揭示大模型中特征表示的几何极限,发现容量与正交性密切相关。
Representational Capacity: Geometric Limits on Feature Representation in Transformer Language Models

- 通过嵌入矩阵的余弦相似度分布,量化模型对近正交性的容忍度ε。
- 提出新公式,容量由向量数与维度比决定,预测误差降低两个数量级。
- 大模型更倾向严格正交约束,而非单纯扩大容量,或关乎稳定性与概念上限。
模型维度(d_model)是Transformer语言模型的关键超参数,但其在设定特征表示几何极限中的作用仍不明确。基于线性表示与叠加假说——即模型将特征编码为潜在空间中的近正交方向——我们建立了一个估算模型可支持多少此类方向的框架。首先,将嵌入矩阵作为潜在空间中近正交性约束的可测量代理:成对余弦相似度分布中,有意义的词关系与偶然相似性之间的边界,给出了模型允许偏离完美正交性的具体估计值ε。在数十个开源模型上应用该度量,发现两类模型:高ε者嵌入缺乏近正交结构,低ε者则保持该结构。随后表明,标准Johnson-Lindenstrauss引理严重低估了训练后表示的打包效率,并推导出调整后的容量公式:近正交方向的数量取决于向量数与维度之比(k/d),而非原始数量——仅此一项修改即在无额外参数下使预测误差降低两个数量级。结合上述结果,我们将表征容量定义为模型潜在空间中可用于特征和嵌入的可区分方向的上限。容量对ε呈指数敏感,大模型更倾向于收紧正交性约束而非最大化原始容量——这一模式与多种解释(稳定-容量权衡、可用概念上限,或模型规模的混杂因素)相容,留待未来研究。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Model dimension ($d_{model}$) is a fundamental hyperparameter in transformer language models, yet its role in setting the geometric limits of feature representation remains under-explored. Grounded in the Linear Representation and Superposition Hypotheses - which propose that models encode features as near-orthogonal directions in latent space - we develop a framework for estimating how many such directions a model can support. We first establish the embedding matrix as a measurable proxy for near-orthogonality constraints across the latent space: the boundary between meaningful token relationships and incidental similarity in the pairwise cosine similarity distribution gives a concrete estimate of the model's accepted deviation $\varepsilon$ from perfect orthogonality. Applying this metric across dozens of open-source models reveals two classes: models with high $\varepsilon$ whose embeddings lack near-orthogonal structure, and models with low $\varepsilon$ that maintain it. We then show that the standard Johnson-Lindenstrauss lemma greatly underestimates the packing efficiency of trained representations, and derive an adjusted capacity formula in which the number of near-orthogonal directions depends on the ratio of vectors to dimensions ($k/d$) rather than the raw count - a single modification that cuts prediction error by two orders of magnitude with no extra parameters. Combining these results, we define representational capacity as an upper bound on the number of distinguishable directions available for features and embeddings in a model's latent space. Capacity is exponentially sensitive to $\varepsilon$, and larger models favor tighter orthogonality constraints over maximizing raw capacity - a pattern compatible with several explanations (a stability-capacity trade-off, a ceiling on usable concepts, or confounds with model scale) that we leave to future work.
Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. PaperDance 不是 arXiv 官方产品;中文卡片由大模型生成,请以原文为准。