cs.LG arXiv 2609.04090 · Sep 3, 2026
Conditioning Degenerate Diffusion Models
Uğur Aydın, Tamer Başar
Abstract
Current conditioned generative models heavily rely on score functions for guidance during training. When the generative model is a diffusion process with a singular diffusion coefficient and the underlying (conditional) densities either do not exist or are not smooth, we use causal optimal transport to define \emph{approximate} loss functions that identify a minimum-entropy control for guidance under minimal assumptions. Our approach relies on causal optimal transport and its characterization through the predictable representation property of (conditioned) diffusion processes whose associated martingale problem is well posed, à la Üstünel.