arXiv:2511.00958cs.LGcs.AI2025-11

Normalization层能指数级压缩网络容量,解决训练不稳和过拟合问题。

The Hidden Power of Normalization Layers in Neural Networks: Exponential Capacity Control

  • 通过理论证明:未归一化的网络容量呈指数爆炸,归一化层可指数级降低其敏感度。
  • 归一化使损失曲面更平滑,优化更快更稳定,且有效容量显著下降。
  • 为深度学习中归一化方法的广泛成功提供了理论依据,适合研究者和工程师参考。

归一化层是现代AI系统(如ChatGPT、Gemini、DeepSeek)的核心组件。尽管经验上已知其能稳定训练并提升泛化能力,但其在深层神经网络中如何同时促进优化与泛化仍缺乏理论解释。本文建立理论框架,揭示归一化通过容量控制起作用。我们证明:未归一化的深层神经网络对参数或输入的Lipschitz常数可能呈指数级增长,导致功能容量过大,存在不可数多的不良网络。而插入归一化层可使Lipschitz常数以归一化层数的指数速率下降。该指数级压缩带来两大效果:(1) 损失曲面平滑程度指数提升,加速并稳定优化;(2) 网络有效容量受控,增强对未见数据的泛化保证。本工作为归一化方法在深度学习中的成功提供了原则性解释。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Normalization layers are critical components of modern AI systems, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, etc. Empirically, they are known to stabilize training dynamics and improve generalization ability. However, the underlying theoretical mechanism by which normalization layers contribute to both optimization and generalization remains largely unexplained, especially when using many normalization layers in a deep neural network (DNN). In this work, we develop a theoretical framework that elucidates the role of normalization through the lens of capacity control. We prove that an unnormalized DNN can exhibit exponentially large Lipschitz constants with respect to either its parameters or inputs, implying excessive functional capacity and potential overfitting. Such bad DNNs are uncountably many. In contrast, the insertion of normalization layers provably can reduce the Lipschitz constant at an exponential rate in the number of normalization layers. This exponential reduction yields two fundamental consequences: (1) it smooths the loss landscape at an exponential rate, facilitating faster and more stable optimization; and (2) it constrains the effective capacity of the network, thereby enhancing generalization guarantees on unseen data. Our results thus offer a principled explanation for the empirical success of normalization methods in deep learning.

归一化容量控制理论分析深度学习

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