Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models

Latest papers

28 papers11 papers in the last four weeks, against 2 the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

From Natural Language to Exact Cover: A Neuro-Symbolic Approach to Zebra Puzzles
Nov 2, 2026Paulius Skaisgiris, Thomas Pammer, Veronika Semmelrock +3Neuro-Symbolic Reasoning Logical Reasoning
Institute of Logic and Computation, TU Wien, Austria · Institute for Application-Oriented Knowledge Processing, JKU Linz, Austria · Department of Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity, University of Klagenfurt, Austria +3
SQLoom: Set-Contrastive Learning of Syntactic, Semantic, and Logical Dependencies for Text-to-SQL
Nov 2, 2026Hao Fu, Degang Sun, Wan Wei +3Text-to-SQL Fine-Tuning Language Models
Virginia Tech · Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Solver-Like Behavior in Large Language Models as Formalizers
Nov 2, 2026Rikhil Amonkar, Stuti Mohan, Kevin Nguyen +3Language Model Reasoning Evaluation Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models
Constraint Dependency Graph Retrieval for Compliance Detection on Long SKILL Documents
Oct 31, 2026Shuaitao Zhao, Feng Ni, Lichao Ma +6LLM Auditing Graph-Based Retrieval
Meituan, Beijing, China · Peking University, Beijing, China · Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China +1
Can Personal Requirements Become Supervision for Planning?
Oct 29, 2026Junwei Wu, Runze Yan, Yuzhang Xie +5LLM Planning Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA · Microsoft, San Francisco, California, USA
Verifiable LLM-Guided Focal SMT Solving for Quantified Arrays
Oct 29, 2026Kunhang Lv, Rui Han, Fuqi Jia +3Satisfiability Modulo Theories Symbolic Reasoning
Laboratory of Parallel Software and Computational Science, ISCAS, Beijing, China · University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China · SKLCS and Key Laboratory of System Software, ISCAS, Beijing, China
When All Rollouts Fail: Policy-Compatible Joint Decoding for Hard-Problem Reasoning
Oct 27, 2026Zehao Wang, Hanzhu Chen, Runquan Gui +2RL for Language Models RL for Language Model Reasoning
University of Science and Technology of China · Tencent · Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Constrained Decoding: Harmful or Beneficial? Revisiting Its Impact on LLM Performance
Oct 26, 2026Ngoc Trinh Hung Nguyen, Alonso Silva, Armen Aghasaryan +1Constrained Decoding Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models
Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France · Nokia Bell Labs
Constraint Reasoning and Large Language Models Join Forces: Providing Contrastive Explanations for Real-World Optimisation-Based Applications
Oct 22, 2026Roger X. Lera-Leri, Filippo Bistaffa, Athina Georgara +1Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models Counterfactual Explanations
Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, IIIA-CSIC · University of Southampton
Joint Constraint Aggregation for Qualifier-Sensitive Retrieval-Augmented QA
Oct 19, 2026Jennifer Hsia, Zachary C. Lipton, Aarti SinghRetrieval-Augmented Generation RAG Robustness
Machine Learning Department Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
ASTOR: Benchmarking and Improving Autoformulation for Soft-Constraint Optimization with a Formal Grammar
Oct 19, 2026Amer Goel, Yeganeh Alimohammadi, Andrew DawNatural Language to Optimization Modeling Constrained Optimization
LLM-Assisted Bi-Approximate CHC Solving
Oct 16, 2026Baiting JiangFormal Verification Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models
Tsinghua University, China
Repairing LLM-Generated Specifications with Deterministic Diagnosis
Oct 15, 2026Giovanni Vaccarino, Emanuele La Malfa, Dehai Min +6Autoformalization LLM Self-Correction
Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK · Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA · Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy +2
From Natural Language Intent to Executable Control: Hierarchical Feedback-Guided LLM Planning for Multi-component Cyber-Physical Systems
Oct 15, 2026Jinglin Dai, Jiawan Wang, Ruiqi Hong +1LLM Planning Cyber-Physical Systems
Nanjing University, China
MolDesignBench: Evaluating LLM-based Agent for Scenario-grounded Molecular Design
Sep 23, 2026Yongjun Jeong, Hanbum Ko, Ye Rin Kim +6Molecular Optimization LLM Agent Evaluation
Department of Artificial Intelligence, Korea University · LG AI Research · Department of Statistics, Korea University
From Token Probabilities to Semantic Constraints: Towards Declarative Probabilistic Evaluation of Language Models
Sep 11, 2026Kyle Richardson, Cullen Anderson, Pranav Balakrishnan +4Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models LLM Evaluation
Allen Institute for AI · University of Massachusetts Amherst
Linear Temporal Logic Translation via Human-Inspired Self-Constrained Reasoning for Robot Task Specification
Aug 28, 2026Haofei Hou, Fanxu Meng, Shunyi Zhao +4Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models Linear Temporal Logic
School of Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. · School of Integrated Circuits, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Solver-Guided Reasoning for Mixed-Equilibrium Strategies
Aug 7, 2026Han Wang, Philippe Beardsell, Boning Li +4Nash Equilibrium Game-Playing Agents
Shanghai Jiao Tong University · GTO Wizard · Tsinghua University +2
Constrained Path Reasoning: Measuring When Committed Stages Earn Their Cost
Jul 19, 2026Honglin LiLLM Inference Efficiency Inference-Time Search
ShanghaiTech University
Where Larger Models Excel: The Primacy of Constraint-Guided Reasoning
May 9, 2026Guan-Yi Lin, Hen-Hsen HuangLanguage Model Scaling Laws LLM Reasoning
National Chengchi University Taipei, Taiwan · Academia Sinica Taipei, Taiwan
Heuristic Classification of Thoughts Prompting (HCoT): Integrating Expert System Heuristics for Structured Reasoning into Large Language Models
Apr 14, 2026Lei Lin, Jizhao Zhu, Yong Liu +3Structured Reasoning in Language Models Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models
Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China · Shenyang Aerospace University · ZGC LAB, Beijing,China +1
The Model Says Walk: Measuring whether LLMs Condition on Hidden Constraints
Mar 30, 2026Yubo Li, Lu Zhang, Tianchong Jiang +2Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models Implicit Reasoning in Language Models
Carnegie Mellon University · Independent Researcher
Can Large Language Models Reason and Optimize Under Constraints?
Mar 24, 2026Fabien Bernier, Salah Ghamizi, Pantelis Dogoulis +1Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models LLM Evaluation
SnT – University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg · Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), Luxembourg
TopoBench: Benchmarking LLMs on Hard Topological Reasoning
Mar 12, 2026Mayug Maniparambil, Nils Hoehing, Janak Kapuriya +5Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models Spatial Reasoning Benchmarks
Intercom Research · University College Dublin · University of Galway +3
ConstraintBench: Benchmarking LLM Constraint Reasoning on Direct Optimization
Feb 25, 2026Joseph Tso, Preston Schmittou, Quan Huynh +1Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models Constrained Optimization
Haladir Research Team
Prompt Architecture Determines Reasoning Quality: A Variable Isolation Study on the Car Wash Problem
Feb 25, 2026Heejin JoStructured Reasoning in Language Models Prompt Engineering
Independent Researcher
Neurosymbolic Language Reasoning as Satisfiability Modulo Theory
Feb 20, 2026Hyunseok Oh, Sam Stern, Youngki Lee +1Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models Neuro-Symbolic Reasoning
Seoul National University · U. Mass. Amherst · Microsoft
Broken Chains: The Cost of Incomplete Reasoning in LLMs
Feb 16, 2026Ian Su, Gaurav Purushothaman, Jey Narayan +5LLM Reasoning CoT Reasoning

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From Natural Language to Exact Cover: A Neuro-Symbolic Approach to Zebra Puzzles

Paulius Skaisgiris, Thomas Pammer, Veronika Semmelrock, Mykyta Ielanskyi+2

Institute of Logic and Computation, TU Wien, Austria · Institute for Application-Oriented Knowledge Processing, JKU Linz, Austria · Department of Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity, University of Klagenfurt, Austria+3

Neuro-Symbolic Reasoning Logical Reasoning Constraint-Guided Reasoning in Language Models

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Chain-of-Thought (CoT) generation has substantially improved the performance of Large Language Models (LLMs) on complex reasoning tasks, including code generation, data analysis, and exam-style question answering. Despite these advances, purely neural LLMs continue to struggle with elementary logical reasoning problems and lack the determinism, soundness, and reliability characteristic of symbolic reasoning systems. Conversely, classical symbolic methods such as SAT solving and exact cover guarantee correctness and completeness, but require problems to be expressed in highly specialized formal encodings, limiting their applicability to natural language inputs. In this work, we present a synergistic neuro-symbolic framework that bridges this gap by combining neural semantic parsing with deterministic exact cover reasoning. Given a Zebra-style logic puzzle in natural language, an LLM translates entities and constraints into structured tool calls that construct an exact cover instance. A symbolic solver then computes the solution and provides feedback to iteratively refine invalid, under- or overconstrained encodings, exploiting the uniqueness property of Zebra puzzles. We conduct a comprehensive empirical evaluation across multiple parameter scales, post-training paradigms, and LLM families. The results demonstrate that our hybrid approach consistently outperforms strong plain neural baselines, including CoT prompting, as well as recent neuro-symbolic methods.