Neural diffusion on graphs is a novel class of graph neural networks that has attracted increasing attention recently. The capability of graph neural partial differential equations (PDEs) in addressing common hurdles of graph neural networks (GNNs), such as the problems of over-smoothing and bottlenecks, has been investigated but not their robustness to adversarial attacks. In this work, we explore the robustness properties of graph neural PDEs. We empirically demonstrate that graph neural PDEs are intrinsically more robust against topology perturbation as compared to other GNNs. We provide insights into this phenomenon by exploiting the stability of the heat semigroup under graph topology perturbations. We discuss various graph diffusion operators and relate them to existing graph neural PDEs. Furthermore, we propose a general graph neural PDE framework based on which a new class of robust GNNs can be defined. We verify that the new model achieves comparable state-of-the-art performance on several benchmark datasets.

We study the momentum-based minimization of a diffuse perimeter functional on Euclidean spaces and on graphs with applications to semi-supervised classification tasks in machine learning. While the gradient flow in the task at hand is a parabolic partial differential equation, the momentum-method corresponds to a damped hyperbolic PDE, leading to qualitatively and quantitatively different trajectories. Using a convex-concave splitting-based FISTA-type time discretization, we demonstrate empirically that momentum can lead to faster convergence if the time step size is large but not too large. With large time steps, the PDE analysis offers only limited insight into the geometric behavior of solutions and typical hyperbolic phenomena like loss of regularity are not be observed in sample simulations.

In the last decade, machine learning algorithms and in particular deep learning have experienced an unprecedented success story. Such methods have proven their capabilities, inter alia, for the difficult tasks of image classification and generation. Most recently, the advent of large language models is expected to have a strong impact on various aspects of society. At the same time, the success of machine learning is accompanied by concerns about the reliability and safety of its methods. Already more than ten years ago it was observed that neural networks for image classification are susceptible to adversarial attacks [35], meaning that imperceptible or seemingly harmless perturbations of images can lead to severe misclassifications. As a consequence, the deployment of such methods in situations that affect the integrity and safety of humans, e.g., for self-driving cars or medical image classification, is risky. To mitigate these risks, the scientific community has been developing different approaches to robustify machine learning in the presence of potential adversaries.

Neural diffusion on graphs is a novel class of graph neural networks that has attracted increasing attention recently. The capability of graph neural partial differential equations (PDEs) in addressing common hurdles of graph neural networks (GNNs), such as the problems of over-smoothing and bottlenecks, has been investigated but not their robustness to adversarial attacks. In this work, we explore the robustness properties of graph neural PDEs. We empirically demonstrate that graph neural PDEs are intrinsically more robust against topology perturbation as compared to other GNNs. We provide insights into this phenomenon by exploiting the stability of the heat semigroup under graph topology perturbations. We discuss various graph diffusion operators and relate them to existing graph neural PDEs. Furthermore, we propose a general graph neural PDE framework based on which a new class of robust GNNs can be defined. We verify that the new model achieves comparable state-of-the-art performance on several benchmark datasets.

We study a version of adversarial classification where an adversary is empowered to corrupt data inputs up to some distance $\varepsilon$, using tools from variational analysis. In particular, we describe necessary conditions associated with the optimal classifier subject to such an adversary. Using the necessary conditions, we derive a geometric evolution equation which can be used to track the change in classification boundaries as $\varepsilon$ varies. This evolution equation may be described as an uncoupled system of differential equations in one dimension, or as a mean curvature type equation in higher dimension. In one dimension we rigorously prove that one can use the initial value problem starting from $\varepsilon=0$, which is simply the Bayes classifier, in order to solve for the global minimizer of the adversarial problem. Numerical examples illustrating these ideas are also presented.