SONAR: Long-Range Graph Propagation Through Information Waves

Alessandro Trenta, Alessio Gravina, Davide Bacciu

Keywords: graph neural networks, long-range propagation

Abstract: Capturing effective long-range information propagation remains a fundamental yet challenging problem in graph representation learning. Motivated by this, we introduce SONAR, a novel GNN architecture inspired by the dynamics of wave propagation in continuous media. SONAR models information flow on graphs as oscillations governed by the wave equation, allowing it to maintain effective propagation dynamics over long distances. By integrating adaptive edge resistances and state-dependent external forces, our method balances conservative and non-conservative behaviors, improving the ability to learn more complex dynamics. We provide a rigorous theoretical analysis of SONAR's energy conservation and information propagation properties, demonstrating its capacity to address the long-range propagation problem. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world benchmarks confirm that SONAR achieves state-of-the-art performance, particularly on tasks requiring long-range information exchange.

Primary Area: Deep learning (e.g., architectures, generative models, optimization for deep networks, foundation models, LLMs)

Submission Number: 11853