First-order adaptive optimization methods like Adam are the default choices for training modern deep neural networks. Despite their empirical success, the theoretical understanding of these methods in non-smooth settings, particularly in Deep ReLU networks, remains limited. ReLU activations create exponentially many region boundaries where standard smoothness assumptions break down. We derive the first \ (O\! (d₄₅₅/₍) \) generalization bound for Adam in Deep ReLU networks and the first global-optimal convergence for Adam in the non smooth, non convex relu landscape without a global PL or convexity assumption. Our analysis is based on stratified Morse theory and novel results in Kakeya sets. We develop a multi-layer refinement framework that progressively tightens bounds on region crossings. We prove that the number of region crossings collapses from exponential to near-linear in the effective dimension. Using a Kakeya based method, we give a tighter generalization bound than PAC-Bayes approaches and showcase convergence using a mild uniform low barrier assumption.
Sridhar et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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