arXiv AI By Min Chen, Junqi Wang, Zeguan Wu, Wenhao Huang, Junyu Liu

Scaling and Renormalization in Neural Networks: An Effective Renormalization-Group Description of Grokking

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The paper investigates the phenomenon of grokking—a delayed shift from memorization to generalization—in two‑layer neural networks. By treating an ensemble of trained models as a statistical system, the authors define an order parameter (squared weight norm) and use heat‑capacity‑ and susceptibility‑like proxies to map training epoch and weight decay to thermal and field controls. They construct an exact coupling matrix via a second‑order loss expansion, employ its Fiedler vector to impose an effective geometry, and perform real‑space renormalization‑group (RG) transformations through block‑spin aggregation. Linearizing the resulting RG map yields scaling exponents that agree with empirical estimates within 1–10%, providing a quantitative physical framework for neural generalization transitions.

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