# Self-Supervised Evolution Operator Learning for High-Dimensional Dynamical Systems

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.18671 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.18671/

## Key facts

- Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 47 of its 107 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 24 May 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 47)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [A Simple Framework for Contrastive Learning of Visual Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.05709/) (2020)
- [Representation Learning with Contrastive Predictive Coding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.03748/) (2018)
- [Bootstrap your own latent: A new approach to self-supervised Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.07733/) (2020)
- [Fourier Neural Operator for Parametric Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.08895/) (2020)
- [Exploring Simple Siamese Representation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.10566/) (2020)
- [Barlow Twins: Self-Supervised Learning via Redundancy Reduction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.03230/) (2021)
- [Spectral Normalization for Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.05957/) (2018)
- [Learning to Simulate Complex Physics with Graph Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.09405/) (2020)
- [Learning Mesh-Based Simulation with Graph Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.03409/) (2020)
- [FourCastNet: A Global Data-driven High-resolution Weather Model using Adaptive Fourier Neural Operators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.11214/) (2022)
- [SchNet: A continuous-filter convolutional neural network for modeling quantum interactions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.08566/) (2017)
- [On Variational Bounds of Mutual Information](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.06922/) (2019)
- [Deep learning for universal linear embeddings of nonlinear dynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.09707/) (2017)
- [Data-Efficient Reinforcement Learning with Self-Predictive Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.05929/) (2020)
- [On Mutual Information Maximization for Representation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.13625/) (2019)
- [Provable Guarantees for Self-Supervised Deep Learning with Spectral Contrastive Loss](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.04156/) (2021)
- [The Open Catalyst 2020 (OC20) Dataset and Community Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.09990/) (2020)
- [Neural General Circulation Models for Weather and Climate](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.07222/) (2023)
- [Pangu-Weather: A 3D High-Resolution Model for Fast and Accurate Global Weather Forecast](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.02556/) (2022)
- [VAMPnets: Deep learning of molecular kinetics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.06012/) (2017)
- [Forecasting Sequential Data using Consistent Koopman Autoencoders](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.02236/) (2020)
- [On Convergence of Extended Dynamic Mode Decomposition to the Koopman Operator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.04680/) (2017)
- [Learning Dynamical Systems via Koopman Operator Regression in Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.14027/) (2022)
- [Time-lagged autoencoders: Deep learning of slow collective variables for molecular kinetics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.11239/) (2017)
- [Variational approach for learning Markov processes from time series data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.04659/) (2017)
- [Eigendecompositions of Transfer Operators in Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.01572/) (2017)
- [Beyond Separability: Analyzing the Linear Transferability of Contrastive Representations to Related Subpopulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.02683/) (2022)
- [ChaosBench: A Multi-Channel, Physics-Based Benchmark for Subseasonal-to-Seasonal Climate Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.00712/) (2024)
- [Spectral Decomposition Representation for Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.09515/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Efficient Parametric SVD of Koopman Operator for Stochastic Dynamical Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.07222/) (2025)
- [Outcome-Aware Spectral Feature Learning for Instrumental Variable Regression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.00919/) (2025)
- [Toward Scalable and Valid Conditional Independence Testing with Spectral Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.19510/) (2025)
- [kooplearn: A Scikit-Learn Compatible Library of Algorithms for Evolution Operator Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.21409/) (2025)
- [Reward-free Pretraining for Reinforcement Learning via Occupancy Coverage Maximization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.21271/) (2026)
- [Score the Algebra, Not the Span: Dimension Reduction for Transfer Operator Models of Dynamical Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.18918/) (2026)
- [Learning Conditional Expectation Operators via Functional Newton Updates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.35598/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We introduce an encoder-only approach to learn the evolution operators of large-scale non-linear dynamical systems, such as those describing complex natural phenomena. Evolution operators are particularly well-suited for analyzing systems that exhibit complex spatio-temporal patterns and have become a key analytical tool across various scientific communities. As terabyte-scale weather datasets and simulation tools capable of running millions of molecular dynamics steps per day are becoming commodities, our approach provides an effective tool to make sense of them from a data-driven perspective. The core of it lies in a remarkable connection between self-supervised representation learning methods and the recently established learning theory of evolution operators. To show the usefulness of the proposed method, we test it across multiple scientific domains: explaining the folding dynamics of small proteins, the binding process of drug-like molecules in host sites, and autonomously finding patterns in climate data. Code and data to reproduce the experiments are made available open source.