The Cost of Robustness: Tighter Bounds on Parameter Complexity for Robust Memorization in ReLU Nets

Abstract

We study the parameter complexity of robust memorization for ReLU networks: the number of parameters required to interpolate any dataset with $\epsilon$-separation between differently labeled points, while ensuring predictions remain consistent within a $\mu$-ball around each training example. We establish upper and lower bounds on the parameter count as a function of the robustness ratio $\rho = \mu/ \epsilon$. Unlike prior work, we provide a fine-grained analysis across the entire range $\rho \in (0,1)$ and obtain tighter upper and lower bounds that improve upon existing results. Our findings reveal that the parameter complexity of robust memorization matches that of non-robust memorization when $\rho$ is small, but grows with increasing $\rho$.

Publication
ICML 2025 Workshop on High-dimensional Learning Dynamics (HiLD)
Chulhee Yun
Chulhee Yun
Ewon Assistant Professor

I am an Ewon Assistant Professor at KAIST AI. I am interested in optimization and machine learning theory.