mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

SHARP: Synthesizing High-quality Aligned Reasoning Problems for Large Reasoning Models Reinforcement Learning

arXiv 2505.14147 ↗First posted 20 May 2025cs.AIcited by 5

On the map: LLM reasoning → Reinforcement learning for reasoning

Abstract (arXiv)

Training large reasoning models (LRMs) with reinforcement learning in STEM domains is hindered by the scarcity of high-quality, diverse, and verifiable problem sets. Existing synthesis methods, such as Chain-of-Thought prompting, often generate oversimplified or uncheckable data, limiting model advancement on complex tasks. To address these challenges, we introduce SHARP, a unified approach to Synthesizing High-quality Aligned Reasoning Problems for LRMs reinforcement learning with verifiable rewards (RLVR). SHARP encompasses a strategic set of self-alignment principles -- targeting graduate and Olympiad-level difficulty, rigorous logical consistency, and unambiguous, verifiable answers -- and a structured three-phase framework (Alignment, Instantiation, Inference) that ensures thematic diversity and fine-grained control over problem generation. We implement SHARP by leveraging a state-of-the-art LRM to infer and verify challenging STEM questions, then employ a reinforcement learning loop to refine the model's reasoning through verifiable reward signals. Experiments on benchmarks such as GPQA demonstrate that SHARP-augmented training substantially outperforms existing methods, markedly improving complex reasoning accuracy and pushing LRM performance closer to expert-level proficiency. Our contributions include the SHARP strategy, framework design, end-to-end implementation, and experimental evaluation of its effectiveness in elevating LRM reasoning capabilities.

Key facts. Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Reinforcement learning for reasoning, one of 17 directions in LLM reasoning. Builds on 33 of its 48 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 20 May 2025.

Builds on

33 of 48 references.

Closest ancestors · 5

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2025Open-Reasoner-Zero: An Open Source Approach to Scaling Up Reinforcement Learning on the Base Model31 Mar
  2. 2025DeepSeek-R1: Incentivizing Reasoning Capability in LLMs via Reinforcement Learning22 Jan
  3. 2024Magpie: Alignment Data Synthesis from Scratch by Prompting Aligned LLMs with Nothing12 Jun
  4. 2023Let's Verify Step by Step31 May
  5. 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithms20 Jul

Other references · 28

  1. 2022Chain-of-Thought Prompting Elicits Reasoning in Large Language Modelscited by 12,459
  2. 2024DeepSeekMath: Pushing the Limits of Mathematical Reasoning in Open Language Modelscited by 9,379
  3. 2023Efficient Memory Management for Large Language Model Serving with PagedAttentioncited by 5,944
  4. 2022Self-Consistency Improves Chain of Thought Reasoning in Language Modelscited by 5,708
  5. 2023Tree of Thoughts: Deliberate Problem Solving with Large Language Modelscited by 3,211
  6. 2023GPQA: A Graduate-Level Google-Proof Q&A Benchmarkcited by 2,879
  7. 2022Self-Instruct: Aligning Language Models with Self-Generated Instructionscited by 2,724
  8. 2022Solving Quantitative Reasoning Problems with Language Modelscited by 1,392
  9. 2023SGLang: Efficient Execution of Structured Language Model Programscited by 1,141
  10. 2024Qwen2.5-Math Technical Report: Toward Mathematical Expert Model via Self-Improvementcited by 1,090
  11. 2024M3-Embedding: Multi-Linguality, Multi-Functionality, Multi-Granularity Text Embeddings Through Self-Knowledge Distillationcited by 1,073
  12. 2023Graph of Thoughts: Solving Elaborate Problems with Large Language Modelscited by 886
16 more
  1. 2017Mastering Chess and Shogi by Self-Play with a General Reinforcement Learning Algorithmcited by 734
  2. 2017Ray: A Distributed Framework for Emerging AI Applicationscited by 527
  3. 2024Scaling Synthetic Data Creation with 1,000,000,000 Personascited by 417
  4. 2025Towards Reasoning Era: A Survey of Long Chain-of-Thought for Reasoning Large Language Modelscited by 384
  5. 2025Demystifying Long Chain-of-Thought Reasoning in LLMscited by 326
  6. 2024Chain of Thought Empowers Transformers to Solve Inherently Serial Problemscited by 260
  7. 2024ReFT: Reasoning with Reinforced Fine-Tuningcited by 239
  8. 2025A Sober Look at Progress in Language Model Reasoning: Pitfalls and Paths to Reproducibilitycited by 93
  9. 2024Self-play with Execution Feedback: Improving Instruction-following Capabilities of Large Language Modelscited by 73
  10. 2023Synthetic Prompting: Generating Chain-of-Thought Demonstrations for Large Language Modelscited by 61
  11. 2024Internal Consistency and Self-Feedback in Large Language Models: A Surveycited by 50
  12. 2025Phi-4-Mini-Reasoning: Exploring the Limits of Small Reasoning Language Models in Mathcited by 44
  13. 2024On the Impact of Fine-Tuning on Chain-of-Thought Reasoningcited by 32
  14. 2024Don't Just Say "I don't know"! Self-aligning Large Language Models for Responding to Unknown Questions with Explanationscited by 30
  15. 2024Step-On-Feet Tuning: Scaling Self-Alignment of LLMs via Bootstrappingcited by 14
  16. 2024Hummer: Towards Limited Competitive Preference Datasetcited by 10

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Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2025: 2; 2026: 3.

5 papers.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2025Beyond 'Aha!': Toward Systematic Meta-Abilities Alignment in Large Reasoning Models
  2. 2025Self-Aligned Reward: Towards Effective and Efficient Reasoners
  3. 2025Reinforcement Learning Meets Large Language Models: A Survey of Advancements and Applications Across the LLM Lifecycle
  4. 2026Reward Modeling for Reinforcement Learning-Based LLM Reasoning: Design, Challenges, and Evaluation
  5. 2026Resource-Efficient Reinforcement for Reasoning Large Language Models via Dynamic One-Shot Policy Refinement
  6. 2025VerifyBench: A Systematic Benchmark for Evaluating Reasoning Verifiers Across Domains
  7. 2026Towards a Mechanistic Understanding of Large Reasoning Models: A Survey of Training, Inference, and Failures
  8. 2025Beyond Correctness: Confidence-Aware Reward Modeling for Enhancing Large Language Model Reasoning