Structured Kolmogorov-Arnold Neural ODEs for Interpretable Learning and Symbolic Discovery of Nonlinear Dynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces SKANODE, a neural ODE framework that combines structured state-space modeling with symbolic regression to achieve interpretable and accurate modeling of nonlinear dynamical systems, demonstrated on oscillators and real-world data.

Contribution

SKANODE integrates Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks into Neural ODEs for interpretable modeling and symbolic discovery of nonlinear dynamics, outperforming traditional black-box methods.

Findings

Successfully recovers physically meaningful latent states.

Identifies correct nonlinearities like cubic stiffness and nonlinear damping.

Provides accurate, interpretable symbolic models of complex dynamics.

Abstract

Understanding and modeling nonlinear dynamical systems is a fundamental challenge across science and engineering. Deep learning has shown remarkable potential for capturing complex system behavior, yet achieving models that are both accurate and physically interpretable remains difficult. To address this, we propose Structured Kolmogorov-Arnold Neural ODEs (SKANODEs), a framework that integrates structured state-space modeling with Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs). Within a Neural ODE architecture, SKANODE employs a fully trainable KAN as a universal function approximator to perform virtual sensing, recovering latent states that correspond to interpretable physical quantities such as displacements and velocities. Leveraging KAN's symbolic regression capability, SKANODE then extracts compact, interpretable expressions for the system's governing dynamics. Experiments on two canonical nonlinear oscillators and a real-world F-16 ground vibration dataset demonstrate that SKANODE reliably recovers physically meaningful latent displacement and velocity trajectories from acceleration measurements, identifies the correct governing nonlinearities--including the cubic stiffness in the Duffing oscillator and the nonlinear damping structure in the Van der Pol oscillator--and reveals hysteretic signatures in the F-16 interface dynamics through structured latent phase portraits and an interpretable symbolic model. Across all three cases, SKANODE provides more accurate and robust predictions than black-box NODE baselines and classical ARX and NARX identification, while producing equation-level descriptions of the learned nonlinear dynamics.