Benefits of Overparameterized Convolutional Residual Networks: Function Approximation under Smoothness Constraint
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Abstract (arXiv)
Overparameterized neural networks enjoy great representation power on complex data, and more importantly yield sufficiently smooth output, which is crucial to their generalization and robustness. Most existing function approximation theories suggest that with sufficiently many parameters, neural networks can well approximate certain classes of functions in terms of the function value. The neural network themselves, however, can be highly nonsmooth. To bridge this gap, we take convolutional residual networks (ConvResNets) as an example, and prove that large ConvResNets can not only approximate a target function in terms of function value, but also exhibit sufficient first-order smoothness. Moreover, we extend our theory to approximating functions supported on a low-dimensional manifold. Our theory partially justifies the benefits of using deep and wide networks in practice. Numerical experiments on adversarial robust image classification are provided to support our theory.
Key facts. Cited by 6 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 34 of its 70 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 9 Jun 2022.
Builds on
34 of 70 references.
References · 34
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22 more
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Citing papers per year: 2023: 3; 2024: 2; 2025: 0; 2026: 1.
6 papers.
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- 2023Double-well Net for Image Segmentationcited by 7
- 2023Connections between Operator-splitting Methods and Deep Neural Networks with Applications in Image Segmentationcited by 3
- 2024Deep Neural Networks are Adaptive to Function Regularity and Data Distribution in Approximation and Estimationcited by 3
- 2024Can overfitted deep neural networks in adversarial training generalize? -- An approximation viewpointcited by 1
- 2026Mitigating the Curse of Dimensionality in Uniform Convergence of Deep Neural Networks via Smooth Activationscited by 0
- 2026Mitigating the Curse of Dimensionality in Uniform Convergence of Deep Neural Networks via Smooth Activations4 Jun 2026
- 2024Deep Neural Networks are Adaptive to Function Regularity and Data Distribution in Approximation and Estimation8 Jun 2024
- 2024Can overfitted deep neural networks in adversarial training generalize? -- An approximation viewpoint24 Jan 2024
- 2023Double-well Net for Image Segmentation31 Dec 2023
- 2023Connections between Operator-splitting Methods and Deep Neural Networks with Applications in Image Segmentation18 Jul 2023
- 2023Deep Nonparametric Estimation of Intrinsic Data Structures by Chart Autoencoders: Generalization Error and Robustness17 Mar 2023