Non-Asymptotic Variational Learning for Monotone Nonlinear Multiscale Elliptic Equations: Scale-Robust Primal-Dual Bounds and Strong-Form Statistical Ill-Conditioning

Abstract

We develop a non-asymptotic approximation, sampling, and finite-iteration optimization theory for variational physics-informed approximation of uniformly monotone nonlinear multiscale elliptic equations. For boundary-compatible neural feature classes, the population error splits into approximation, empirical quadrature, and projected-gradient terms, with all non-approximation constants uniform in the microscopic scale \(\varepsilon\). Assuming a quantitative corrected \(H^1\)-estimate, a two-scale state class yields \[ \mathcal A_m^\varepsilon \le C\bigl(\varepsilon+\Phi_{0,m_0}^2+\Phi_{1,m_1}^2\bigr) \] in arbitrary dimension. We further introduce a convex primal-dual physics loss whose population value is a computable upper certificate for the state error. With additional flux-corrector regularity, a divergence-compatible two-scale flux class gives a certified state-flux bound combining \(O(\varepsilon)\) approximation, state and flux feature errors, empirical sampling error, and an \(O(K^{-1})\) optimization term. In contrast, for general periodic nonlinear fluxes satisfying a natural nondegeneracy condition, the empirical Rademacher complexities of strong-residual and squared-residual classes are bounded below by constant multiples of \((\varepsilon\sqrt N)^{-1}\) and \((\varepsilon^2\sqrt N)^{-1}\), respectively. These optimizer-independent lower bounds hold in every spatial dimension. Numerical experiments confirm the predicted \(\varepsilon\)- and \(N\)-scalings for nonlinear fluxes in \(d=1,2,3\), validate every computed primal-dual certificate, and show that corrector-enriched classes substantially reduce energy and \(H^1\) errors as the microscopic scale is refined.