Content area

Abstract

Large Language Models (LLMs) gain substantial reasoning and decision-making capabilities from thought structures. However, existing methods such as Tree of Thought and Retrieval Augmented Thoughts often fall short in complex tasks due to the limitations of insufficient local retrieval of factual knowledge and inadequate global selection of strategies. These limitations make it challenging for these methods to balance factual accuracy and comprehensive logical optimization effectively. To address these limitations, we introduce the Retrieval Augmented Thought Tree (RATT), a novel thought structure that considers both overall logical soundness and factual correctness at each step of the thinking process. Specifically, at every point of a thought branch, RATT performs planning and lookahead to explore and evaluate multiple potential reasoning steps, and integrate the fact-checking ability of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with LLM's ability to assess overall strategy. Through this combination of factual knowledge and strategic feasibility, the RATT adjusts and integrates the thought tree structure to search for the most promising branches within the search space. This thought structure significantly enhances the model's coherence in logical inference and efficiency in decision-making, and thus increases the limit of the capacity of LLM to generate reliable inferences and decisions based on thought structures. A broad range of experiments on different types of tasks showcases that the RATT structure significantly outperforms existing methods in factual correctness and logical coherence.

Details

1009240
Identifier / keyword
Title
RATT: A Thought Structure for Coherent and Correct LLM Reasoning
Publication title
arXiv.org; Ithaca
Publication year
2024
Publication date
Dec 23, 2024
Section
Computer Science
Publisher
Cornell University Library, arXiv.org
Source
arXiv.org
Place of publication
Ithaca
Country of publication
United States
University/institution
Cornell University Library arXiv.org
e-ISSN
2331-8422
Source type
Working Paper
Language of publication
English
Document type
Working Paper
Publication history
 
 
Online publication date
2024-12-24
Milestone dates
2024-06-04 (Submission v1); 2024-06-09 (Submission v2); 2024-07-11 (Submission v3); 2024-10-12 (Submission v4); 2024-12-23 (Submission v5)
Publication history
 
 
   First posting date
24 Dec 2024
ProQuest document ID
3065128960
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/working-papers/ratt-thought-structure-coherent-correct-llm/docview/3065128960/se-2?accountid=208611
Full text outside of ProQuest
Copyright
© 2024. This work is published under http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.
Last updated
2024-12-25
Database
2 databases
  • ProQuest One Academic
  • ProQuest One Academic