通过非线性建模低秩参数轨迹,加速大模型强化学习训练。
Low-rank Optimization Trajectories Modeling for LLM RLVR Acceleration

- 基于LoRA提取参数变化的秩1子空间,构建非线性外推框架。
- 实验显示可减少约37.5%计算开销,且兼容多种强化学习任务。
- 适合需要高效微调大模型的研究者与工业应用开发者。
近期,基于可验证奖励的强化学习(RLVR)在大语言模型(LLMs)训练中展现出显著提升模型能力的有效性,但其需大量探索与学习,带来巨大计算开销,成为关键挑战。现有方法多采用参数的线性外推,但对RLVR训练中参数更新动态理解不足。本文通过实证发现:模型的秩1子空间在训练过程中非线性演化,且在LoRA训练中主导性进一步增强。据此提出新型非线性外推框架NExt,先以LoRA训练获取多个步骤的参数差秩1子空间,再训练预测器建模参数更新轨迹,并通过预测-扩展实现参数外推,从而加速RLVR。大量实验表明,该方法可降低约37.5%计算开销,且兼容多种RLVR算法与任务。代码已开源:https://github.com/RUCAIBox/NExt。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Recently, scaling reinforcement learning with verifiable rewards (RLVR) for large language models (LLMs) has emerged as an effective training paradigm for significantly improving model capabilities, which requires guiding the model to perform extensive exploration and learning, leading to substantial computational overhead and becoming a key challenge. To reduce the number of training steps, Prior work performs linear extrapolation of model parameters. However, the dynamics of model parameter updates during RLVR training remain insufficiently understood. To further investigate the evolution of LLMs during RLVR training, we conduct empirical experiments and find that the rank-1 subspace of the model does not evolve linearly, and its dominance over the original parameters is further amplified during LoRA training. Based on the above insights, we propose the \textbf{N}onlinear \textbf{Ext}rapolation of low-rank trajectories (\textbf{NExt}), a novel framework that models and extrapolates low-rank parameter trajectories in a nonlinear manner. Concretely, we first train the model using LoRA and extract the rank-1 subspace of parameter differences at multiple training steps, which is then used for the subsequent nonlinear extrapolation. Afterward, we utilized the extracted rank-1 subspace to train a predictor, which can model the trajectory of parameter updates during RLVR, and then perform the predict-extend process to extrapolate model parameters, achieving the acceleration of RLVR. To further study and understand NExt, we conduct comprehensive experiments that demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the method. Our method reduces computational overhead by approximately 37.5\% while remaining compatible with a wide range of RLVR algorithms and tasks. We release our code in https://github.com/RUCAIBox/NExt.
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