulation, on the other hand, makes the study of its solvability and convergence rather nontrivial. In this paper, we focus on general second order linear elliptic differential equations in $Ω\subset R^d$ under Dirichlet boundary conditions. With kernels that reproduce $H^m(Ω)$ and some smoothness assumptions on the solution, we provide denseness conditions for a constrained least-squares method and a class of weighted least-squares algorithms to be convergent. Theoretically, we identify some $H^2(Ω)$ convergent LS formulations that have an optimal error behavior like $h^{m-2}$. We also demonstrate the effects of various collocation settings on the respective convergence rates, as well as how these formulations perform with high order kernels and when coupled with the stable evaluation technique for the Gaussian kernel.

Argyrios Petras, Leevan Ling, Steven J. Ruuth

Partial differential equations (PDEs) on surfaces appear in many applications throughout the natural and applied sciences. The classical closest point method (Ruuth and Merriman, J. Comput. Phys. 227(3):1943-1961, [2008]) is an embedding method for solving PDEs on surfaces using standard finite difference schemes. In this paper, we formulate an explicit closest point method using finite difference schemes derived from radial basis functions (RBF- FD). Unlike the orthogonal gradients method (Piret, J. Comput. Phys. 231(14):4662-4675, [2012]), our proposed method uses RBF centers on regular grid nodes. This formulation not only reduces the computational cost but also avoids the ill-conditioning from point clustering on the surface and is more natural to couple with a grid based manifold evolution algorithm (Leung and Zhao, J. Comput. Phys. 228(8):2993-3024, [2009]). When compared to the standard finite difference discretization of the closest point method, the proposed method requires a smaller computational domain surrounding the surface, resulting in a decrease in the number of sampling points on the surface. In addition, higher-order schemes can easily be constructed by increasing the number of points in the RBF-FD stencil. Applications to a variety of examples are provided to illustrate the numerical convergence of the method.

Amir Noorizadegan, Sifan Wang, Leevan Ling

Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs) have recently emerged as a promising alternative to traditional Multilayer Perceptrons (MLPs), inspired by the Kolmogorov-Arnold representation theorem. Unlike MLPs, which use fixed activation functions on nodes, KANs employ learnable univariate basis functions on edges, offering enhanced expressivity and interpretability. This review provides a systematic and comprehensive overview of the rapidly expanding KAN landscape, moving beyond simple performance comparisons to offer a structured synthesis of theoretical foundations, architectural variants, and practical implementation strategies. By collecting and categorizing a vast array of open-source implementations, we map the vibrant ecosystem supporting KAN development. We begin by bridging the conceptual gap between KANs and MLPs, establishing their formal equivalence and highlighting the superior parameter efficiency of the KAN formulation. A central theme of our review is the critical role of the basis function; we survey a wide array of choices, including B-splines, Chebyshev and Jacobi polynomials, ReLU compositions, Gaussian RBFs, and Fourier series, and analyze their respective trade-offs in terms of smoothness, locality, and computational cost. We then categorize recent advancements into a clear roadmap, covering techniques for improving accuracy, efficiency, and regularization. Key topics include physics-informed loss design, adaptive sampling, domain decomposition, hybrid architectures, and specialized methods for handling discontinuities. Finally, we provide a practical "Choose-Your-KAN" guide to help practitioners select appropriate architectures, and we conclude by identifying current research gaps. The associated GitHub repository https://github.com/AmirNoori68/kan-review complements this paper and serves as a structured reference for ongoing KAN research.

Alex Shiu Lun Chu, Leevan Ling, Ka Chun Cheung

We study algorithms to estimate geometric properties of raw point cloud data through implicit surface representations. Given that any level-set function with a constant level set corresponding to the surface can be used for such estimations, numerical methods need not specify a unique target function for these domain-type interpolation problems. In this paper, we focus on kernel-based interpolation by radial basis functions (RBF) and reformulate the uniquely solvable interpolation problem into a constrained optimization model. This model minimizes some user-defined norm while enforcing all interpolation conditions. To enable nontrivial feasible solutions, we propose to enhance the trial space with 1D kernel basis functions inspired by Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs). Numerical experiments demonstrate that our proposed mixed-dimensional trial space significantly improves surface reconstruction from raw point clouds. This is particularly evident in the precise estimation of surface normals, outperforming traditional RBF trial spaces including the one for Hermite interpolation. This framework not only enhances processing of raw point cloud data but also shows potential for further contributions to computational geometry. We demonstrate this with a point cloud processing example.