# DeepAdversaries: Examining the Robustness of Deep Learning Models for Galaxy Morphology Classification

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.14299 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.14299/

## Key facts

- Cited by 10 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 41 of its 107 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 Dec 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 41)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [Explaining and Harnessing Adversarial Examples](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6572/) (2014)
- [Towards Deep Learning Models Resistant to Adversarial Attacks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.06083/) (2017)
- [Intriguing properties of neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1312.6199/) (2013)
- [Domain-Adversarial Training of Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.07818/) (2015)
- [Benchmarking Neural Network Robustness to Common Corruptions and Perturbations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.12261/) (2019)
- [Deep CORAL: Correlation Alignment for Deep Domain Adaptation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1607.01719/) (2016)
- [Adversarial Examples Are Not Bugs, They Are Features](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.02175/) (2019)
- [Reluplex: An Efficient SMT Solver for Verifying Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1702.01135/) (2017)
- [Distillation as a Defense to Adversarial Perturbations against Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1511.04508/) (2015)
- [ZOO: Zeroth Order Optimization based Black-box Attacks to Deep Neural Networks without Training Substitute Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.03999/) (2017)
- [Deep Visual Domain Adaptation: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.03601/) (2018)
- [One pixel attack for fooling deep neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.08864/) (2017)
- [Contrastive Adaptation Network for Unsupervised Domain Adaptation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.00976/) (2019)
- [A Survey of Unsupervised Deep Domain Adaptation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.02849/) (2018)
- [Adversarial Examples: Attacks and Defenses for Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.07107/) (2017)
- [Detecting Adversarial Samples from Artifacts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.00410/) (2017)
- [On Detecting Adversarial Perturbations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1702.04267/) (2017)
- [Universal Domain Adaptation through Self Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.07953/) (2020)
- [Towards Deep Neural Network Architectures Robust to Adversarial Examples](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.5068/) (2014)
- [Understanding How Image Quality Affects Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1604.04004/) (2016)
- [Adversarial Examples Are a Natural Consequence of Test Error in Noise](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.10513/) (2019)
- [A Study and Comparison of Human and Deep Learning Recognition Performance Under Visual Distortions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.02498/) (2017)
- [SafetyNet: Detecting and Rejecting Adversarial Examples Robustly](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.00103/) (2017)
- [Robust Physical-World Attacks on Deep Learning Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.08945/) (2017)
- [DeepSphere: Efficient spherical Convolutional Neural Network with HEALPix sampling for cosmological applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.12186/) (2018)
- [Adversarial Examples, Uncertainty, and Transfer Testing Robustness in Gaussian Process Hybrid Deep Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.02476/) (2017)
- [Deep Learning for Real-time Gravitational Wave Detection and Parameter Estimation: Results with Advanced LIGO Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.03121/) (2017)
- [Robust Unsupervised Domain Adaptation for Neural Networks via Moment Alignment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.06114/) (2017)

## Built on by (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [DeepAstroUDA: Semi-Supervised Universal Domain Adaptation for Cross-Survey Galaxy Morphology Classification and Anomaly Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.02005/) (2023)
- [E(2) Equivariant Neural Networks for Robust Galaxy Morphology Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.01500/) (2023)
- [Machine Learning and Cosmology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.08056/) (2022)
- [Improving Robustness of Jet Tagging Algorithms with Adversarial Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.13890/) (2022)
- [Domain Adaptive Graph Neural Networks for Constraining Cosmological Parameters Across Multiple Data Sets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.01588/) (2023)
- [Semi-Supervised Domain Adaptation for Cross-Survey Galaxy Morphology Classification and Anomaly Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.00677/) (2022)
- [Locating Hidden Exoplanets in ALMA Data Using Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.09541/) (2022)
- [Neural Network Prediction of Strong Lensing Systems with Domain Adaptation and Uncertainty Quantification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.03334/) (2024)
- [SIDDA: SInkhorn Dynamic Domain Adaptation for Image Classification with Equivariant Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.14048/) (2025)
- [From Simulations to Surveys: Domain Adaptation for Galaxy Observations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.18590/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

With increased adoption of supervised deep learning methods for processing and analysis of cosmological survey data, the assessment of data perturbation effects (that can naturally occur in the data processing and analysis pipelines) and the development of methods that increase model robustness are increasingly important. In the context of morphological classification of galaxies, we study the effects of perturbations in imaging data. In particular, we examine the consequences of using neural networks when training on baseline data and testing on perturbed data. We consider perturbations associated with two primary sources: 1) increased observational noise as represented by higher levels of Poisson noise and 2) data processing noise incurred by steps such as image compression or telescope errors as represented by one-pixel adversarial attacks. We also test the efficacy of domain adaptation techniques in mitigating the perturbation-driven errors. We use classification accuracy, latent space visualizations, and latent space distance to assess model robustness. Without domain adaptation, we find that processing pixel-level errors easily flip the classification into an incorrect class and that higher observational noise makes the model trained on low-noise data unable to classify galaxy morphologies. On the other hand, we show that training with domain adaptation improves model robustness and mitigates the effects of these perturbations, improving the classification accuracy by 23% on data with higher observational noise. Domain adaptation also increases by a factor of ~2.3 the latent space distance between the baseline and the incorrectly classified one-pixel perturbed image, making the model more robust to inadvertent perturbations.