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Deep neural networks as lattice gauge theories

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High Energy Physics - Theory

arXiv:2608.19331 (hep-th)
[Submitted on 19 Aug 2026]

Title:Deep neural networks as lattice gauge theories

View a PDF of the paper titled Deep neural networks as lattice gauge theories, by Ro Jefferson and Shradha Ramakrishnan
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Abstract:We modify the NN/QFT duality [1] to incorporate the layerwise permutation symmetry of the network, resulting in a $(0\!+\!1)$-dimensional lattice gauge theory, in which each layer of $N$ neurons acts as an $N$-component lattice site, and the weight matrices play the role of gauge fields living on the links. In this framework, we compute the tree-level neuron-neuron propagator which describes the evolution of layer variance in the network, and develop the Feynman diagram machinery to compute interactions in the perturbative expansion in $1/N$. In particular, we obtain a recursive expression for all corrections to the exact propagator at $O(1)$, representing statistical fluctuations in the ensemble of networks, including infinitely-many loop diagrams mediating the interactions from previous layers. We also present a preliminary analysis of neuron scattering amplitudes that contribute order-by-order in $1/N$, which provides a field-theoretic framework for studying higher-point correlations, and by extension information propagation, in deep networks. We remark on some interesting directions for future work at the intersection of neural networks and quantum field theory.
Comments: 40 pages, infinite figures
Subjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn); Machine Learning (cs.LG)
Cite as: arXiv:2608.19331 [hep-th]
  (or arXiv:2608.19331v1 [hep-th] for this version)
  https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.19331
arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

Submission history

From: Ro Jefferson [view email]
[v1] Wed, 19 Aug 2026 18:00:13 UTC (5,290 KB)
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