Bulk-boundary decomposition of neural networks
arXiv:2511. 02003v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: We present the bulk--boundary decomposition as a new framework for understanding the training dynamics of deep neural networks.
arXiv:2511. 07308v3 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Understanding the training dynamics of deep neural networks remains a major open problem, with physics-inspired approaches offering promising insights.
arXiv:2511. 02003v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: We present the bulk--boundary decomposition as a new framework for understanding the training dynamics of deep neural networks.
arXiv:2501. 02436v5 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Advancements in artificial intelligence call for a deeper understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying deep learning.
arXiv:2606. 31282v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Modern deep neural networks often contain far more parameters than needed to fit their training data, yet they achieve impressive generalization.
arXiv:2505. 13196v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: We introduce Velocity-Regularized Adam (VRAdam), a physics-inspired optimizer for training deep neural networks that draws on ideas from quartic terms for kinetic energy with its stabilizing effects on various system dynamics.
arXiv:2607. 21005v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Most explanations of training instability focus on \emph{learning-rate criticality}, typically characterized by the Edge of Stability, beyond which optimization becomes unstable.
arXiv:2606. 20299v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Deep learning has managed to evade numerous intuitions from classical statistics to achieve unprecedented performance on a number of real-world tasks.
The paper investigates how normalization makes neural networks scale‑invariant, creating a feedback loop between learning‑rate schedules and weight decay that controls the effective step size of the optimizer. It derives an exact discrete‑time law showing that a single scalar quantity captures all schedule and decay effects, with norm growth providing a self‑quenching counter‑force that defines a sharp boundary between contraction‑ and expansion‑dominated regimes. Through exact analysis of a normalized regression model and experiments on MLPs, CNNs, GPT‑2, and various datasets, the authors demonstrate that constant learning rates with weight decay are intrinsically unstable, leading to recurrent dynamics, and that adaptive optimizers exhibit weaker stabilization under normalization. "whyItMatters":"The study provides a precise, actionable rule for controlling training dynamics and schedule design in modern deep learning by isolating a single governing quantity for scale‑invariant optimization."
The paper derives an exact discrete‑time law that captures how learning‑rate schedules and weight decay interact in scale‑invariant neural networks, showing that a single scalar quantity governs the effective step size. It demonstrates that the balance point between contraction and expansion is intrinsically unstable, leading to recurrent dynamics when using constant learning rates with weight decay. The authors extend this analysis to various optimizers and datasets, confirming the law’s precision and showing that performance peaks sharply at the predicted boundary.
arXiv:2608. 06597v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: A scientific theory of deep learning, comprising learning dynamics and statistical properties of learned models, is rapidly gaining attention.
arXiv:2607. 10285v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: We study how unsupervised autoencoders trained on microscopic spin configurations from the Ising model learn macroscopic, theory-relevant variables underlying the data-generating process.
arXiv:2401. 04013v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Deep learning models, such as wide neural networks, can be conceptualized as nonlinear dynamical physical systems characterized by a multitude of interacting degrees of freedom.
arXiv:2406. 14340v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: The standard stochastic gradient descent (SGD) optimization method, as well as adaptive methods such as the Adam optimizer fail to converge if the learning rates do not converge to zero (particularly, in the situation of constant learning rates).