collaborators

11 papers

cs.LG2026

Start Classifying: Categorical Critics for LLM Reinforcement Learning

Zhijian Zhou, Long Li, Xuan Zhang +7

Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) for large language models typically trains its critic by mean-squared-error (MSE) regression on scalar value targets. Although scalar MSE is stat…

cs.AI2026

SPPO: Sequence-Level PPO for Long-Horizon Reasoning Tasks

Tianyi Wang, Yixia Li, Long Li +6

Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) is central to aligning Large Language Models (LLMs) in reasoning tasks with verifiable rewards. However, standard token-level PPO struggles in th…

cs.AI2026

SQL-ASTRA: Alleviating Sparse Feedback in Agentic SQL via Column-Set Matching and Trajectory Aggregation

Long Li, Zhijian Zhou, Jiangxuan Long +5

Agentic Reinforcement Learning (RL) shows promise for complex tasks, but Text-to-SQL remains mostly restricted to single-turn paradigms. A primary bottleneck is the credit assignme…

cs.LG2026

DyJR: Preserving Diversity in Reinforcement Learning with Verifiable Rewards via Dynamic Jensen-Shannon Replay

Long Li, Zhijian Zhou, Tianyi Wang +7

While Reinforcement Learning (RL) enhances Large Language Model reasoning, on-policy algorithms like GRPO are sample-inefficient as they discard past rollouts. Existing experience…

cs.LG2026

The Choice of Divergence: A Neglected Key to Mitigating Diversity Collapse in Reinforcement Learning with Verifiable Reward

Long Li, Zhijian Zhou, Jiaran Hao +9

A central paradox in fine-tuning Large Language Models (LLMs) with Reinforcement Learning with Verifiable Reward (RLVR) is the frequent degradation of multi-attempt performance (Pa…

cs.AI2026

Anchored Policy Optimization: Mitigating Exploration Collapse Via Support-Constrained Rectification

Tianyi Wang, Long Li, Hongcan Guo +5

Reinforcement Learning with Verifiable Rewards (RLVR) is increasingly viewed as a tree pruning mechanism. However, we identify a systemic pathology termed Recursive Space Contracti…