arXiv:2605.19461cs.AI2026-05被引 1

提出新方法提升强化学习中的解法多样性,避免过早收敛。

Beyond Mode Collapse: Distribution Matching for Diverse Reasoning

论文配图:Beyond Mode Collapse: Distribution Matching for Diverse Reasoning
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 用前向KL逼近实现分布匹配,避免策略集中于单一解
  • 在文本与视觉任务上分别提升43.9%和43.1%的解质量
  • 适合需要持续探索的复杂推理任务,如数学与组合优化

基于策略的强化学习方法(如GRPO)存在模式崩溃问题:一旦发现高回报路径,便集中概率质量并停止探索其他策略。我们发现这源于反向KL最小化导致的模式聚焦行为。为此提出DMPO(分布匹配策略优化),通过近似前向KL最小化来防止模式崩溃。DMPO构建一个按奖励比例分配的轨迹群体目标分布,并将策略分布对齐该目标,实现覆盖多个模式的行为,无需采样不可计算的全局目标分布,从而维持训练全程的探索能力。我们在NP难组合优化任务上验证,此类任务存在指数级可行解但仅少数接近最优,是评估探索能力的理想场景。DMPO在基于文本的NP-Bench上取得43.9%的质量比(GRPO为40.1%),在基于视觉的NP-Bench上达43.1%(GRPO为38.4%),相对提升分别为9%和12%。该优势推广至数学推理(+2.0%)与跨域任务(+2.3%),表明保多样性的训练可增强多模态推理能力。本工作确立分布匹配为防止在线强化学习中模式崩溃的实用且原则性方法,持续提升多种推理任务的质量。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

On-policy reinforcement learning methods like GRPO suffer from mode collapse: they exhibit reduced solution diversity, concentrating probability mass on a single solution once discovered and ceasing exploration of alternative strategies. We show this stems from reverse KL minimization's mode-seeking behavior, which reinforces the first high-reward trajectory found rather than maintaining a distribution over multiple diverse solutions. We propose DMPO (Distribution-Matching Policy Optimization), which prevents mode collapse through principled approximation of forward KL minimization. DMPO constructs a group level target distribution over sampled trajectories proportional to their rewards, then aligns the policy distribution to this target. This provides mode-covering behavior without requiring sampling from the intractable global target distribution, enabling sustained exploration throughout training. We validate DMPO on NP-hard combinatorial optimization, where exponentially many feasible solutions exist but only a few approach optimality, an ideal testbed for evaluating exploration. DMPO achieves 43.9% Quality Ratio on text-based NP-Bench (vs. GRPO's 40.1%) and 43.1% on vision-based NP-Bench (vs. 38.4%), demonstrating 9% and 12% relative improvements respectively. These gains generalize to mathematical reasoning (+2.0%) and out-of-domain tasks (+2.3%), showing that diversity-preserving training enhances general reasoning capabilities across modalities. Our work establishes distribution matching as a practical, principled approach to preventing mode collapse in on-policy RL, with consistent quality improvements demonstrating sustained exploration across diverse reasoning tasks.

强化学习推理生成多样性

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