# Rectified Flows for Fast Multiscale Fluid Flow Modeling

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.03111 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.03111/

## 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 19 of its 34 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 3 Jun 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, 19 of 19)

- [Score-Based Generative Modeling through Stochastic Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13456/) (2020)
- [Photorealistic Text-to-Image Diffusion Models with Deep Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.11487/) (2022)
- [Scaling Rectified Flow Transformers for High-Resolution Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.03206/) (2024)
- [Flow Straight and Fast: Learning to Generate and Transfer Data with Rectified Flow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.03003/) (2022)
- [Fourier Neural Operator for Parametric Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.08895/) (2020)
- [DeepONet: Learning nonlinear operators for identifying differential equations based on the universal approximation theorem of operators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.03193/) (2019)
- [Neural Operator: Graph Kernel Network for Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.03485/) (2020)
- [GNOT: A General Neural Operator Transformer for Operator Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.14376/) (2023)
- [Transolver: A Fast Transformer Solver for PDEs on General Geometries](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.02366/) (2024)
- [Geometry-Informed Neural Operator for Large-Scale 3D PDEs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.00583/) (2023)
- [Convolutional Neural Operators for robust and accurate learning of PDEs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.01178/) (2023)
- [Poseidon: Efficient Foundation Models for PDEs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.19101/) (2024)
- [Representation Equivalent Neural Operators: a Framework for Alias-free Operator Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.19913/) (2023)
- [Integrating Neural Operators with Diffusion Models Improves Spectral Representation in Turbulence Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.08477/) (2024)
- [Generative AI for fast and accurate statistical computation of fluids](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.18359/) (2024)
- [Bayesian Conditional Diffusion Models for Versatile Spatiotemporal Turbulence Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.07896/) (2023)
- [RIGNO: A Graph-based framework for robust and accurate operator learning for PDEs on arbitrary domains](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.19205/) (2025)
- [Generative Learning of the Solution of Parametric Partial Differential Equations Using Guided Diffusion Models and Virtual Observations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.00157/) (2024)
- [Generative Learning for Forecasting the Dynamics of Complex Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.17157/) (2024)

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

- [Reframing Generative Models for Physical Systems using Stochastic Interpolants](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.26282/) (2025)
- [Memory-Conditioned Flow-Matching for Stable Autoregressive PDE Rollouts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.06689/) (2026)
- [Physics-Informed Neural PDE Solvers via Spatio-Temporal MeanFlow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.08915/) (2026)
- [Autoregressive One-Step Generative Modeling for Dynamical System Forecasting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.05540/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Statistical surrogate modeling of fluid flows is hard because dynamics are multiscale and highly sensitive to initial conditions. Conditional diffusion surrogates can be accurate, but usually need hundreds of stochastic sampling steps. We propose a rectified-flow surrogate that learns a time-dependent conditional velocity field transporting input-to-output laws along near-straight trajectories. Inference is then a deterministic ODE solve, making each function evaluation more informative: on multiscale 2D benchmarks, we match diffusion-class posterior statistics with only (8) ODE steps versus (≥ 128) for score-based diffusion. Theoretically, we give a law-level analysis for conditional PDE forecasting. We (i) connect one-point Wasserstein field metrics to the (k=1) correlation-marginal perspective in statistical solutions, (ii) derive a one-step error split into a **coverage** term (high-frequency tail, controlled by structure functions/spectral decay) and a **fit** term (controlled by the training objective), and (iii) show that rectification-time **straightness** controls ODE local truncation error, yielding practical step-size/step-count guidance. Motivated by this, we introduce a curvature-aware sampler that uses an EMA straightness proxy to adapt blending and step sizes at inference. Across incompressible and compressible multiscale 2D flows, it matches diffusion baselines in Wasserstein statistics and spectra, preserves fine-scale structure beyond MSE surrogates, and significantly reduces inference cost.