Convergence of Adam in Deep ReLU Networks via Directional Complexity and Kakeya Bounds
Abstract
First-order adaptive optimization methods like Adam are the default choices for training modern deep neural networks. Despite their empirical success, the theoretical understanding of these methods in non-smooth settings, particularly in Deep ReLU networks, remains limited. ReLU activations create exponentially many region boundaries where standard smoothness assumptions break down. \textbf{We derive the first generalization bound for Adam in Deep ReLU networks and the first global-optimal convergence for Adam in the non smooth, non convex relu landscape without a global PL or convexity assumption.} Our analysis is based on stratified Morse theory and novel results in Kakeya sets. We develop a multi-layer refinement framework that progressively tightens bounds on region crossings. We prove that the number of region crossings collapses from exponential to near-linear in the effective dimension. Using a Kakeya based method, we give a tighter generalization bound than PAC-Bayes approaches and showcase convergence using a mild uniform low barrier assumption.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2505.15013,
title = {Convergence of Adam in Deep ReLU Networks via Directional Complexity and Kakeya Bounds},
author = {Anupama Sridhar and Alexander Johansen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.15013},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
9 pages main paper