Hard-Constrained Neural Networks with Physics-Embedded Architecture for Residual Dynamics Learning and Invariant Enforcement in Cyber-Physical Systems

Abstract: This paper presents a framework for physics-informed learning in complex cyber-physical systems governed by differential equations with both unknown dynamics and algebraic invariants. First, we formalize the Hybrid Recurrent Physics-Informed Neural Network (HRPINN), a general-purpose architecture that embeds known physics as a hard structural constraint within a recurrent integrator to learn only residual dynamics. Second, we introduce the Projected HRPINN (PHRPINN), a novel extension that integrates a predict-project mechanism to strictly enforce algebraic invariants by design. The framework is supported by a theoretical analysis of its representational capacity. We validate HRPINN on a real-world battery prognostics DAE and evaluate PHRPINN on a suite of standard constrained benchmarks. The results demonstrate the framework's potential for achieving high accuracy and data efficiency, while also highlighting critical trade-offs between physical consistency, computational cost, and numerical stability, providing practical guidance for its deployment.