Statistics of correlations in nonlinear recurrent neural networks

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Mato, German, Rigatuso, Facundo, Torroba, Gonzalo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Mato, German
Rigatuso, Facundo
Torroba, Gonzalo
author_facet Mato, German
Rigatuso, Facundo
Torroba, Gonzalo
contents The statistics of correlations are central quantities characterizing the collective dynamics of recurrent neural networks. We derive exact expressions for the statistics of correlations of nonlinear recurrent networks in the limit of a large number N of neurons, including systematic 1/N corrections, in the regime of Gaussian quenched disorder. Our approach uses a path-integral representation of the network stochastic dynamics, which reduces the description to a few collective variables and enables efficient computation. This generalizes previous results on linear networks to include a wide family of nonlinear activation functions, which enter as interaction terms in the path integral. These interactions can resolve the instability of the linear theory and yield a strictly positive participation dimension. We present explicit results for power-law activations, revealing scaling behavior controlled by the network coupling. In addition, we introduce a class of activation functions based on Pade approximants and provide analytic predictions for their correlation statistics. Numerical simulations confirm our theoretical results with excellent agreement. We also compare with previous works that have studied the complementary case with annealed disorder, and based on this we propose a new self-consistent equation for the more general case of colored noise.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_21742
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Statistics of correlations in nonlinear recurrent neural networks
Mato, German
Rigatuso, Facundo
Torroba, Gonzalo
Neurons and Cognition
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
High Energy Physics - Theory
Biological Physics
The statistics of correlations are central quantities characterizing the collective dynamics of recurrent neural networks. We derive exact expressions for the statistics of correlations of nonlinear recurrent networks in the limit of a large number N of neurons, including systematic 1/N corrections, in the regime of Gaussian quenched disorder. Our approach uses a path-integral representation of the network stochastic dynamics, which reduces the description to a few collective variables and enables efficient computation. This generalizes previous results on linear networks to include a wide family of nonlinear activation functions, which enter as interaction terms in the path integral. These interactions can resolve the instability of the linear theory and yield a strictly positive participation dimension. We present explicit results for power-law activations, revealing scaling behavior controlled by the network coupling. In addition, we introduce a class of activation functions based on Pade approximants and provide analytic predictions for their correlation statistics. Numerical simulations confirm our theoretical results with excellent agreement. We also compare with previous works that have studied the complementary case with annealed disorder, and based on this we propose a new self-consistent equation for the more general case of colored noise.
title Statistics of correlations in nonlinear recurrent neural networks
topic Neurons and Cognition
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
High Energy Physics - Theory
Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.21742