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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.19006 |
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| _version_ | 1866911461395136512 |
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| author | Rithvik, S. K. |
| author_facet | Rithvik, S. K. |
| contents | We present a systematic evaluation of large language models on quantum mechanics problem-solving. Our study evaluates 15 models from five providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Alibaba, DeepSeek) spanning three capability tiers on 20 tasks covering derivations, creative problems, non-standard concepts, and numerical computation, comprising 900 baseline and 75 tool-augmented assessments. Results reveal clear tier stratification: flagship models achieve 81\% average accuracy, outperforming mid-tier (77\%) and fast models (67\%) by 4pp and 14pp respectively. Task difficulty patterns emerge distinctly: derivations show highest performance (92\% average, 100\% for flagship models), while numerical computation remains most challenging (42\%). Tool augmentation on numerical tasks yields task-dependent effects: modest overall improvement (+4.4pp) at 3x token cost masks dramatic heterogeneity ranging from +29pp gains to -16pp degradation. Reproducibility analysis across three runs quantifies 6.3pp average variance, with flagship models demonstrating exceptional stability (GPT-5 achieves zero variance) while specialized models require multi-run evaluation. This work contributes: (i) a benchmark for quantum mechanics with automatic verification, (ii) systematic evaluation quantifying tier-based performance hierarchies, (iii) empirical analysis of tool augmentation trade-offs, and (iv) reproducibility characterization. All tasks, verifiers, and results are publicly released. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_19006 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Evaluating Large Language Models on Quantum Mechanics: A Comparative Study Across Diverse Models and Tasks Rithvik, S. K. Artificial Intelligence Quantum Physics We present a systematic evaluation of large language models on quantum mechanics problem-solving. Our study evaluates 15 models from five providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Alibaba, DeepSeek) spanning three capability tiers on 20 tasks covering derivations, creative problems, non-standard concepts, and numerical computation, comprising 900 baseline and 75 tool-augmented assessments. Results reveal clear tier stratification: flagship models achieve 81\% average accuracy, outperforming mid-tier (77\%) and fast models (67\%) by 4pp and 14pp respectively. Task difficulty patterns emerge distinctly: derivations show highest performance (92\% average, 100\% for flagship models), while numerical computation remains most challenging (42\%). Tool augmentation on numerical tasks yields task-dependent effects: modest overall improvement (+4.4pp) at 3x token cost masks dramatic heterogeneity ranging from +29pp gains to -16pp degradation. Reproducibility analysis across three runs quantifies 6.3pp average variance, with flagship models demonstrating exceptional stability (GPT-5 achieves zero variance) while specialized models require multi-run evaluation. This work contributes: (i) a benchmark for quantum mechanics with automatic verification, (ii) systematic evaluation quantifying tier-based performance hierarchies, (iii) empirical analysis of tool augmentation trade-offs, and (iv) reproducibility characterization. All tasks, verifiers, and results are publicly released. |
| title | Evaluating Large Language Models on Quantum Mechanics: A Comparative Study Across Diverse Models and Tasks |
| topic | Artificial Intelligence Quantum Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.19006 |