Efficient Numerical Strategies for Entropy-Regularized Semi-Discrete Optimal Transport

Abstract: Semi-discrete optimal transport (SOT), which maps a continuous probability measure to a discrete one, is a fundamental problem with wide-ranging applications. Entropic regularization is often employed to solve the SOT problem, leading to a regularized (RSOT) formulation that can be solved efficiently via its convex dual. However, a significant computational challenge emerges when the continuous source measure is discretized via the finite element (FE) method to handle complex geometries or densities, such as those arising from solutions to Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). The evaluation of the dual objective function requires dense interactions between the numerous source quadrature points and all target points, creating a severe bottleneck for large-scale problems. This paper presents a cohesive framework of numerical strategies to overcome this challenge. We accelerate the dual objective and gradient evaluations by combining distance-based truncation with fast spatial queries using R-trees. For overall convergence, we integrate multilevel techniques based on hierarchies of both the FE source mesh and the discrete target measure, alongside a robust scheduling strategy for the regularization parameter. When unified, these methods drastically reduce the computational cost of RSOT, enabling its practical application to complex, large-scale scenarios. We provide an open-source C++ implementation of this framework, built upon the deal.II finite element library, available at https://github.com/SemiDiscreteOT/SemiDiscreteOT.