# Iterative Flow Matching: Path Correction and Gradual Refinement for Enhanced Generative Modeling

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.16445 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.16445/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Flow matching, time series and science, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 31 of its 50 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 Feb 2025.

## Placed in

- Diffusion models / [Flow matching, time series and science](https://mlsanity.com/diffusion/flow-matching-time-series-and-science/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 31)

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10752/) (2021)
- [Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.05233/) (2021)
- [Classifier-Free Diffusion Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.12598/) (2022)
- [Flow Matching for Generative Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.02747/) (2022)
- [Generative Modeling by Estimating Gradients of the Data Distribution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.05600/) (2019)
- [Auto-Encoding Variational Bayes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1312.6114/) (2013)
- [Neural Ordinary Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.07366/) (2018)
- [Sinkhorn Distances: Lightspeed Computation of Optimal Transportation Distances](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1306.0895/) (2013)
- [Variational Inference with Normalizing Flows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.05770/) (2015)
- [Normalizing Flows for Probabilistic Modeling and Inference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.02762/) (2019)
- [An Introduction to Variational Autoencoders](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.02691/) (2019)
- [Stochastic Interpolants: A Unifying Framework for Flows and Diffusions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.08797/) (2023)
- [Diffusion Schr"odinger Bridge with Applications to Score-Based Generative Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.01357/) (2021)
- [Stable Architectures for Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.03341/) (2017)
- [Flow Matching Guide and Code](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.06264/) (2024)
- [Multisample Flow Matching: Straightening Flows with Minibatch Couplings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.14772/) (2023)
- [Effectively Unbiased FID and Inception Score and where to find them](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.07023/) (2019)
- [Flow Matching in Latent Space](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.08698/) (2023)
- [Diffusion Schr"odinger Bridge Matching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.16852/) (2023)
- [An Introduction to Deep Generative Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.05180/) (2021)
- [Deep Generative Learning via Schr"odinger Bridge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.10410/) (2021)
- [Composing Normalizing Flows for Inverse Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.11743/) (2020)
- [Conditional Sampling with Monotone GANs: from Generative Models to Likelihood-Free Inference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.06755/) (2020)
- [Memorization and Regularization in Generative Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.15785/) (2025)
- [Sliced Iterative Normalizing Flows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.00674/) (2020)
- [AI Hallucinations: A Misnomer Worth Clarifying](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.06796/) (2024)
- [Flow matching achieves almost minimax optimal convergence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.20879/) (2024)
- [Gaussianization Flows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.01941/) (2020)
- [Ten Years of Generative Adversarial Nets (GANs): A survey of the state-of-the-art](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.16316/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Towards High-Order Mean Flow Generative Models: Feasibility, Expressivity, and Provably Efficient Criteria](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.07102/) (2025)
- [FlowCast: Trajectory Forecasting for Scalable Zero-Cost Speculative Flow Matching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.01329/) (2026)
- [FastFlow: Accelerating The Generative Flow Matching Models with Bandit Inference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.11105/) (2026)
- [Contextual Flow Matching: Adaptive Step Selection in Flow Models for Efficient Visual Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.03202/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Generative models for image generation are now commonly used for a wide variety of applications, ranging from guided image generation for entertainment to solving inverse problems. Nonetheless, training a generator is a non-trivial feat that requires fine-tuning and can lead to so-called hallucinations, that is, the generation of images that are unrealistic. In this work, we explore image generation using flow matching. We explain and demonstrate why flow matching can generate hallucinations, and propose an iterative process to improve the generation process. Our iterative process can be integrated into virtually any generative modeling technique, thereby enhancing the performance and robustness of image synthesis systems.