CausticFlow: An Efficient Machine Learning Framework Combining Neural Differential Equations and Normalizing Flows for Binary Microlensing Parameter Inference

arXiv:2607.04955 · astro-ph.IM, astro-ph.EP, astro-ph.GA, astro-ph.SR · Submitted 2026-07-06 · Read on arXiv

astro-ph.IM, astro-ph.EP, astro-ph.GA, astro-ph.SR

Submitted: 2026-07-06

Updated: 2026-10-13

Comments: 17 pages, 8 figures, submitted to AJ

Code: https://github.com/anh-tong/signax

License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/

Terminology

• Microlensing — 37× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Degeneracy — 12× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Normalizing Flow — 12× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Normalizing Flows — 11× in this paper · explained in 4 episodes
• Accuracy — 5× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Local Optimization — 5× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Generalizability — 3× in this paper · explained in 6 episodes
• Alignment — 2× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Generalization — 2× in this paper · explained in 13 episodes
• Robustness — 2× in this paper · explained in 5 episodes
• AdamW Optimizer — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Bayesian Inference — 1× in this paper · explained in 5 episodes
• Calibration — 1× in this paper · explained in 7 episodes
• Core — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Fisher Information — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Generative Model — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Generative Models — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Gravitational Lensing — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Initial Mass Function (IMF) — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Neural posterior estimation (NPE) — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Rational Quadratic Spline — 1× in this paper
• Regularization — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Simulation-Based Inference (SBI) — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Simulation-based Inference — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Trace — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes

Sources

• Simulation-Based Inference: A Practical Guide
• Galactic microlensing with rotating binaries
• The binary gravitational lens and its extreme cases
• ET White Paper: To Find the First Earth 2.0
• Candidate Microlensing Brown Dwarfs in Binary Lens Systems from the 2023--2025 Observing Seasons
• On Neural Differential Equations
• A Generalised Signature Method for Multivariate Time Series Feature Extraction
• Neural Controlled Differential Equations for Online Prediction Tasks
• Transformer Embeddings for Fast Microlensing Inference
• An HST Wide Field Survey of the Galactic Bulge: Overview, Strategy, and First Results
• OGLE-IV: Fourth Phase of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment

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