LeanKAN: A Parameter-Lean Kolmogorov-Arnold Network Layer with Improved Memory Efficiency and Convergence Behavior

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Koenig, Benjamin C., Kim, Suyong, Deng, Sili
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Koenig, Benjamin C.
Kim, Suyong
Deng, Sili
author_facet Koenig, Benjamin C.
Kim, Suyong
Deng, Sili
contents The recently proposed Kolmogorov-Arnold network (KAN) is a promising alternative to multi-layer perceptrons (MLPs) for data-driven modeling. While original KAN layers were only capable of representing the addition operator, the recently-proposed MultKAN layer combines addition and multiplication subnodes in an effort to improve representation performance. Here, we find that MultKAN layers suffer from a few key drawbacks including limited applicability in output layers, bulky parameterizations with extraneous activations, and the inclusion of complex hyperparameters. To address these issues, we propose LeanKANs, a direct and modular replacement for MultKAN and traditional AddKAN layers. LeanKANs address these three drawbacks of MultKAN through general applicability as output layers, significantly reduced parameter counts for a given network structure, and a smaller set of hyperparameters. As a one-to-one layer replacement for standard AddKAN and MultKAN layers, LeanKAN is able to provide these benefits to traditional KAN learning problems as well as augmented KAN structures in which it serves as the backbone, such as KAN Ordinary Differential Equations (KAN-ODEs) or Deep Operator KANs (DeepOKAN). We demonstrate LeanKAN's simplicity and efficiency in a series of demonstrations carried out across a standard KAN toy problem as well as ordinary and partial differential equations learned via KAN-ODEs, where we find that its sparser parameterization and compact structure serve to increase its expressivity and learning capability, leading it to outperform similar and even much larger MultKANs in various tasks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_17844
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle LeanKAN: A Parameter-Lean Kolmogorov-Arnold Network Layer with Improved Memory Efficiency and Convergence Behavior
Koenig, Benjamin C.
Kim, Suyong
Deng, Sili
Machine Learning
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
The recently proposed Kolmogorov-Arnold network (KAN) is a promising alternative to multi-layer perceptrons (MLPs) for data-driven modeling. While original KAN layers were only capable of representing the addition operator, the recently-proposed MultKAN layer combines addition and multiplication subnodes in an effort to improve representation performance. Here, we find that MultKAN layers suffer from a few key drawbacks including limited applicability in output layers, bulky parameterizations with extraneous activations, and the inclusion of complex hyperparameters. To address these issues, we propose LeanKANs, a direct and modular replacement for MultKAN and traditional AddKAN layers. LeanKANs address these three drawbacks of MultKAN through general applicability as output layers, significantly reduced parameter counts for a given network structure, and a smaller set of hyperparameters. As a one-to-one layer replacement for standard AddKAN and MultKAN layers, LeanKAN is able to provide these benefits to traditional KAN learning problems as well as augmented KAN structures in which it serves as the backbone, such as KAN Ordinary Differential Equations (KAN-ODEs) or Deep Operator KANs (DeepOKAN). We demonstrate LeanKAN's simplicity and efficiency in a series of demonstrations carried out across a standard KAN toy problem as well as ordinary and partial differential equations learned via KAN-ODEs, where we find that its sparser parameterization and compact structure serve to increase its expressivity and learning capability, leading it to outperform similar and even much larger MultKANs in various tasks.
title LeanKAN: A Parameter-Lean Kolmogorov-Arnold Network Layer with Improved Memory Efficiency and Convergence Behavior
topic Machine Learning
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.17844