# Enforcing Reciprocity in Operator Learning for Seismic Wave Propagation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.11631 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.11631/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 16 of its 41 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 12 Feb 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 16 of 16)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [Gaussian Error Linear Units (GELUs)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.08415/) (2016)
- [Fourier Neural Operator for Parametric Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.08895/) (2020)
- [Neural Operator: Graph Kernel Network for Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.03485/) (2020)
- [Physics-Informed Neural Operator for Learning Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.03794/) (2021)
- [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)
- [Neural Operators for Accelerating Scientific Simulations and Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.15325/) (2023)
- [Seismic wave propagation and inversion with Neural Operators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.05421/) (2021)
- [PINNup: Robust neural network wavefield solutions using frequency upscaling and neuron splitting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.14536/) (2021)
- [SeismicNet: Physics-informed neural networks for seismic wave modeling in semi-infinite domain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.14044/) (2022)
- [Fourier Neural Operator Surrogate Model to Predict 3D Seismic Waves Propagation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.10242/) (2023)
- [Mesh-Informed Neural Operator : A Transformer Generative Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.16656/) (2025)
- [Multiple-Input Fourier Neural Operator (MIFNO) for source-dependent 3D elastodynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.10115/) (2024)
- [Ambient Noise Full Waveform Inversion with Neural Operators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.15013/) (2025)
- [An effective physics-informed neural operator framework for predicting wavefields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.16431/) (2025)

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

- [Large-Scale 3D Ground-Motion Synthesis with Physics-Inspired Latent Operator Flow Matching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.17403/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Accurate and efficient wavefield modeling underpins seismic structure and source studies. Traditional methods comply with physical laws but are computationally intensive. Data-driven methods, while opening new avenues for advancement, have yet to incorporate strict physical consistency. The principle of reciprocity is one of the most fundamental physical laws in wave propagation. We introduce the Reciprocity-Enforced Neural Operator (RENO), a transformer-based architecture for modeling seismic wave propagation that hard-codes the reciprocity principle. The model leverages the cross-attention mechanism and commutative operations to guarantee invariance under swapping source and receiver positions. Beyond improved physical consistency, the proposed architecture supports simultaneous realizations for multiple sources. This yields an order-of-magnitude inference speedup at a similar memory footprint over a conventional neural operator on a realistic multi-source configuration. We demonstrate the functionality using the reciprocity relation for particle velocity fields under single forces. This architecture is also applicable to pressure fields under dilatational sources and travel-time fields governed by the eikonal equation, paving the way for encoding more complex reciprocity relations.