# Deep set based operator learning with uncertainty quantification

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25646 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.25646/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 19 of its 31 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 30 Sep 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 19 of 19)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [Simple and Scalable Predictive Uncertainty Estimation using Deep Ensembles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.01474/) (2016)
- [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)
- [Deep Sets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.06114/) (2017)
- [Deep Ensembles: A Loss Landscape Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.02757/) (2019)
- [B-PINNs: Bayesian Physics-Informed Neural Networks for Forward and Inverse PDE Problems with Noisy Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.06097/) (2020)
- [Transformer for Partial Differential Equations' Operator Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.13671/) (2022)
- [Physics-informed neural networks with hard constraints for inverse design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.04626/) (2021)
- [Uncertainty Quantification in Scientific Machine Learning: Methods, Metrics, and Comparisons](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.07766/) (2022)
- [On the Limitations of Representing Functions on Sets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.09006/) (2019)
- [Reliable extrapolation of deep neural operators informed by physics or sparse observations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.06347/) (2022)
- [Bayesian Physics-Informed Neural Networks for real-world nonlinear dynamical systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.08304/) (2022)
- [Scalable Uncertainty Quantification for Deep Operator Networks using Randomized Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.03048/) (2022)
- [DeepONet-Grid-UQ: A Trustworthy Deep Operator Framework for Predicting the Power Grid's Post-Fault Trajectories](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.07176/) (2022)
- [Variable-Input Deep Operator Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.11404/) (2022)
- [Variational Autoencoding Neural Operators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.10351/) (2023)
- [IB-UQ: Information bottleneck based uncertainty quantification for neural function regression and neural operator learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.03271/) (2023)
- [Autoencoders in Function Space](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.01362/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Two-Step MV-DeepONet: Probabilistic Operator Learning for Uncertainty Propagation Driven by Random Input Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.09071/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Learning operators from data is central to scientific machine learning. While DeepONets are widely used for their ability to handle complex domains, they require fixed sensor numbers and locations, lack mechanisms for uncertainty quantification, and are thus limited in practical applicability. Recent permutation-invariant extensions, such as the Variable-Input Deep Operator Network, relax these sensor constraints but still rely on sufficiently dense observations and cannot capture uncertainties arising from incomplete measurements or from operators with inherent randomness. To address these challenges, we propose UQ-SONet, a permutation-invariant operator learning framework with built-in uncertainty quantification. Our model integrates a set transformer embedding to handle sparse and variable sensor locations, and employs a conditional variational autoencoder to approximate the conditional distribution of the solution operator. By minimizing the negative ELBO, UQ-SONet provides principled uncertainty estimation while maintaining predictive accuracy. Numerical experiments on deterministic and stochastic PDEs, including the Navier-Stokes equation, demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed framework.