NullFlow: One-Step Generative Reconstruction
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Abstract (arXiv)
We propose NullFlow, a principled framework for one-step generative image reconstruction. Our key idea is to confine the generative flow to a measurement-consistent subspace. Because the flow never leaves this subspace, NullFlow needs no separate data-fidelity corrections, unlike existing solvers. NullFlow samples in a single network evaluation by learning the flow's average velocity, avoiding the step-by-step integration of traditional flow matching methods. We prove that the average velocity of this constrained flow yields a training objective whose global minimizer is a one-step posterior sampler. We show on image inpainting that NullFlow matches state-of-the-art diffusion solvers while cutting inference from hundreds of network evaluations to one.
Key facts. Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 31 of its 33 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 21 Jun 2026.
Builds on
31 of 33 references.
References · 31
- 2020Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 20,851
- 2021High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Modelscited by 18,694
- 2018The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Deep Features as a Perceptual Metriccited by 11,029
- 2022Flow Matching for Generative Modelingcited by 5,426
- 2022Flow Straight and Fast: Learning to Generate and Transfer Data with Rectified Flowcited by 3,550
- 2022Diffusion Posterior Sampling for General Noisy Inverse Problemscited by 1,375
- 2016Beyond a Gaussian Denoiser: Residual Learning of Deep CNN for Image Denoisingcited by 1,352
- 2014Image Super-Resolution Using Deep Convolutional Networkscited by 1,218
- 2022Building Normalizing Flows with Stochastic Interpolantscited by 964
- 2022Denoising Diffusion Restoration Modelscited by 951
- 2023Stochastic Interpolants: A Unifying Framework for Flows and Diffusionscited by 897
- 2023ConvNeXt V2: Co-designing and Scaling ConvNets with Masked Autoencoderscited by 703
19 more
- 2022Zero-Shot Image Restoration Using Denoising Diffusion Null-Space Modelcited by 574
- 2025Mean Flows for One-step Generative Modelingcited by 524
- 2020Plug-and-Play Image Restoration with Deep Denoiser Priorcited by 467
- 2016Deep Convolutional Neural Network for Inverse Problems in Imagingcited by 431
- 2023Flow Matching on General Geometriescited by 260
- 2024A Survey on Diffusion Models for Inverse Problemscited by 173
- 2024D-Flow: Differentiating through Flows for Controlled Generationcited by 115
- 2025Improved Mean Flows: On the Challenges of Fastforward Generative Modelscited by 102
- 2023Stochastic interpolants with data-dependent couplingscited by 94
- 2024PnP-Flow: Plug-and-Play Image Restoration with Flow Matchingcited by 92
- 2022DOLCE: A Model-Based Probabilistic Diffusion Framework for Limited-Angle CT Reconstructioncited by 73
- 2023Training-free Linear Image Inverses via Flowscited by 70
- 2025FlowDPS: Flow-Driven Posterior Sampling for Inverse Problemscited by 65
- 2024Flow Priors for Linear Inverse Problems via Iterative Corrupted Trajectory Matchingcited by 50
- 2026One-step Latent-free Image Generation with Pixel Mean Flowscited by 49
- 2020Provable Convergence of Plug-and-Play Priors with MMSE denoiserscited by 39
- 2019Deep Decomposition Learning for Inverse Imaging Problemscited by 25
- 2025Flower: A Flow-Matching Solver for Inverse Problemscited by 23
- 2024Plug-and-Play image restoration with Stochastic deNOising REgularizationcited by 17
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Citing papers per year: 2026: 2.
2 papers.
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- 2025Solving Inverse Problems with FLAIR
- 2026One-Step Generative Modeling via Wasserstein Gradient Flows
- 2025Decoupled MeanFlow: Turning Flow Models into Flow Maps for Accelerated Sampling
- 2025Efficiency vs. Fidelity: A Comparative Analysis of Diffusion Probabilistic Models and Flow Matching on Low-Resource Hardware
- 2023Flow Matching in Latent Space
- 2025From Diffusion to One-Step Generation: A Comparative Study of Flow-Based Models with Application to Image Inpainting
- 2025SoFlow: Solution Flow Models for One-Step Generative Modeling
- 2026ODE-free Neural Flow Matching for One-Step Generative Modeling