通过熵变化优化大模型推理过程,提升准确率与简洁性
ERR+: Sequential Entropy Resolution for Efficient and Decisive LLM Reasoning

- 基于思维阶段的熵降幅度设计奖励机制,引导推理更高效
- 在五个数据集上同时提升准确率与响应简洁度,效果稳定
- 适合需要高质量推理且关注效率的开发者和研究者
大型推理模型通过强化学习结合可验证奖励(RLVR)生成长链思维(CoT)轨迹,在复杂任务上表现优异。然而现有方法仅以正确性为奖励信号,难以指导推理过程的质量,导致内部结构未充分优化。我们对多个模型家族进行实证分析发现:正确推理轨迹在思考阶段表现出更频繁、更大的词级熵下降。为此提出ERR+,一种两阶段的RLVR框架。第一阶段使用熵缓解奖励(ERR),奖励累积的词级熵下降量,并按响应长度对数归一化;不同于以往抑制熵的方法,该奖励鼓励不确定性解除,同时不约束探索性高熵状态。第二阶段引入鲁棒相对效率奖励,通过双曲正切变换的组内z-score比较同批次生成结果的长度。我们给出形式化分析,表明联合优化两目标在早期训练中会引发梯度冲突,因此采用顺序设计。在五个数据集上的实验显示,不同模型主干均实现准确率与响应简洁性的持续提升。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Large reasoning models achieve strong performance on complex tasks by generating extended chain-of-thought (CoT) traces via reinforcement learning with verifiable rewards (RLVR). While current RLVR methods have achieved strong results with correctness-based reward signals, they provide limited guidance on the quality of the reasoning process itself, leaving the internal reasoning structure largely unoptimized. Through empirical analysis across multiple model families, we identify a consistent pattern: correct reasoning trac es exhibit more frequent and larger token-level entropy drops within the thinking phase than incorrect ones. We propose ERR+, a two-phase RLVR framework grounded in this observation. The first phase trains with the Entropy Relief Reward (ERR), a bonus proportional to cumulative token-level entropy drops in the thinking phase, log-normalized by response length. Unlike prior methods that suppress entropy, ERR rewards the resolution of uncertainty while leaving exploratory high-entropy states unconstrained. The second phase introduces the Robust Relative Efficiency Reward, which scores each response's length against co-generated peers via a $\tanh$-transformed within-group $z$-score. We provide a formal analysis showing that joint optimization of the two objectives induces gradient conflict in early training, motivating the sequential design . Experiments on five datasets demonstrate consistent improvements in both accuracy and response conciseness across model backbones. Our code is available at https://github.com/XrkArul/err_response
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