Graph Distribution-valued Signals in Wasserstein Spaces: Theory and Applications

Yanan Zhao, Feng Ji, Xingchao Jian, Wee Peng Tay

We introduce a framework for graph signal processing (GSP) in which signals are represented as graph distribution-valued signals (GDSs), i.e., probability measures in a Wasserstein space. This perspective addresses fundamental limitations of classical vector-based GSP, including the requirement for complete synchronous observations across vertices and the need for strict temporal correspondence in observed filter input--output pairs. Furthermore, by modeling the graph structure as a distribution conditioned on signal realizations, we provide a principled approach to signal-dependent graph structures, which are common in real-world applications, while explicitly encoding uncertainty in graph topology. Our framework inherently captures uncertainty and stochasticity while strictly generalizing traditional graph signals, which can be interpreted as Dirac delta measures. We develop a systematic correspondence between foundational GSP concepts and their GDS analogs, showing that classical formulations emerge as special cases of our framework. We establish theoretical continuity results for GDS transforms, providing stability guarantees for input perturbations and distribution approximations. We demonstrate the utility of this approach through example applications, including graph filter learning and anomaly detection, and validate its effectiveness through empirical studies.