English

HypeR Adaptivity: Joint $hr$-Adaptive Meshing via Hypergraph Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning

Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science 2026-05-26 v2

Abstract

Adaptive mesh refinement is central to the efficient solution of partial differential equations (PDEs) via the finite element method (FEM). Classical rr-adaptivity optimizes vertex positions but requires solving expensive auxiliary PDEs such as the Monge-Amp\`ere equation, while classical hh-adaptivity modifies topology through element subdivision but suffers from expensive error indicator computation and is constrained by isotropic refinement patterns that impose accuracy ceilings. Combined hrhr-adaptive techniques naturally outperform single-modality approaches, yet inherit both computational bottlenecks and the restricted cost-accuracy trade-off. Emerging machine learning methods for adaptive mesh refinement seek to overcome these limitations, but existing approaches address hh-adaptivity or rr-adaptivity in isolation. We present HypeR, a deep reinforcement learning framework that jointly optimizes mesh relocation and refinement. HypeR casts the joint adaptation problem using tools from hypergraph neural networks and multi-agent reinforcement learning. Refinement is formulated as a heterogeneous multi-agent Markov decision process (MDP) where element agents decide discrete refinement actions, while relocation follows an anisotropic diffusion-based policy on vertex agents with provable prevention of mesh tangling. The reward function combines local and global error reduction to promote general accuracy. Across benchmark PDEs, HypeR reduces approximation error by up to 6--10×\times versus state-of-art hh-adaptive baselines at comparable element counts, breaking through the uniform refinement accuracy ceiling that constrains subdivision-only methods. The framework produces meshes with improved shape metrics and alignment to solution anisotropy, demonstrating that jointly learned hrhr-adaptivity strategies can substantially enhance the capabilities of automated mesh generation.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.10439,
  title  = {HypeR Adaptivity: Joint $hr$-Adaptive Meshing via Hypergraph Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning},
  author = {Niccolò Grillo and James Rowbottom and Pietro Liò and Carola Bibiane Schönlieb and Stefania Fresca},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.10439},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T08:20:13.071Z