mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Approximation Theory for Lipschitz Continuous Transformers

arXiv 2602.15503 ↗First posted 17 Feb 2026cs.LG stat.MLcited by 5

Not on the map. Why?

Abstract (arXiv)

Stability and robustness are critical for deploying Transformers in safety-sensitive settings. A principled way to enforce such behavior is to constrain the model's Lipschitz constant. However, approximation-theoretic guarantees for architectures that explicitly preserve Lipschitz continuity have yet to be established. In this work, we bridge this gap by introducing a class of gradient-descent-type in-context Transformers that are Lipschitz-continuous by construction. We realize both MLP and attention blocks as explicit Euler steps of negative gradient flows, ensuring inherent stability without sacrificing expressivity. We prove a universal approximation theorem for this class within a Lipschitz-constrained function space. Crucially, our analysis adopts a measure-theoretic formalism, interpreting Transformers as operators on probability measures, to yield approximation guarantees independent of token count. These results provide a rigorous theoretical foundation for the design of robust, Lipschitz continuous Transformer architectures.

Key facts. Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 25 of its 36 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 17 Feb 2026.

Builds on

25 of 36 references.

References · 25

  1. 2018Spectral Normalization for Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 1,618
  2. 2022Transformers learn in-context by gradient descentcited by 714
  3. 2022What learning algorithm is in-context learning? Investigations with linear modelscited by 671
  4. 2018Lipschitz regularity of deep neural networks: analysis and efficient estimationcited by 413
  5. 2019Are Transformers universal approximators of sequence-to-sequence functions?cited by 404
  6. 2018Regularisation of Neural Networks by Enforcing Lipschitz Continuitycited by 311
  7. 2023Transformers as Algorithms: Generalization and Stability in In-context Learningcited by 220
  8. 2020Understanding the Difficulty of Training Transformerscited by 210
  9. 2020The Lipschitz Constant of Self-Attentioncited by 171
  10. 2021Orthogonalizing Convolutional Layers with the Cayley Transformcited by 105
  11. 2021A Dynamical System Perspective for Lipschitz Neural Networkscited by 59
  12. 2023How Smooth Is Attention?cited by 44
13 more
  1. 2024Transformers are Universal In-context Learnerscited by 42
  2. 2023LipsFormer: Introducing Lipschitz Continuity to Vision Transformerscited by 33
  3. 2021Pay attention to your loss: understanding misconceptions about 1-Lipschitz neural networkscited by 30
  4. 2021CLIP: Cheap Lipschitz Training of Neural Networkscited by 29
  5. 2025Training Transformers with Enforced Lipschitz Constantscited by 18
  6. 2025Softmax is 1/2-Lipschitz: A tight bound across all ℓp normscited by 18
  7. 2022Approximation of Lipschitz Functions using Deep Spline Neural Networkscited by 15
  8. 20231-Lipschitz Layers Compared: Memory, Speed, and Certifiable Robustnesscited by 15
  9. 2023Designing Stable Neural Networks using Convex Analysis and ODEscited by 10
  10. 2025Approximation theory for 1-Lipschitz ResNetscited by 7
  11. 2020Lipschitz neural networks are dense in the set of all Lipschitz functionscited by 6
  12. 2023CertViT: Certified Robustness of Pre-Trained Vision Transformerscited by 6
  13. 2025LipShiFT: A Certifiably Robust Shift-based Vision Transformercited by 3

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Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 5.

5 papers.