The neural networks with tensor weights and emergent fermionic Wick rules in the large-width limit
In this paper, we study complex-valued neural network (CVNNs) with tensor-valued hidden-to-output weights within the framework of neural-network quantum field theory (NN-QFT). For standard CVNNs with scalar weights, we derive the generating functional and identify the exact Gaussian process that arises in the infinite-width limit, together with its associated effective quantum state. When the last-layer weights are promoted to Clifford-algebra-valued tensors, the network output becomes complex matrix-valued, and a fermion-like sign structure in the large-width correlation functions of the network output is induced. We show that, in the infinite-width limit, correlators with equal numbers of $f^†$ and $f$ obey fermionic Wick rules and can be written as determinants built from a scalar Euclidean kernel $S(x,y)=\langle f^†(x)f(y)\rangle$. This provides a sign-structured extension of NN-QFT at the level of Euclidean correlators and Feynman rules, even though a microscopic Grassmann path integral representation for the network parameters has not yet been constructed. Our analysis thus pushes the NN-QFT correspondence beyond purely bosonic Gaussian fields and suggests a possible route to encoding fermion-like symmetries in neural architectures for QFT correspondence.
Authors
- Kai Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3609-8807)
- Guojun Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6393-6277)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physics Letters B
- Published
- 2026-01-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2025.140146
- Primary Topic
- Quantum many-body systems
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00