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Multi-layer feedforward networks have been used to approximate a wide range of nonlinear functions. An important and fundamental problem is to understand the learnability of a network model through its statistical risk, or the expected…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-06-28 Gen Li , Jie Ding

We describe a novel family of models of multi- layer feedforward neural networks in which the activation functions are encoded via penalties in the training problem. Our approach is based on representing a non-decreasing activation function…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2018-06-22 Armin Askari , Geoffrey Negiar , Rajiv Sambharya , Laurent El Ghaoui

Self-paced learning and hard example mining re-weight training instances to improve learning accuracy. This paper presents two improved alternatives based on lightweight estimates of sample uncertainty in stochastic gradient descent (SGD):…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2018-01-09 Haw-Shiuan Chang , Erik Learned-Miller , Andrew McCallum

This paper establishes a comprehensive approximation result for deep fully-connected neural networks with commonly-used and general activation functions in Sobolev spaces $W^{n,\infty}$, with errors measured in the $W^{m,p}$-norm for $m <…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-03-24 Yahong Yang , Juncai He

Activation functions have come up as one of the essential components of neural networks. The choice of adequate activation function can impact the accuracy of these methods. In this study, we experiment for finding an optimal activation…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-02-25 Vipul Bansal

We prove linear convergence of gradient descent to a global optimum for the training of deep residual networks with constant layer width and smooth activation function. We show that if the trained weights, as a function of the layer index,…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-01-26 Rama Cont , Alain Rossier , RenYuan Xu

In this article we present new results on neural networks with linear threshold activation functions. We precisely characterize the class of functions that are representable by such neural networks and show that 2 hidden layers are…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-10-20 Sammy Khalife , Hongyu Cheng , Amitabh Basu

The loss function used to train a neural network is strongly connected to its output layer from a statistical point of view. This technical report analyzes common activation functions for a neural network output layer, like linear, sigmoid,…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-11-10 Fernando Berzal

In this paper, we consider fully connected feed-forward deep neural networks where weights and biases are independent and identically distributed according to Gaussian distributions. Extending previous results (Matthews et al., 2018a;b;…

Probability · Mathematics 2024-12-02 Daniele Bracale , Stefano Favaro , Sandra Fortini , Stefano Peluchetti

We present SiLU network constructions whose approximation efficiency depends critically on proper hyperparameter tuning. For the square function $x^2$, with optimally chosen shift $a$ and scale $\beta$, we achieve approximation error…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-02-24 Koffi O. Ayena

While the concept of a Sparse Neural Network has been researched for some time, researchers have only recently made notable progress in the matter. Techniques like Sparse Evolutionary Training allow for significantly lower computational…

Neural and Evolutionary Computing · Computer Science 2020-10-14 Adam Dubowski

Next generation deep neural networks for classification hosted on embedded platforms will rely on fast, efficient, and accurate learning algorithms. Initialization of weights in learning networks has a great impact on the classification…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2016-07-21 Julius , Gopinath Mahale , Sumana T. , C. S. Adityakrishna

We study the expressivity of deep neural networks. Measuring a network's complexity by its number of connections or by its number of neurons, we consider the class of functions for which the error of best approximation with networks of a…

Functional Analysis · Mathematics 2020-07-20 Rémi Gribonval , Gitta Kutyniok , Morten Nielsen , Felix Voigtlaender

This paper quantitatively characterizes the approximation power of deep feed-forward neural networks (FNNs) in terms of the number of neurons. It is shown by construction that ReLU FNNs with width $\mathcal{O}\big(\max\{d\lfloor…

Numerical Analysis · Mathematics 2021-01-15 Zuowei Shen , Haizhao Yang , Shijun Zhang

We consider neural networks with rational activation functions. The choice of the nonlinear activation function in deep learning architectures is crucial and heavily impacts the performance of a neural network. We establish optimal bounds…

Neural and Evolutionary Computing · Computer Science 2020-10-01 Nicolas Boullé , Yuji Nakatsukasa , Alex Townsend

This is paper for the smooth function approximation by neural networks (NN). Mathematical or physical functions can be replaced by NN models through regression. In this study, we get NNs that generate highly accurate and highly smooth…

Neural and Evolutionary Computing · Computer Science 2023-01-03 I. K. Hong

The history of deep learning has shown that human-designed problem-specific networks can greatly improve the classification performance of general neural models. In most practical cases, however, choosing the optimal architecture for a…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-09-14 Nicolo Colombo , Yang Gao

We consider the setting where many networks are observed on a common node set, and each observation comprises edge weights of a network, covariates observed at each node, and an overall response. The goal is to use the edge weights and node…

Methodology · Statistics 2023-08-23 Daniel Kessler , Keith Levin , Elizaveta Levina

Activation functions play a critical role in the performance and behaviour of neural networks, significantly impacting their ability to learn and generalise. Traditional activation functions, such as ReLU, sigmoid, and tanh, have been…

Neural and Evolutionary Computing · Computer Science 2025-03-27 Benjamin David Winter , William John Teahan

The expressive power of artificial neural networks crucially depends on the nonlinearity of their activation functions. Though a wide variety of nonlinear activation functions have been proposed for use in artificial neural networks, a…

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks · Physics 2021-02-24 Jacob A. Zavatone-Veth , Cengiz Pehlevan