# On the training of physics-informed neural operators for solving parametric partial differential equations

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.06164 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.06164/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 41 of its 75 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 4 Jun 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 41)

- [Fourier Neural Operator for Parametric Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.08895/) (2020)
- [Fourier Features Let Networks Learn High Frequency Functions in Low Dimensional Domains](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.10739/) (2020)
- [DeepONet: Learning nonlinear operators for identifying differential equations based on the universal approximation theorem of operators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.03193/) (2019)
- [GradNorm: Gradient Normalization for Adaptive Loss Balancing in Deep Multitask Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.02257/) (2017)
- [FourCastNet: A Global Data-driven High-resolution Weather Model using Adaptive Fourier Neural Operators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.11214/) (2022)
- [Characterizing possible failure modes in physics-informed neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.01050/) (2021)
- [Learning the solution operator of parametric partial differential equations with physics-informed DeepOnets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.10974/) (2021)
- [Physics-Informed Neural Operator for Learning Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.03794/) (2021)
- [Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) for fluid mechanics: A review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.09506/) (2021)
- [Fourier Neural Operator with Learned Deformations for PDEs on General Geometries](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.05209/) (2022)
- [GNOT: A General Neural Operator Transformer for Operator Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.14376/) (2023)
- [Geometry-Informed Neural Operator for Large-Scale 3D PDEs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.00583/) (2023)
- [U-FNO -- An enhanced Fourier neural operator-based deep-learning model for multiphase flow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.03697/) (2021)
- [On the eigenvector bias of Fourier feature networks: From regression to solving multi-scale PDEs with physics-informed neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.10047/) (2020)
- [Transformer for Partial Differential Equations' Operator Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.13671/) (2022)
- [A comprehensive study of non-adaptive and residual-based adaptive sampling for physics-informed neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.10289/) (2022)
- [U-NO: U-shaped Neural Operators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.11127/) (2022)
- [Neural Operators for Accelerating Scientific Simulations and Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.15325/) (2023)
- [SOAP: Improving and Stabilizing Shampoo using Adam](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.11321/) (2024)
- [MIONet: Learning multiple-input operators via tensor product](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.06137/) (2022)
- [Long-time integration of parametric evolution equations with physics-informed DeepONets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.05384/) (2021)
- [NOMAD: Nonlinear Manifold Decoders for Operator Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.03551/) (2022)
- [GNN-FiLM: Graph Neural Networks with Feature-wise Linear Modulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.12192/) (2019)
- [Learning two-phase microstructure evolution using neural operators and autoencoder architectures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.07230/) (2022)
- [PirateNets: Physics-informed Deep Learning with Residual Adaptive Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.00326/) (2024)
- [Kolmogorov Arnold Informed neural network: A physics-informed deep learning framework for solving forward and inverse problems based on Kolmogorov Arnold Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.11045/) (2024)
- [Fourier-DeepONet: Fourier-enhanced deep operator networks for full waveform inversion with improved accuracy, generalizability, and robustness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.17289/) (2023)
- [Gradient Alignment in Physics-informed Neural Networks: A Second-Order Optimization Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.00604/) (2025)
- [CViT: Continuous Vision Transformer for Operator Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.13998/) (2024)
- [ConFIG: Towards Conflict-free Training of Physics Informed Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.11104/) (2024)

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

- [Preconditioned Physics-Informed Neural Operator Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.36216/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Physics-informed neural operators (PINOs) aim to learn solution operators for partial differential equations by using the governing physics as supervision, rather than relying solely on paired input-output simulation data. By incorporating physical constraints into the training objective, PINOs combine the cross-instance generalization of neural operators with the data efficiency of physics-informed learning. Despite this promise, how to train PINOs efficiently and robustly remains less well-understood than the training of either data-driven neural operators or physics-informed neural networks (PINNs). To bridge this gap, we examine key components of the PINO training pipeline, including architecture design, optimizer choice, loss balancing, and collocation-point sampling strategy. We study three representative operator backbones, Deep Operator Network (DeepONet), Fourier Neural Operator (FNO), and Continuous Vision Transformer (CViT), across five diverse parametric PDE systems. Our results show that CViT provides consistently strong and stable performance across the considered benchmarks. Beyond architecture, we find that several optimization pathologies previously identified in PINN training naturally arise in PINOs, including gradient conflicts and causal violation. We also find that mitigation algorithms developed for PINNs remain effective in the PINO setting. We further compare physics-informed and data-driven training under different data regimes, revealing that a carefully designed physics-informed training pipeline can match, and in some cases, outperform purely data-driven neural operators. Taken together, these findings provide a systematic empirical understanding of the optimization challenges in PINO training and inform a practical pipeline for efficient and robust physics-informed operator learning. Code and data are available at https://github.com/NanxiiChen/PI-CViT.