VCSearch: Bridging the Gap Between Well-Defined and Ill-Defined Problems in Mathematical Reasoning

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Main Authors: Tian, Shi-Yu, Zhou, Zhi, Yu, Kun-Yang, Yang, Ming, Jia, Lin-Han, Guo, Lan-Zhe, Li, Yu-Feng
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Tian, Shi-Yu
Zhou, Zhi
Yu, Kun-Yang
Yang, Ming
Jia, Lin-Han
Guo, Lan-Zhe
Li, Yu-Feng
author_facet Tian, Shi-Yu
Zhou, Zhi
Yu, Kun-Yang
Yang, Ming
Jia, Lin-Han
Guo, Lan-Zhe
Li, Yu-Feng
contents Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated impressive performance on reasoning tasks, including mathematical reasoning. However, the current evaluation mostly focuses on carefully constructed benchmarks and neglects the consideration of real-world reasoning problems that present missing or contradictory conditions, known as ill-defined problems. To further study this problem, we develop a largescale benchmark called Problems with Missing and Contradictory conditions (PMC) containing over 5,000 validated ill-defined mathematical problems. Our preliminary experiments through PMC reveal two challenges about existing methods: (1) traditional methods exhibit a trade-off between solving accuracy and rejection capabilities, and (2) formal methods struggle with modeling complex problems. To address these challenges, We develop Variable-Constraint Search (VCSEARCH), a trainingfree framework that leverages formal language to detect ill-defined problems, where a variableconstraint pair search strategy is incorporated to improve the modeling capability of formal language. Extensive experiments demonstrate that VCSEARCH improves the accuracy of identifying unsolvable problems by at least 12% across different LLMs, thus achieving stronger robust mathematical reasoning ability.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_05055
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle VCSearch: Bridging the Gap Between Well-Defined and Ill-Defined Problems in Mathematical Reasoning
Tian, Shi-Yu
Zhou, Zhi
Yu, Kun-Yang
Yang, Ming
Jia, Lin-Han
Guo, Lan-Zhe
Li, Yu-Feng
Artificial Intelligence
Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated impressive performance on reasoning tasks, including mathematical reasoning. However, the current evaluation mostly focuses on carefully constructed benchmarks and neglects the consideration of real-world reasoning problems that present missing or contradictory conditions, known as ill-defined problems. To further study this problem, we develop a largescale benchmark called Problems with Missing and Contradictory conditions (PMC) containing over 5,000 validated ill-defined mathematical problems. Our preliminary experiments through PMC reveal two challenges about existing methods: (1) traditional methods exhibit a trade-off between solving accuracy and rejection capabilities, and (2) formal methods struggle with modeling complex problems. To address these challenges, We develop Variable-Constraint Search (VCSEARCH), a trainingfree framework that leverages formal language to detect ill-defined problems, where a variableconstraint pair search strategy is incorporated to improve the modeling capability of formal language. Extensive experiments demonstrate that VCSEARCH improves the accuracy of identifying unsolvable problems by at least 12% across different LLMs, thus achieving stronger robust mathematical reasoning ability.
title VCSearch: Bridging the Gap Between Well-Defined and Ill-Defined Problems in Mathematical Reasoning
topic Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.05055