Publications

Y. Li, M. Anitescu, O. Roderick, and F. Hickernell, "Orthogonal Bases for Polynomial Regression with Derivative Information in Uncertainty Quantification," Preprint ANL/MCS-P1806-1110, November 2010. [pdf]

We discuss the choice of polynomial basis for approximation of uncertainty propagation through complex simulation models with capability to output derivative information. Our work is part of a larger research effort in uncertainty quantification using sampling methods augmented with derivative information. The approach has new challenges compared with standard polynomial regression. In particular, we show that a tensor product multivariate orthogonal polynomial basis of an arbitrary degree may no longer be constructed. We provide sufficient conditions for an orthonormal set of this type to exist, a basis for the space it spans. We demonstrate the benefits of the basis in the propagation of material uncertainties through a simplified model of heat transport in a nuclear reactor core. Compared with the tensor product Hermite polynomial basis, the orthogonal basis results in a better numerical conditioning of the regression procedure, a modest improvement in approximation error when basis polynomials are chosen a priori, and a significant improvement when basis polynomials are chosen adaptively, using a stepwise fitting procedure.