We contribute to a better understanding of the class of functions that is represented by a neural network with ReLU activations and a given architecture. Using techniques from mixed-integer optimization, polyhedral theory, and tropical geometry, we provide a mathematical counterbalance to the universal approximation theorems which suggest that a single hidden layer is sufficient for learning tasks. In particular, we investigate whether the class of exactly representable functions strictly increases by adding more layers (with no restrictions on size). This problem has potential impact on algorithmic and statistical aspects because of the insight it provides into the class of functions represented by neural hypothesis classes. However, to the best of our knowledge, this question has not been investigated in the neural network literature. We also present upper bounds on the sizes of neural networks required to represent functions in these neural hypothesis classes.

本研究使用混合整数优化、多面体理论、热带几何等技术探究神经网络单隐藏层能否学习到所有函数的普适逼近定理，为可表示函数的类提供了数学支持。同时，解决了 Wang 和 Sun (2005) 关于分段线性函数的一项猜想，并提出了表示具有对数深度函数所需神经网络的上限。

关于ReLU神经网络的深度下界