Why ReLU? A Bit-Model Dichotomy for Deep Network Training

Theoretical analyses of Empirical Risk Minimization (ERM) are standardly framed within the Real-RAM model of computation. In this setting, training even simple neural networks is known to be $\exists \mathbb{R}$-complete---a complexity class believed to be harder than NP, that characterizes the difficulty of solving systems of polynomial inequalities over the real numbers. However, this algebraic framework diverges from the reality of digital computation with finite-precision hardware. In this work, we analyze the theoretical complexity of ERM under a realistic bit-level model ($ERM_{bit}$), where network parameters and inputs are constrained to be rational numbers with polynomially bounded bit-lengths. Under this model, we reveal a sharp dichotomy in tractability governed by the network's activation function. We prove that for deep networks with any polynomial activations with rational coefficients and degree at least $2$, the bit-complexity of training is severe: deciding $ERM_{bit}$ (with a regularized loss) is #$P$-hard, hence believed to be strictly harder than NP-complete problems. Furthermore, we show that determining the sign of a single partial derivative of the empirical loss function is intractable (unlikely in BPP), and deciding a specific bit in the gradient is #$P$-hard. This provides a complexity-theoretic perspective for the phenomenon of exploding and vanishing gradients. In contrast, we show that for piecewise-linear activations such as ReLU, the precision requirements remain manageable: $ERM_{bit}$ is contained within NP (specifically NP-complete), and standard backpropagation runs in polynomial time. Our results demonstrate that finite-precision constraints are not merely implementation details but fundamental determinants of learnability.