Least-Squares-Embedded Optimization for Accelerated Convergence of PINNs in Acoustic Wavefield Simulations

Abstract: Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) have shown promise in solving partial differential equations (PDEs), including the frequency-domain Helmholtz equation. However, standard training of PINNs using gradient descent (GD) suffers from slow convergence and instability, particularly for high-frequency wavefields. For scattered acoustic wavefield simulation based on Helmholtz equation, we derive a hybrid optimization framework that accelerates training convergence by embedding a least-squares (LS) solver directly into the GD loss function. This formulation enables optimal updates for the linear output layer. Our method is applicable with or without perfectly matched layers (PML), and we provide practical tensor-based implementations for both scenarios. Numerical experiments on benchmark velocity models demonstrate that our approach achieves faster convergence, higher accuracy, and improved stability compared to conventional PINN training. In particular, our results show that the LS-enhanced method converges rapidly even in cases where standard GD-based training fails. The LS solver operates on a small normal matrix, ensuring minimal computational overhead and making the method scalable for large-scale wavefield simulations.