Reduced Order Modeling of One-Dimensional Conservative PDEs via the Cumulative Distribution Transform

We propose a reduced order modeling (ROM) framework for 1D conservative PDEs based on the cumulative distribution transform (CDT). The CDT maps nonnegative, equal-mass states into a Hilbert space in which 1D Wasserstein distances become weighted $L^2$ distances and translations become affine shifts. This makes the transform especially suited for transport-dominated dynamics, where Eulerian linear-subspace ROMs often suffer from slow decay of Kolmogorov widths.
We study this phenomenon for scalar conservative dynamics by analyzing the solution manifold in CDT coordinates. For linear transport, the transformed solution manifold is contained in the 2-dimensional space spanned by the transformed initial datum and the constant function, and has zero Kolmogorov $2$-width. For nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws, we prove two complementary types of estimates: robust $O(n^{-1})$ bounds that rely only on the conservative transport structure and remain meaningful after shock formation, and sharper $O(n^{-2})$ bounds in smooth pre-shock regimes. For conservative advection-diffusion, we show that the CDT trajectory remains within distance $O(\sqrt{DT})$ of the pure-transport plane, and we also obtain sharper $O(D^2T^2)$ estimates under additional regularity or away from initial layers. In both cases, the zero 2-width behavior of linear transport is recovered as the diffusion coefficient tends to zero.
Motivated by these estimates, we develop a CDT-POD numerical scheme: snapshots are mapped to CDT space, Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) is performed in transformed coordinates, and the inverse CDT is used to reconstruct physical states. Numerical experiments for several transport-dominated dynamics show that CDT-POD can capture solution manifolds with substantially fewer modes than Eulerian POD.