Approximation Theory for Lipschitz Continuous Transformers
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
- 2018Spectral Normalization for Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 1,618
- 2022Transformers learn in-context by gradient descentcited by 714
- 2022What learning algorithm is in-context learning? Investigations with linear modelscited by 671
- 2018Lipschitz regularity of deep neural networks: analysis and efficient estimationcited by 413
- 2019Are Transformers universal approximators of sequence-to-sequence functions?cited by 404
- 2018Regularisation of Neural Networks by Enforcing Lipschitz Continuitycited by 311
- 2023Transformers as Algorithms: Generalization and Stability in In-context Learningcited by 220
- 2020Understanding the Difficulty of Training Transformerscited by 210
- 2020The Lipschitz Constant of Self-Attentioncited by 171
- 2021Orthogonalizing Convolutional Layers with the Cayley Transformcited by 105
- 2021A Dynamical System Perspective for Lipschitz Neural Networkscited by 59
- 2023How Smooth Is Attention?cited by 44
13 more
- 2024Transformers are Universal In-context Learnerscited by 42
- 2023LipsFormer: Introducing Lipschitz Continuity to Vision Transformerscited by 33
- 2021Pay attention to your loss: understanding misconceptions about 1-Lipschitz neural networkscited by 30
- 2021CLIP: Cheap Lipschitz Training of Neural Networkscited by 29
- 2025Training Transformers with Enforced Lipschitz Constantscited by 18
- 2025Softmax is 1/2-Lipschitz: A tight bound across all ℓp normscited by 18
- 2022Approximation of Lipschitz Functions using Deep Spline Neural Networkscited by 15
- 20231-Lipschitz Layers Compared: Memory, Speed, and Certifiable Robustnesscited by 15
- 2023Designing Stable Neural Networks using Convex Analysis and ODEscited by 10
- 2025Approximation theory for 1-Lipschitz ResNetscited by 7
- 2020Lipschitz neural networks are dense in the set of all Lipschitz functionscited by 6
- 2023CertViT: Certified Robustness of Pre-Trained Vision Transformerscited by 6
- 2025LipShiFT: A Certifiably Robust Shift-based Vision Transformercited by 3
Built on by
Citing papers per year: 2026: 5.
5 papers.
- 2026Propagation of Chaos in Contextual Flow Mapscited by 2
- 2026Any-Dimensional Learning by Samplingcited by 1
- 2026A Unified Framework for In-Context Learning with Causal and Masked Language Modelscited by 0
- 2026Super Weights in LLMs and the Failure of Selective Trainingcited by 0
- 2026Universal Approximation of Measure-to-Measure Operators by Pushforwardscited by 0
- 2026Universal Approximation of Measure-to-Measure Operators by Pushforwards28 Sep 2026
- 2026Super Weights in LLMs and the Failure of Selective Training9 Jul 2026
- 2026Any-Dimensional Learning by Sampling8 Jul 2026
- 2026A Unified Framework for In-Context Learning with Causal and Masked Language Models5 Jul 2026
- 2026Propagation of Chaos in Contextual Flow Maps16 May 2026