# Trajectory-Optimized Time Reparameterization for Learning-Compatible Reduced-Order Modeling of Stiff Dynamical Systems

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.16583 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.16583/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 9 of its 22 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 17 Mar 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [Neural Ordinary Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.07366/) (2018)
- [Universal Differential Equations for Scientific Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.04385/) (2020)
- [Latent ODEs for Irregularly-Sampled Time Series](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.03907/) (2019)
- [ANODE: Unconditionally Accurate Memory-Efficient Gradients for Neural ODEs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.10298/) (2019)
- [Stiff Neural Ordinary Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.15341/) (2021)
- [Training Stiff Neural Ordinary Differential Equations with Implicit Single-Step Methods](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.05592/) (2024)
- [Training Stiff Neural Ordinary Differential Equations with Explicit Exponential Integration Methods](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.01181/) (2024)
- [Understanding the role of autoencoders for stiff dynamical systems using information theory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.06325/) (2025)
- [Learning solutions of parameterized stiff ODEs using Gaussian processes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.05990/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Stiff dynamical systems present a challenge for machine-learning reduced-order models (ML-ROMs), as explicit time integration becomes unstable in stiff regimes while implicit integration within learning loops is computationally expensive and often degrades training efficiency. Time reparameterization (TR) offers an alternative by transforming the independent variable so that rapid physical-time transients are spread over a stretched-time coordinate, enabling stable explicit integration on uniformly sampled grids. Although several TR strategies have been proposed, their effect on learnability in ML-ROMs remains incompletely understood. This work investigates time reparameterization as a stiffness-mitigation mechanism for neural ODE reduced-order modeling and introduces a trajectory-optimized TR (TOTR) formulation. The proposed approach casts time reparameterization as an optimization problem in arc-length coordinates, in which a traversal-speed profile is selected to penalize acceleration in stretched time. By targeting the smoothness of the training dynamics, this formulation produces reparameterized trajectories that are better conditioned and easier to learn than existing TR methods. TOTR is evaluated on three stiff problems: a parameterized stiff linear system, the van der Pol oscillator, and the HIRES chemical kinetics model. Across all cases, the proposed approach yields smoother reparameterizations and improved physical-time predictions under identical training regimens than other TR approaches. Quantitative results demonstrate loss reductions of one to two orders of magnitude compared to benchmark algorithms. These results highlight that effective stiffness mitigation in ML-ROMs depends critically on the regularity and learnability of the time map itself, and that optimization-based TR provides a robust framework for explicit reduced-order modeling of multiscale dynamical systems.