
Population dynamics (eg murmuration of birds 🐦🐦🐦) is notoriously hard to learn; choosing the right model for the dynamics is even harder. In our #ICML2026 spotlight, we introduce Wasserstein Lagrangian Mechanics (WLM) for learning population dynamics from observations, which - Covers both first-order (gradient descent) and second-order dynamics (e.g. oscillations) - Allows learning more expressive dynamics (including complex interactions) with fewer assumptions - Generalizes in space (across different initial conditions) and time (beyond the training time snapshots) [1/n] 🧵


