mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Fixed-Dimensional Latent Flow for Generating Variable-Size 3D Molecules

arXiv 2609.08333 ↗First posted 8 Sep 2026physics.chem-ph cs.LG q-bio.QMcited by 1

On the map: Diffusion models → Flow matching, time series and science

Abstract (arXiv)

Molecular size is coupled to composition, structure, and function, yet most 3D molecular generators require a predefined atom count. We introduce Equivariant-Free Transformer-Autoencoded Latent Flow Matching, a two-stage framework that samples a fixed-dimensional latent vector using flow matching and uses an autoregressive Transformer to determine molecular size, atom types, coordinates, and chemical attributes. Canonical atom ordering and rigid-pose alignment enable Transformers without equivariant layers, while decoded attributes guide bond reconstruction. On PCQM4Mv2, unconditional generation yields 87.9% unique, novel molecules passing sanitization and PoseBusters checks, exceeding baselines with lower end-to-end training and sampling time and higher end-to-end throughput. Across ten target HOMO-LUMO gaps, internal ranking retains 30% of screened candidates and increases the density functional theory-verified hit rate within 0.1 eV from 25.0% to 52.4%, while largely preserving novelty and diversity. These results demonstrate fixed-dimensional latent generation with autoregressive decoding as a practical approach to molecular design without prespecifying size.

Key facts. Cited by 1 paper in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Flow matching, time series and science, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models. Builds on 8 of its 48 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 8 Sep 2026.

Builds on

8 of 48 references.

Closest ancestors · 7

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2026Autoregressive latent diffusion for 3D molecule generation10 Jul
  2. 2026Permutation-Symmetrized Diffusion for Unconditional Molecular Generation24 Mar
  3. 2026Rethinking Diffusion Models with Symmetries through Canonicalization with Applications to Molecular Graph Generation16 Feb
  4. 2025NEAT: Neighborhood-Guided, Efficient, Autoregressive Set Transformer for 3D Molecular Generation5 Dec
  5. 2025Frame-based Equivariant Diffusion Models for 3D Molecular Generation23 Sep
  6. 2025Scalable Autoregressive 3D Molecule Generation20 May
  7. 2024Mixed Continuous and Categorical Flow Matching for 3D De Novo Molecule Generation30 Apr

Other references · 1

  1. 2026DriftingMol: Decoder-Coupled Drift for One-Pass Property-Conditional Molecular Generationcited by 2

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 1.

1 paper.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2025FlowMol3: Flow Matching for 3D De Novo Small-Molecule Generation
  2. 2026SinAE: A Single-Architecture Flow-Matching Autoencoder for Cross-Domain Atomic Systems
  3. 2026SynLaD: Latent Diffusion for Generating Synthesizable Molecules Conditioned on 3D Pharmacophore Profiles
  4. 2025Towards Unified and Lossless Latent Space for 3D Molecular Latent Diffusion Modeling
  5. 2026Property-Guided Molecular Generation and Optimization via Latent Flows
  6. 2024SemlaFlow -- Efficient 3D Molecular Generation with Latent Attention and Equivariant Flow Matching
  7. 2024Exploring Discrete Flow Matching for 3D De Novo Molecule Generation
  8. 2026Geometric Flow Matching for Molecular Conformation Generation via Manifold Decomposition