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Determinism in the Undetermined: Deterministic Output in Charge-Conserving Continuous-Time Neuromorphic Systems with Temporal Stochasticity

arXiv cs.LG / 3/18/2026

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Key Points

  • A unified continuous-time framework for spiking neural networks integrates charge conservation with minimal neuron-level constraints to ensure the terminal state depends solely on the aggregate input charge.
  • The authors prove that the terminal state is invariant to spike timing in acyclic networks, addressing temporal stochasticity in asynchronous neuromorphic hardware.
  • Recurrent connectivity can introduce temporal sensitivity, highlighting the boundary conditions for deterministic behavior in more complex topologies.
  • They establish an exact representational correspondence between charge-conserving SNNs and quantized artificial neural networks, bridging static deep learning and event-driven dynamics without approximation errors.

Abstract

Achieving deterministic computation results in asynchronous neuromorphic systems remains a fundamental challenge due to the inherent temporal stochasticity of continuous-time hardware. To address this, we develop a unified continuous-time framework for spiking neural networks (SNNs) that couples the Law of Charge Conservation with minimal neuron-level constraints. This integration ensures that the terminal state depends solely on the aggregate input charge, providing a unique cumulated output invariant to temporal stochasticity. We prove that this mapping is strictly invariant to spike timing in acyclic networks, whereas recurrent connectivity can introduce temporal sensitivity. Furthermore, we establish an exact representational correspondence between these charge-conserving SNNs and quantized artificial neural networks, bridging the gap between static deep learning and event-driven dynamics without approximation errors. These results establish a rigorous theoretical basis for designing continuous-time neuromorphic systems that harness the efficiency of asynchronous processing while maintaining algorithmic determinism.