Add README with architecture docs and usage guide
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README.md
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| 1 |
+
# π§ͺ LiquidGen: Liquid Neural Network Image Generator
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**A novel attention-free image generation model based on Liquid Neural Network dynamics from MIT CSAIL.**
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LiquidGen replaces self-attention in diffusion models with **Closed-form Continuous-depth (CfC)** liquid dynamics β making it fully parallelizable, memory-efficient, and trainable on a single consumer GPU (Colab free tier T4).
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## ποΈ Architecture
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```
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Input Image β Flux VAE Encoder β Noisy Latent β LiquidGen Backbone β Predicted Velocity β Euler ODE β Clean Latent β VAE Decoder β Output Image
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```
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### Key Components
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| Component | What it does | Replaces |
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|-----------|-------------|----------|
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| **LiquidTimeConstant** | `Ξ±Β·x + (1-Ξ±)Β·stimulus` with learnable decay Ξ± = exp(-softplus(Ο)) | Residual connections |
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| **GatedDepthwiseStimulusConv** | Local spatial context via gated DW-conv | Self-attention (local) |
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| **ZigzagScan1D** | Global context via zigzag-ordered 1D conv | Self-attention (global) |
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| **AdaptiveGroupNorm** | Timestep conditioning via scale/shift | AdaLN in DiT |
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| **U-Net Long Skips** | Skip connections from shallow to deep blocks | Standard residual |
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### Core Innovation: Liquid Time Constants
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From the CfC paper (Hasani et al., Nature Machine Intelligence 2022):
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```
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x_{t+1} = exp(-Ξt/Ο_t) Β· x_t + (1 - exp(-Ξt/Ο_t)) Β· h(x_t, u_t)
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```
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Our parallelizable version:
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```python
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Ξ± = exp(-softplus(Ο)) # Per-channel learnable retention
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output = Ξ± * state + (1 - Ξ±) * stimulus # Exponential relaxation
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```
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**No sequential ODE solving.** No attention. Fully parallelizable.
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## π Model Sizes
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| Model | Params | VRAM (train) | Best For |
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|-------|--------|-------------|----------|
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| **LiquidGen-S** | ~55M | ~4-6 GB | 256px, fast experiments |
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| **LiquidGen-B** | ~140M | ~8-10 GB | 256/512px, balanced |
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| **LiquidGen-L** | ~280M | ~12-14 GB | 512px, high quality |
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All models fit comfortably in **16GB VRAM** (Colab free tier T4 GPU).
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## π Quick Start
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### Using the Colab Notebook
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Open `LiquidGen_Colab_Notebook.ipynb` in Google Colab and follow the steps. It includes:
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- Complete model code (no external dependencies beyond PyTorch + diffusers)
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- Configurable training on WikiArt dataset (artistic paintings)
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- Support for 256px and 512px generation
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- Class-conditional generation (27 art styles)
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- Loss plotting and sample visualization
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### Using the Python Scripts
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```python
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from model import liquidgen_base
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import torch
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# Create model
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model = liquidgen_base(num_classes=27).cuda()
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print(f"Parameters: {model.count_params()/1e6:.1f}M")
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# Forward pass (predict velocity for flow matching)
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x = torch.randn(4, 16, 32, 32).cuda() # 256px latent
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t = torch.rand(4).cuda() # Timesteps
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labels = torch.randint(0, 27, (4,)).cuda()
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v = model(x, t, labels) # Predicted velocity
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```
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## π§ Training
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### Default Configuration
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```python
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from train import TrainConfig, train
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config = TrainConfig(
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model_size="base", # "small", "base", or "large"
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image_size=256, # 256 or 512
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dataset_name="huggan/wikiart",
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label_column="style", # 27 art styles
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num_classes=27,
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batch_size=8,
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gradient_accumulation_steps=4,
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learning_rate=1e-4,
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num_epochs=50,
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)
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train(config)
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```
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### Training Details
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- **VAE**: FLUX.1-schnell (frozen, 16-channel latent, 8x compression, Apache 2.0)
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- **Objective**: Flow matching (velocity prediction) β `v = noise - x_0`
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- **Optimizer**: AdamW (lr=1e-4, weight_decay=0.01)
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- **Gradient clipping**: 2.0 (critical for stability, from ZigMa paper)
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- **EMA**: 0.9999 decay
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- **Sampling**: Euler ODE, 50 steps, classifier-free guidance
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## π Files
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```
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βββ model.py # Complete LiquidGen model architecture
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βββ train.py # Training pipeline with FlowMatching + EMA
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βββ LiquidGen_Colab_Notebook.ipynb # Ready-to-run Colab notebook
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βββ README.md # This file
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```
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## π¬ Research Background
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This architecture synthesizes ideas from multiple research lineages:
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### Liquid Neural Networks
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- **Liquid Time-constant Networks** (Hasani et al., NeurIPS 2020) β ODE-based neurons with input-dependent Ο
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- **Closed-form Continuous-depth Models** (Hasani et al., Nature Machine Intelligence 2022) β Analytical solution eliminating ODE solvers
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- **Neural Circuit Policies** (Lechner et al., Nature Machine Intelligence 2020) β Sparse wiring: sensoryβinterβcommandβmotor
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### Attention-Free Image Generation
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- **ZigMa** (ECCV 2024) β Zigzag scanning for SSM-based diffusion (FID 14.27 CelebA-256)
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- **DiMSUM** (NeurIPS 2024) β Spatial-frequency Mamba (FID 2.11 ImageNet 256)
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- **DiffuSSM** (2023) β First attention-free diffusion model (FID 2.28 ImageNet 256)
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- **DiM** (2024) β Multi-directional Mamba with padding tokens
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### Parallelization
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- **LiquidTAD** (2025) β Static decay Ξ±=exp(-softplus(Ο)) for fully parallel liquid dynamics (100Γ speedup vs ODE)
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### Flow Matching
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- **Flow Matching for Generative Modeling** (Lipman et al., 2023)
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- **SiT** (2024) β Scalable Interpolant Transformers
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## π Architecture Diagram
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```
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Input Latent [B, 16, H/8, W/8]
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β
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ββββ Patch Embed (Conv2d, stride=2) βββ [B, D, H/16, W/16]
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ββββ + Learnable Position Embedding
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ββββ Input Projection (DW-Conv + PW-Conv + GELU)
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β
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ββββ LiquidBlock Γ (depth/2) βββ save skip connections
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β βββ AdaGN (timestep conditioned)
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β βββ GatedDepthwiseStimulusConv (local spatial)
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β βββ + ZigzagScan1D (global context)
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β βββ LiquidTimeConstant #1 (CfC blend)
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β βββ AdaGN (timestep conditioned)
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β βββ ChannelMixMLP (GELU)
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β βββ LiquidTimeConstant #2 (CfC blend)
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β
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ββββ LiquidBlock Γ (depth/2) βββ add skip connections
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β βββ (same structure as above)
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β
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ββββ GroupNorm + Conv + GELU
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ββββ Unpatchify (ConvTranspose2d) βββ [B, 16, H/8, W/8]
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```
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## β‘ Key Design Decisions
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1. **No Attention** β O(n) vs O(nΒ²). Enables training on longer sequences / higher resolution latents.
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2. **Liquid Dynamics over Residual** β Instead of `x + f(x)`, we use `Ξ±Β·x + (1-Ξ±)Β·f(x)` where Ξ± is learned per-channel. This gives the model explicit control over how much old vs new information to retain.
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3. **Zigzag Scanning** β Preserves spatial continuity (adjacent pixels stay adjacent in sequence). Simple raster scan breaks this at row boundaries.
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4. **Frozen Flux VAE** β 16-channel latent with best-in-class reconstruction quality. Only 160MB, ~1GB VRAM.
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5. **Flow Matching** β Straighter ODE trajectories than DDPM β fewer sampling steps needed, better quality.
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## π License
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MIT
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## π Acknowledgments
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- MIT CSAIL for Liquid Neural Networks research
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- Black Forest Labs for FLUX.1-schnell VAE (Apache 2.0)
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- WikiArt dataset contributors
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- ZigMa, DiMSUM, DiffuSSM, DiM authors for attention-free diffusion insights
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