Problem Solving
ManiGaussian++: General Robotic Bimanual Manipulation with Hierarchical Gaussian World Model
Yu, Tengbo, Lu, Guanxing, Yang, Zaijia, Deng, Haoyuan, Chen, Season Si, Lu, Jiwen, Ding, Wenbo, Hu, Guoqiang, Tang, Yansong, Wang, Ziwei
Multi-task robotic bimanual manipulation is becoming increasingly popular as it enables sophisticated tasks that require diverse dual-arm collaboration patterns. Compared to unimanual manipulation, bimanual tasks pose challenges to understanding the multi-body spatiotemporal dynamics. An existing method ManiGaussian pioneers encoding the spatiotemporal dynamics into the visual representation via Gaussian world model for single-arm settings, which ignores the interaction of multiple embodiments for dual-arm systems with significant performance drop. In this paper, we propose ManiGaussian++, an extension of ManiGaussian framework that improves multi-task bimanual manipulation by digesting multi-body scene dynamics through a hierarchical Gaussian world model. To be specific, we first generate task-oriented Gaussian Splatting from intermediate visual features, which aims to differentiate acting and stabilizing arms for multi-body spatiotemporal dynamics modeling. We then build a hierarchical Gaussian world model with the leader-follower architecture, where the multi-body spatiotemporal dynamics is mined for intermediate visual representation via future scene prediction. The leader predicts Gaussian Splatting deformation caused by motions of the stabilizing arm, through which the follower generates the physical consequences resulted from the movement of the acting arm. As a result, our method significantly outperforms the current state-of-the-art bimanual manipulation techniques by an improvement of 20.2% in 10 simulated tasks, and achieves 60% success rate on average in 9 challenging real-world tasks. Our code is available at https://github.com/April-Yz/ManiGaussian_Bimanual.
Is Long-to-Short a Free Lunch? Investigating Inconsistency and Reasoning Efficiency in LRMs
Yang, Shu, Wu, Junchao, Wu, Xuansheng, Wong, Derek, Liu, Ninhao, Wang, Di
Large Reasoning Models (LRMs) have achieved remarkable performance on complex tasks by engaging in extended reasoning before producing final answers, yet this strength introduces the risk of overthinking, where excessive token generation occurs even for simple tasks. While recent work in efficient reasoning seeks to reduce reasoning length while preserving accuracy, it remains unclear whether such optimization is truly a free lunch. Drawing on the intuition that compressing reasoning may reduce the robustness of model responses and lead models to omit key reasoning steps, we investigate whether efficient reasoning strategies introduce behavioral inconsistencies. To systematically assess this, we introduce $ICBENCH$, a benchmark designed to measure inconsistency in LRMs across three dimensions: inconsistency across task settings (ITS), inconsistency between training objectives and learned behavior (TR-LB), and inconsistency between internal reasoning and self-explanations (IR-SE). Applying $ICBENCH$ to a range of open-source LRMs, we find that while larger models generally exhibit greater consistency than smaller ones, they all display widespread "scheming" behaviors, including self-disagreement, post-hoc rationalization, and the withholding of reasoning cues. Crucially, our results demonstrate that efficient reasoning strategies such as No-Thinking and Simple Token-Budget consistently increase all three defined types of inconsistency. These findings suggest that although efficient reasoning enhances token-level efficiency, further investigation is imperative to ascertain whether it concurrently introduces the risk of models evading effective supervision.
Deep Electromagnetic Structure Design Under Limited Evaluation Budgets
Zheng, Shijian, Jin, Fangxiao, Zhang, Shuhai, Xue, Quan, Tan, Mingkui
Electromagnetic structure (EMS) design plays a critical role in developing advanced antennas and materials, but remains challenging due to high-dimensional design spaces and expensive evaluations. While existing methods commonly employ high-quality predictors or generators to alleviate evaluations, they are often data-intensive and struggle with real-world scale and budget constraints. To address this, we propose a novel method called Progressive Quadtree-based Search (PQS). Rather than exhaustively exploring the high-dimensional space, PQS converts the conventional image-like layout into a quadtree-based hierarchical representation, enabling a progressive search from global patterns to local details. Furthermore, to lessen reliance on highly accurate predictors, we introduce a consistency-driven sample selection mechanism. This mechanism quantifies the reliability of predictions, balancing exploitation and exploration when selecting candidate designs. We evaluate PQS on two real-world engineering tasks, i.e., Dual-layer Frequency Selective Surface and High-gain Antenna. Experimental results show that our method can achieve satisfactory designs under limited computational budgets, outperforming baseline methods. In particular, compared to generative approaches, it cuts evaluation costs by 75-85%, effectively saving 20.27-38.80 days of product designing cycle.
Distilling Tool Knowledge into Language Models via Back-Translated Traces
Huang, Xingyue, Hu, Xianglong, Ding, Zifeng, He, Yuan, Rishabh, null, Alzarooni, Waleed, Ye, Ziyu, Fan, Wendong, He, Bailan, Bo, Haige, Hu, Changran, Li, Guohao
Large language models (LLMs) often struggle with mathematical problems that require exact computation or multi-step algebraic reasoning. Tool-integrated reasoning (TIR) offers a promising solution by leveraging external tools such as code interpreters to ensure correctness, but it introduces inference-time dependencies that hinder scalability and deployment. In this work, we propose a new paradigm for distilling tool knowledge into LLMs purely through natural language. We first construct a Solver Agent that solves math problems by interleaving planning, symbolic tool calls, and reflective reasoning. Then, using a back-translation pipeline powered by multiple LLM-based agents, we convert interleaved TIR traces into natural language reasoning traces. A Translator Agent generates explanations for individual tool calls, while a Rephrase Agent merges them into a fluent and globally coherent narrative. Empirically, we show that fine-tuning a small open-source model on these synthesized traces enables it to internalize both tool knowledge and structured reasoning patterns, yielding gains on competition-level math benchmarks without requiring tool access at inference.
A Comment On "The Illusion of Thinking": Reframing the Reasoning Cliff as an Agentic Gap
Khan, Sheraz, Madhavan, Subha, Natarajan, Kannan
The recent work by Shojaee et al. (2025), titled The Illusion of Thinking: Understanding the Strengths and Limitations of Reasoning Models via the Lens of Problem Complexity, presents a compelling empirical finding, a reasoning cliff, where the performance of Large Reasoning Models (LRMs) collapses beyond a specific complexity threshold, which the authors posit as an intrinsic scaling limitation of Chain-of-Thought (CoT) reasoning. This commentary, while acknowledging the study's methodological rigor, contends that this conclusion is confounded by experimental artifacts. We argue that the observed failure is not evidence of a fundamental cognitive boundary, but rather a predictable outcome of system-level constraints in the static, text-only evaluation paradigm, including tool use restrictions, context window recall issues, the absence of crucial cognitive baselines, inadequate statistical reporting, and output generation limits. We reframe this performance collapse through the lens of an agentic gap, asserting that the models are not failing at reasoning, but at execution within a profoundly restrictive interface. We empirically substantiate this critique by demonstrating a striking reversal. A model, initially declaring a puzzle impossible when confined to text-only generation, now employs agentic tools to not only solve it but also master variations of complexity far beyond the reasoning cliff it previously failed to surmount. Additionally, our empirical analysis of tool-enabled models like o4-mini and GPT-4o reveals a hierarchy of agentic reasoning, from simple procedural execution to complex meta-cognitive self-correction, which has significant implications for how we define and measure machine intelligence. The illusion of thinking attributed to LRMs is less a reasoning deficit and more a consequence of an otherwise capable mind lacking the tools for action.
AdapThink: Adaptive Thinking Preferences for Reasoning Language Model
Wan, Xu, Wang, Wei, Xu, Wenyue, Yin, Wotao, Song, Jie, Sun, Mingyang
Reinforcement Learning (RL)-based post-training has significantly advanced the complex reasoning capabilities of language models, fostering sophisticated self-reflection processes. However, this ``slow thinking'' paradigm presents a critical challenge to reasoning efficiency: models may expend excessive computation on simple questions and shift reasoning prematurely for complex ones. Previous mechanisms typically rely on static length budgets or predefined rules, lacking the adaptability for varying question complexities and models' evolving capabilities. To this end, we propose AdapThink, an adaptive post-training framework designed to induce more efficient thinking while maintaining the performance of reasoning language models. Specifically, AdapThink incorporates two key mechanisms: 1) A group-relative reward function that leverages model confidence and response's characteristic to dynamically adjust the preference of reflection-related transition words without resorting to a fixed length preference. 2) A diversity-aware sampling mechanism that balances the training group's solution accuracy with reasoning diversity via an entropy-guided score. Experiments on several mathematical reasoning datasets with DeepSeek-distilled models demonstrate AdapThink's advantages in enabling adaptive reasoning patterns and mitigating the inefficiencies.
T-CPDL: A Temporal Causal Probabilistic Description Logic for Developing Logic-RAG Agent
Large language models excel at generating fluent text but frequently struggle with structured reasoning involving temporal constraints, causal relationships, and probabilistic reasoning. To address these limitations, we propose Temporal Causal Probabilistic Description Logic (T-CPDL), an integrated framework that extends traditional Description Logic with temporal interval operators, explicit causal relationships, and probabilistic annotations. We present two distinct variants of T-CPDL: one capturing qualitative temporal relationships through Allen's interval algebra, and another variant enriched with explicit timestamped causal assertions. Both variants share a unified logical structure, enabling complex reasoning tasks ranging from simple temporal ordering to nuanced probabilistic causation. Empirical evaluations on temporal reasoning and causal inference benchmarks confirm that T-CPDL substantially improves inference accuracy, interpretability, and confidence calibration of language model outputs. By delivering transparent reasoning paths and fine-grained temporal and causal semantics, T-CPDL significantly enhances the capability of language models to support robust, explainable, and trustworthy decision-making. This work also lays the groundwork for developing advanced Logic-Retrieval-Augmented Generation (Logic-RAG) frameworks, potentially boosting the reasoning capabilities and efficiency of knowledge graph-enhanced RAG systems.
Beyond Prediction -- Structuring Epistemic Integrity in Artificial Reasoning Systems
This paper outlines a comprehensive theoretical and architectural framework for constructing epistemically grounded artificial intelligence systems capable of propositional commitment, metacognitive reasoning, contradiction detection, and normative truth maintenance. Moving beyond the constraints of stochastic language generation, we propose a model in which artificial agents engage in structured, rule-governed reasoning that adheres to explicit epistemic norms. The approach integrates insights from epistemology, formal logic, inferential semantics, knowledge graph structuring, probabilistic justification, and immutable blockchain evidence to create systems that do not merely simulate knowledge, but operate under explicit, verifiable constraints on belief, justification, and truth. We begin with an analysis of epistemic norms in artificial reasoning, contrasting evi-dentialist, Bayesian, and logical foundations, and establishing a requirement for internal consistency and constraint against falsehood. Central to the proposed system is a prohibition against internal deception: no model component may assert what it internally contradicts.
OAgents: An Empirical Study of Building Effective Agents
Zhu, He, Qin, Tianrui, Zhu, King, Huang, Heyuan, Guan, Yeyi, Xia, Jinxiang, Yao, Yi, Li, Hanhao, Wang, Ningning, Liu, Pai, Peng, Tianhao, Gui, Xin, Li, Xiaowan, Liu, Yuhui, Jiang, Yuchen Eleanor, Wang, Jun, Zhang, Changwang, Tang, Xiangru, Zhang, Ge, Yang, Jian, Liu, Minghao, Gao, Xitong, Liu, Jiaheng, Zhou, Wangchunshu
Recently, Agentic AI has become an increasingly popular research field. However, we argue that current agent research practices lack standardization and scientific rigor, making it hard to conduct fair comparisons among methods. As a result, it is still unclear how different design choices in agent frameworks affect effectiveness, and measuring their progress remains challenging. In this work, we conduct a systematic empirical study on GAIA benchmark and BrowseComp to examine the impact of popular design choices in key agent components in a fair and rigorous manner. We find that the lack of a standard evaluation protocol makes previous works, even open-sourced ones, non-reproducible, with significant variance between random runs. Therefore, we introduce a more robust evaluation protocol to stabilize comparisons. Our study reveals which components and designs are crucial for effective agents, while others are redundant, despite seeming logical. Based on our findings, we build and open-source OAgents, a new foundation agent framework that achieves state-of-the-art performance among open-source projects. OAgents offers a modular design for various agent components, promoting future research in Agentic AI.
Infi-MMR: Curriculum-based Unlocking Multimodal Reasoning via Phased Reinforcement Learning in Multimodal Small Language Models
Liu, Zeyu, Liu, Yuhang, Zhu, Guanghao, Xie, Congkai, Li, Zhen, Yuan, Jianbo, Wang, Xinyao, Li, Qing, Cheung, Shing-Chi, Zhang, Shengyu, Wu, Fei, Yang, Hongxia
Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated substantial progress in reasoning capabilities, such as DeepSeek-R1, which leverages rule-based reinforcement learning to enhance logical reasoning significantly. However, extending these achievements to multimodal large language models (MLLMs) presents critical challenges, which are frequently more pronounced for Multimodal Small Language Models (MSLMs) given their typically weaker foundational reasoning abilities: (1) the scarcity of high-quality multimodal reasoning datasets, (2) the degradation of reasoning capabilities due to the integration of visual processing, and (3) the risk that direct application of reinforcement learning may produce complex yet incorrect reasoning processes. To address these challenges, we design a novel framework Infi-MMR to systematically unlock the reasoning potential of MSLMs through a curriculum of three carefully structured phases and propose our multimodal reasoning model Infi-MMR-3B. The first phase, Foundational Reasoning Activation, leverages high-quality textual reasoning datasets to activate and strengthen the model's logical reasoning capabilities. The second phase, Cross-Modal Reasoning Adaptation, utilizes caption-augmented multimodal data to facilitate the progressive transfer of reasoning skills to multimodal contexts. The third phase, Multimodal Reasoning Enhancement, employs curated, caption-free multimodal data to mitigate linguistic biases and promote robust cross-modal reasoning. Infi-MMR-3B achieves both state-of-the-art multimodal math reasoning ability (43.68% on MathVerse testmini, 27.04% on MathVision test, and 21.33% on OlympiadBench) and general reasoning ability (67.2% on MathVista testmini). Resources are available at https://huggingface.co/Reallm-Labs/Infi-MMR-3B.