mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Diffusion Models: A Comprehensive Survey of Methods and Applications

arXiv 2209.00796 ↗First posted 2 Sep 2022cs.LG cs.AI cs.CVcited by 1,107

On the map: Diffusion models → Diffusion foundations and sampling

Abstract (arXiv)

Diffusion models have emerged as a powerful new family of deep generative models with record-breaking performance in many applications, including image synthesis, video generation, and molecule design. In this survey, we provide an overview of the rapidly expanding body of work on diffusion models, categorizing the research into three key areas: efficient sampling, improved likelihood estimation, and handling data with special structures. We also discuss the potential for combining diffusion models with other generative models for enhanced results. We further review the wide-ranging applications of diffusion models in fields spanning from computer vision, natural language generation, temporal data modeling, to interdisciplinary applications in other scientific disciplines. This survey aims to provide a contextualized, in-depth look at the state of diffusion models, identifying the key areas of focus and pointing to potential areas for further exploration. Github: https://github.com/YangLing0818/Diffusion-Models-Papers-Survey-Taxonomy.

Key facts. Cited by 1,107 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Diffusion foundations and sampling, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models. Builds on 267 of its 394 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 2 Sep 2022.

Builds on

267 of 394 references.

Closest ancestors · 57

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2022Let us Build Bridges: Understanding and Extending Diffusion Generative Models31 Aug
  2. 2022Frido: Feature Pyramid Diffusion for Complex Scene Image Synthesis29 Aug
  3. 2022Understanding Diffusion Models: A Unified Perspective25 Aug
  4. 2022Cold Diffusion: Inverting Arbitrary Image Transforms Without Noise19 Aug
  5. 2022Enhancing Diffusion-Based Image Synthesis with Robust Classifier Guidance18 Aug
  6. 2022Riemannian Diffusion Models16 Aug
  7. 2022Your ViT is Secretly a Hybrid Discriminative-Generative Diffusion Model16 Aug
  8. 2022Applying Regularized Schr"odinger-Bridge-Based Stochastic Process in Generative Modeling15 Aug
  9. 2022Analog Bits: Generating Discrete Data using Diffusion Models with Self-Conditioning8 Aug
  10. 2022Classifier-Free Diffusion Guidance26 Jul
  11. 2022EGSDE: Unpaired Image-to-Image Translation via Energy-Guided Stochastic Differential Equations14 Jul
  12. 2022Improving Diffusion Model Efficiency Through Patching9 Jul
38 more
  1. 2022Diffusion models as plug-and-play priors17 Jun
  2. 2022Maximum Likelihood Training for Score-Based Diffusion ODEs by High-Order Denoising Score Matching16 Jun
  3. 2022CARD: Classification and Regression Diffusion Models15 Jun
  4. 2022gDDIM: Generalized denoising diffusion implicit models11 Jun
  5. 2022How Much is Enough? A Study on Diffusion Times in Score-based Generative Models10 Jun
  6. 2022DPM-Solver: A Fast ODE Solver for Diffusion Probabilistic Model Sampling in Around 10 Steps2 Jun
  7. 2022Elucidating the Design Space of Diffusion-Based Generative Models1 Jun
  8. 2022A Continuous Time Framework for Discrete Denoising Models30 May
  9. 2022Maximum Likelihood Training of Implicit Nonlinear Diffusion Models27 May
  10. 2022Accelerating Diffusion Models via Early Stop of the Diffusion Process25 May
  11. 2022Subspace Diffusion Generative Models3 May
  12. 2022Fast Sampling of Diffusion Models with Exponential Integrator29 Apr
  13. 2022Generating High Fidelity Data from Low-density Regions using Diffusion Models31 Mar
  14. 2022Conditional Simulation Using Diffusion Schr"odinger Bridges27 Feb
  15. 2022Pseudo Numerical Methods for Diffusion Models on Manifolds20 Feb
  16. 2022Truncated Diffusion Probabilistic Models and Diffusion-based Adversarial Auto-Encoders19 Feb
  17. 2022Learning Fast Samplers for Diffusion Models by Differentiating Through Sample Quality11 Feb
  18. 2022Riemannian Score-Based Generative Modelling6 Feb
  19. 2022Analytic-DPM: an Analytic Estimate of the Optimal Reverse Variance in Diffusion Probabilistic Models17 Jan
  20. 2021High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models20 Dec
  21. 2021Tackling the Generative Learning Trilemma with Denoising Diffusion GANs15 Dec
  22. 2021Score-Based Generative Modeling with Critically-Damped Langevin Diffusion14 Dec
  23. 2021Diffusion Autoencoders: Toward a Meaningful and Decodable Representation30 Nov
  24. 2021Vector Quantized Diffusion Model for Text-to-Image Synthesis29 Nov
  25. 2021Conditional Image Generation with Score-Based Diffusion Models26 Nov
  26. 2021Diffusion Normalizing Flow14 Oct
  27. 2021Score-Based Generative Classifiers1 Oct
  28. 2021Structured Denoising Diffusion Models in Discrete State-Spaces7 Jul
  29. 2021Variational Diffusion Models1 Jul
  30. 2021Diffusion Priors In Variational Autoencoders29 Jun
  31. 2021Score-based Generative Modeling in Latent Space10 Jun
  32. 2021Soft Truncation: A Universal Training Technique of Score-based Diffusion Model for High Precision Score Estimation10 Jun
  33. 2021Learning to Efficiently Sample from Diffusion Probabilistic Models7 Jun
  34. 2021A Variational Perspective on Diffusion-Based Generative Models and Score Matching5 Jun
  35. 2021Diffusion Schr"odinger Bridge with Applications to Score-Based Generative Modeling1 Jun
  36. 2021Cascaded Diffusion Models for High Fidelity Image Generation30 May
  37. 2021Gotta Go Fast When Generating Data with Score-Based Models28 May
  38. 2021Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesis11 May

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Other references · 210

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  4. 2019Generative Modeling by Estimating Gradients of the Data Distributioncited by 4,067
  5. 2013Auto-Encoding Variational Bayescited by 3,980
  6. 2021On the Opportunities and Risks of Foundation Modelscited by 3,961
  7. 2018Neural Ordinary Differential Equationscited by 3,733
  8. 2021GLIDE: Towards Photorealistic Image Generation and Editing with Text-Guided Diffusion Modelscited by 3,595
  9. 2022OPT: Open Pre-trained Transformer Language Modelscited by 3,464
  10. 2017Neural Message Passing for Quantum Chemistrycited by 3,460
  11. 2022DreamBooth: Fine Tuning Text-to-Image Diffusion Models for Subject-Driven Generationcited by 3,286
  12. 2020Taming Transformers for High-Resolution Image Synthesiscited by 3,229
  13. 2019A Comprehensive Survey on Graph Neural Networkscited by 2,906
  14. 2015VQA: Visual Question Answeringcited by 2,489
  15. 2022Emergent Abilities of Large Language Modelscited by 2,483
  16. 2021Efficiently Modeling Long Sequences with Structured State Spacescited by 2,424
  17. 2017FiLM: Visual Reasoning with a General Conditioning Layercited by 2,286
  18. 2022Video Diffusion Modelscited by 2,280
  19. 2015Variational Inference with Normalizing Flowscited by 2,161
  20. 2016Density estimation using Real NVPcited by 2,029
  21. 2021SDEdit: Guided Image Synthesis and Editing with Stochastic Differential Equationscited by 1,903
  22. 2016WaveNet: A Generative Model for Raw Audiocited by 1,710
  23. 2016Generative Adversarial Imitation Learningcited by 1,576
  24. 2018Graph Neural Networks: A Review of Methods and Applicationscited by 1,571
  25. 2018Glow: Generative Flow with Invertible 1x1 Convolutionscited by 1,539
  26. 2019Generating Long Sequences with Sparse Transformerscited by 1,523
  27. 2021Image Super-Resolution via Iterative Refinementcited by 1,506
  28. 2022RePaint: Inpainting using Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 1,419
  29. 2020DiffWave: A Versatile Diffusion Model for Audio Synthesiscited by 1,339
  30. 2019Normalizing Flows for Probabilistic Modeling and Inferencecited by 1,315
  31. 2021Palette: Image-to-Image Diffusion Modelscited by 1,296
  32. 2018Demystifying MMD GANscited by 1,268
  33. 2022CoCa: Contrastive Captioners are Image-Text Foundation Modelscited by 1,265
  34. 2022MaskGIT: Masked Generative Image Transformercited by 1,082
  35. 2014NICE: Non-linear Independent Components Estimationcited by 1,052
  36. 2022Planning with Diffusion for Flexible Behavior Synthesiscited by 1,023
  37. 2022Diffusion-LM Improves Controllable Text Generationcited by 1,006
  38. 2017DeepAR: Probabilistic Forecasting with Autoregressive Recurrent Networkscited by 1,004

50 most cited of 210 All 210 (JSON)

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Citing papers per year: 2022: 34; 2023: 229; 2024: 377; 2025: 316; 2026: 151.

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  1. 2023ModelScope Text-to-Video Technical Reportcited by 651
  2. 2024Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning for Large Models: A Comprehensive Surveycited by 641
  3. 2022Sampling is as easy as learning the score: theory for diffusion models with minimal data assumptionscited by 440
  4. 2023Analyzing and Improving the Training Dynamics of Diffusion Modelscited by 396
  5. 2024Retrieval-Augmented Generation for AI-Generated Content: A Surveycited by 352
  6. 2023I2VGen-XL: High-Quality Image-to-Video Synthesis via Cascaded Diffusion Modelscited by 343
  7. 2022Rodin: A Generative Model for Sculpting 3D Digital Avatars Using Diffusioncited by 309
  8. 2022Diffusion Models for Medical Image Analysis: A Comprehensive Surveycited by 269
  9. 2023Text-to-image Diffusion Models in Generative AI: A Surveycited by 264
  10. 2022Post-training Quantization on Diffusion Modelscited by 262
  11. 2023LayoutDiffusion: Controllable Diffusion Model for Layout-to-image Generationcited by 258
  12. 2023DriveDreamer: Towards Real-world-driven World Models for Autonomous Drivingcited by 258
38 more
  1. 2022What the DAAM: Interpreting Stable Diffusion Using Cross Attentioncited by 233
  2. 2024Mastering Text-to-Image Diffusion: Recaptioning, Planning, and Generating with Multimodal LLMscited by 224
  3. 2023TextDiffuser: Diffusion Models as Text Painterscited by 223
  4. 2024Diffusion Model-Based Image Editing: A Surveycited by 212
  5. 2023A Survey on Video Diffusion Modelscited by 203
  6. 2023Image Restoration with Mean-Reverting Stochastic Differential Equationscited by 182
  7. 2023Holistic Evaluation of Text-To-Image Modelscited by 160
  8. 2023A Reparameterized Discrete Diffusion Model for Text Generationcited by 152
  9. 2023Rich Human Feedback for Text-to-Image Generationcited by 139
  10. 2024Towards Understanding Cross and Self-Attention in Stable Diffusion for Text-Guided Image Editingcited by 134
  11. 2024Dynamical Regimes of Diffusion Modelscited by 133
  12. 2024Unique3D: High-Quality and Efficient 3D Mesh Generation from a Single Imagecited by 132
  13. 2023CADS: Unleashing the Diversity of Diffusion Models through Condition-Annealed Samplingcited by 124
  14. 2023Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) 2.0: A Manifesto of Open Challenges and Interdisciplinary Research Directionscited by 123
  15. 2024AEROBLADE: Training-Free Detection of Latent Diffusion Images Using Autoencoder Reconstruction Errorcited by 123
  16. 2024Reliable and Efficient Concept Erasure of Text-to-Image Diffusion Modelscited by 123
  17. 2022Vision-Language Pre-training: Basics, Recent Advances, and Future Trendscited by 117
  18. 2022Towards the Detection of Diffusion Model Deepfakescited by 111
  19. 2023Foundational Models Defining a New Era in Vision: A Survey and Outlookcited by 109
  20. 2023Scaling Laws of Synthetic Images for Model Training ... for Nowcited by 107
  21. 2022StoRM: A Diffusion-based Stochastic Regeneration Model for Speech Enhancement and Dereverberationcited by 105
  22. 2023Policy Representation via Diffusion Probability Model for Reinforcement Learningcited by 105
  23. 2023DYffusion: A Dynamics-informed Diffusion Model for Spatiotemporal Forecastingcited by 105
  24. 2022Soft Diffusion: Score Matching for General Corruptionscited by 101
  25. 2024Arc2Face: A Foundation Model for ID-Consistent Human Facescited by 101
  26. 2024Consistency Flow Matching: Defining Straight Flows with Velocity Consistencycited by 101
  27. 2024DiffusionPDE: Generative PDE-Solving Under Partial Observationcited by 100
  28. 2023Self-Supervised Learning for Time Series Analysis: Taxonomy, Progress, and Prospectscited by 97
  29. 2024Understanding Reinforcement Learning-Based Fine-Tuning of Diffusion Models: A Tutorial and Reviewcited by 92
  30. 2023DiffuRec: A Diffusion Model for Sequential Recommendationcited by 91
  31. 2023Text-to-Image Diffusion Models can be Easily Backdoored through Multimodal Data Poisoningcited by 91
  32. 2023Input Perturbation Reduces Exposure Bias in Diffusion Modelscited by 88
  33. 2023LDMVFI: Video Frame Interpolation with Latent Diffusion Modelscited by 88
  34. 2024Physics-Informed Diffusion Modelscited by 88
  35. 2023TexFusion: Synthesizing 3D Textures with Text-Guided Image Diffusion Modelscited by 86
  36. 2024MAISI: Medical AI for Synthetic Imagingcited by 86
  37. 2023Conditional Diffusion Models for Semantic 3D Brain MRI Synthesiscited by 85
  38. 2023Towards Faster Non-Asymptotic Convergence for Diffusion-Based Generative Modelscited by 84

50 most cited of 1,107 All 1,107 (JSON)

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