Constraints-Guided Diffusion Reasoner for Neuro-Symbolic Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhang, Xuan, Zhou, Zhijian, Xu, Weidi, Miao, Yanting, Qu, Chao, Qi, Yuan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866912549390254080
author Zhang, Xuan
Zhou, Zhijian
Xu, Weidi
Miao, Yanting
Qu, Chao
Qi, Yuan
author_facet Zhang, Xuan
Zhou, Zhijian
Xu, Weidi
Miao, Yanting
Qu, Chao
Qi, Yuan
contents Enabling neural networks to learn complex logical constraints and fulfill symbolic reasoning is a critical challenge. Bridging this gap often requires guiding the neural network's output distribution to move closer to the symbolic constraints. While diffusion models have shown remarkable generative capability across various domains, we employ the powerful architecture to perform neuro-symbolic learning and solve logical puzzles. Our diffusion-based pipeline adopts a two-stage training strategy: the first stage focuses on cultivating basic reasoning abilities, while the second emphasizes systematic learning of logical constraints. To impose hard constraints on neural outputs in the second stage, we formulate the diffusion reasoner as a Markov decision process and innovatively fine-tune it with an improved proximal policy optimization algorithm. We utilize a rule-based reward signal derived from the logical consistency of neural outputs and adopt a flexible strategy to optimize the diffusion reasoner's policy. We evaluate our methodology on some classical symbolic reasoning benchmarks, including Sudoku, Maze, pathfinding and preference learning. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach achieves outstanding accuracy and logical consistency among neural networks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_16524
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Constraints-Guided Diffusion Reasoner for Neuro-Symbolic Learning
Zhang, Xuan
Zhou, Zhijian
Xu, Weidi
Miao, Yanting
Qu, Chao
Qi, Yuan
Artificial Intelligence
Enabling neural networks to learn complex logical constraints and fulfill symbolic reasoning is a critical challenge. Bridging this gap often requires guiding the neural network's output distribution to move closer to the symbolic constraints. While diffusion models have shown remarkable generative capability across various domains, we employ the powerful architecture to perform neuro-symbolic learning and solve logical puzzles. Our diffusion-based pipeline adopts a two-stage training strategy: the first stage focuses on cultivating basic reasoning abilities, while the second emphasizes systematic learning of logical constraints. To impose hard constraints on neural outputs in the second stage, we formulate the diffusion reasoner as a Markov decision process and innovatively fine-tune it with an improved proximal policy optimization algorithm. We utilize a rule-based reward signal derived from the logical consistency of neural outputs and adopt a flexible strategy to optimize the diffusion reasoner's policy. We evaluate our methodology on some classical symbolic reasoning benchmarks, including Sudoku, Maze, pathfinding and preference learning. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach achieves outstanding accuracy and logical consistency among neural networks.
title Constraints-Guided Diffusion Reasoner for Neuro-Symbolic Learning
topic Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.16524