Smaller generalization error derived for a deep residual neural network compared to shallow networks

Abstract

Estimates of the generalization error are proved for a residual neural network with $L$ random Fourier features layers $\bar z_{\ell+1}=\bar z_\ell + \mathrm{Re}\sum_{k=1}^K\bar b_{\ell k}e^{\mathrm{i}\omega_{\ell k}\bar z_\ell}+ \mathrm{Re}\sum_{k=1}^K\bar c_{\ell k}e^{\mathrm{i}\omega'_{\ell k}\cdot x}$. An optimal distribution for the frequencies $(\omega_{\ell k},\omega'_{\ell k})$ of the random Fourier features $e^{\mathrm{i}\omega_{\ell k}\bar z_\ell}$ and $e^{\mathrm{i}\omega'_{\ell k}\cdot x}$ is derived. This derivation is based on the corresponding generalization error for the approximation of the function values $f(x)$. The generalization error turns out to be smaller than the estimate ${\|\hat f\|^2_{L^1(\mathbb{R}^d)}}/{(KL)}$ of the generalization error for random Fourier features with one hidden layer and the same total number of nodes $KL$, in the case the $L^\infty$-norm of $f$ is much less than the $L^1$-norm of its Fourier transform $\hat f$. This understanding of an optimal distribution for random features is used to construct a new training method for a deep residual network. Promising performance of the proposed new algorithm is demonstrated in computational experiments.