# Evolving Generalizable Multigrid-Based Helmholtz Preconditioners with Grammar-Guided Genetic Programming

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2204.12846 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.12846/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 7 of its 57 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 27 Apr 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Fourier Neural Operator for Parametric Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.08895/) (2020)
- [Physics-Informed Neural Operator for Learning Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.03794/) (2021)
- [Neural Operator: Learning Maps Between Function Spaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.08481/) (2021)
- [Learning to Optimize Multigrid PDE Solvers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.10248/) (2019)
- [Learning Algebraic Multigrid Using Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.05744/) (2020)
- [Optimization-Based Algebraic Multigrid Coarsening Using Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.01854/) (2021)
- [Learning optimal multigrid smoothers via neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.12071/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Towards Automated Algebraic Multigrid Preconditioner Design Using Genetic Programming for Large-Scale Laser Beam Welding Simulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.08186/) (2024)
- [Automated Grammar-based Algebraic Multigrid Design With Evolutionary Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.17641/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Solving the indefinite Helmholtz equation is not only crucial for the understanding of many physical phenomena but also represents an outstandingly-difficult benchmark problem for the successful application of numerical methods. Here we introduce a new approach for evolving efficient preconditioned iterative solvers for Helmholtz problems with multi-objective grammar-guided genetic programming. Our approach is based on a novel context-free grammar, which enables the construction of multigrid preconditioners that employ a tailored sequence of operations on each discretization level. To find solvers that generalize well over the given domain, we propose a custom method of successive problem difficulty adaption, in which we evaluate a preconditioner's efficiency on increasingly ill-conditioned problem instances. We demonstrate our approach's effectiveness by evolving multigrid-based preconditioners for a two-dimensional indefinite Helmholtz problem that outperform several human-designed methods for different wavenumbers up to systems of linear equations with more than a million unknowns.