Synthetic SFT
sft.jsonMulti-turn tool-using investigation as a clean demonstration.
- id
- ml_research_trajectory_grokking_geometry_001
- domain
- machine_learning_research
- task_type
- multi_turn_autonomous_research_investigation
- variant
- A_reasoning_externalized
provenance
tools
Functions available to the assistant
8 tools- 01
search_literatureSearch the research literature and return relevant papers with findings.
querystring*categoriesstring[]date_fromstringmax_resultsinteger - 02
search_findingsSearch findings previously recorded by this lab, to reuse established results instead of re-deriving them.
querystring*max_resultsinteger - 03
propose_experimentDraft a runnable experiment specification. Returns a proposal id and a compute estimate. Does not run anything.
titlestring*research_questionstring*methodstring*controlsstring[]evaluationstring*experimentsstring[]*deliverablesstring[]computeobject - 04
launch_experimentLaunch a proposed experiment on compute. Returns a run id. The run executes autonomously.
proposal_idstring* - 05
read_experiment_resultsRead output from a running or finished experiment.
run_idstring*sectionstring*detailstring - 06
steer_experimentSend an instruction to a running experiment to change what it does mid-flight.
run_idstring*instructionstring* - 07
stop_experimentCancel a running experiment and release its compute.
run_idstring*reasonstring* - 08
record_findingRecord a durable finding so later experiments can build on it without re-deriving it.
titlestring*statementstring*evidencestring*caveatsstring
messages
{
"query": "grokking representation geometry Fourier structure modular arithmetic generalization intrinsic dimension causal intervention",
"categories": [
"cs.LG"
],
"max_results": 10
}{"results":[{"id":"2205.10343","title":"Towards Understanding Grokking: An Effective Theory of Representation Learning","finding":"For modular arithmetic, generalization originates from structured representations with periodic/Fourier organization; this supports geometry as a candidate mechanism but does not by itself provide an assumption-free or causal test.","relevance":"high"},{"id":"2301.02679","title":"Grokking modular arithmetic","finding":"Derives and empirically studies grokking solutions for modular arithmetic, including structured periodic representations.","relevance":"high"},{"id":"2402.16726","title":"Towards Empirical Interpretation of Internal Circuits and Properties in Grokked Transformers on Modular Polynomials","finding":"Grokked modular-addition transformers implement Fourier representations and trigonometric circuits.","relevance":"high"},{"id":"2603.05228","title":"The Geometric Inductive Bias of Grokking: Bypassing Phase Transitions via Architectural Topology","finding":"Uses architectural intervention rather than post-hoc interpretation to test geometric inductive biases in cyclic modular addition.","relevance":"high"},{"id":"2607.11666","title":"How to Tame Grokking: Representation Geometry as a Control Signal","finding":"Studies representation geometry as a signal for predicting or steering grokking onset.","relevance":"high"}],"notice":"Prior work gives a strong partial answer for cyclic modular arithmetic, but it does not settle whether assumption-free geometry is task-specific across distinct symmetries or whether softly inducing the geometry causally accelerates generalization."}{
"title": "Grokking geometry: calibrated, causal test of representation-manifold formation",
"research_question": "As a network groks, does its representation adopt a characteristic structure detectable without presupposing the answer, and is that structure causally tied to generalization rather than merely correlated with it?",
"method": "Phase 0 calibrates angular, topological, dimensional, and reconstruction probes on synthetic circle, torus, sphere, line, non-abelian Cayley-graph, and random high-dimensional point clouds across noise and sample size. Phase 1 trains a standard one-layer transformer and a two-layer MLP on (a+b) mod 97 with AdamW and dense checkpoints; unit-normalized pairwise-angle distributions and persistent homology on cosine distance are primary, with participation ratio, stable rank, Fourier concentration, Procrustes/CKA drift, and lead/lag as secondary. Render PCA-evolution movies only for runs that grok. Phase 2 compares mod-add, mod-mul, a 2D grid task, S5 composition, and random relabeling. Phase 3 intervenes with correct versus incorrect architectural invariances, frozen correct/wrong/random manifolds, and low-dimensional bottlenecks. Phase 4 checks breadth on larger-but-fast models.",
"controls": [
"synthetic known-topology calibration before trained-model interpretation",
"line point cloud: low-dimensional but no H1 cycle",
"random high-dimensional point cloud: probe hallucination control",
"random-relabeling task: memorization without generalizable structure",
"correct versus wrong architectural invariance",
"correct ring versus wrong low-dimensional and random frozen manifolds",
"dimension bottleneck without a prescribed shape",
"angle-based versus magnitude-based descriptors on identical checkpoints"
],
"evaluation": "Per-checkpoint train/test accuracy aligned with angular-distribution distance, H1/H2 persistence, participation ratio, stable rank, Fourier concentration, and representation drift. Treat lead/lag as correlational only. Causal conclusions come from whether correct versus incorrect invariance or geometry changes whether and when grokking occurs. Compare task signatures against Phase-0 calibrations.",
"experiments": [
"Phase 0 known-manifold probe calibration",
"Phase 1 mod-add descriptive trajectory on transformer and MLP with five seeds",
"Phase 2 task-structure generality and random-relabeling negative control",
"Phase 3a correct versus incorrect architectural invariance",
"Phase 3b correct/wrong/frozen manifold and dimension-bottleneck interventions",
"Phase 4 breadth and scaling battery"
],
"deliverables": [
"calibration table",
"aligned geometry and accuracy curves",
"PCA-evolution movies for grokked runs only",
"cross-task geometry table",
"causal intervention table",
"metrics CSVs and written verdict"
],
"compute": {
"gpu_type": "A100-80GB",
"num_gpus": 1
}
}{"proposal_id":"P-g4c1","status":"drafted","compute":{"gpu_type":"A100-80GB","num_gpus":1}}{
"proposal_id": "P-g4c1"
}{"run_id":"R-g91e","status":"running","title":"Grokking geometry: calibrated, causal test of representation-manifold formation"}{
"run_id": "R-g91e",
"section": "summary",
"detail": "completed phases, scientific failures, and unresolved causal gaps only"
}{"status":"running","phase0":{"result":"Probes recover known topology. A one-dimensional line has the lowest participation ratio but no H1 cycle, directly dissociating dimensional collapse from ring structure."},"phase1":{"result":"All 10 mod-add runs grokked: transformer and MLP, five seeds each. Dense geometry curves and normalized PCA-evolution movies were produced; angle-versus-magnitude lead/lag remains correlational."},"phase2_partial":{"mod_add":"structured circular geometry","mod_mul":"structured geometry with low raw-index Fourier because the natural ordering is discrete-log","grid2d":"largest H2 torus signature","random_relabel":"never grokked and remained high-dimensional","random_relabel_PR":49,"S5":"did not grok at d=128; rerunning at d=256"},"phase3a":{"result":"Correct versus incorrect baked-in invariances were tested on commutative and non-commutative tasks."},"phase3b":{"result":"Low-dimensional bottlenecks of width 2 and 4 failed to grok; width 16 grokked late. Every frozen imposed manifold failed, including a frequency-1 ring. Probe readings verified the imposed topologies: ring H1 0.61, scrambled ring H1 0.49, line no cycle."},"unresolved":"Every causal intervention so far is restrictive: it removes capacity, freezes a manifold, or bakes in an invariance. No intervention adds a soft geometric pressure while leaving the representation free."}{
"run_id": "R-g91e",
"instruction": "After completing the S5 rerun, add Phase 3c as an additive causal test. Keep transformer and MLP architectures and embeddings fully learnable on mod-add. Add a differentiable auxiliary loss that softly pushes the centered, unit-normalized embedding pairwise-cosine Gram toward the Phase-0 calibrated evenly spaced ring. Sweep coefficient 0, 0.5, and 2.0. Include a magnitude-only pressure with no angular content and a scrambled-ring target with identical topology but wrong token-to-angle correspondence. Measure ring distance, participation ratio, H1, grok onset, and final test accuracy. Do not replace or freeze the representation; this test is about pressure, not constraint."
}{"run_id":"R-g91e","accepted":true,"phase_added":"3c additive angular-reshaping pressure","conditions":["baseline","angular coefficient 0.5","angular coefficient 2.0","magnitude-only control","scrambled-ring control"],"architectures":["one-layer transformer","two-layer MLP"],"seeds_per_condition":2}{
"run_id": "R-g91e",
"section": "metrics",
"detail": "final cross-task geometry, restrictive interventions, and additive Phase 3c condition means"
}{"status":"finished","phase2":{"S5_rerun":{"dimension":256,"seeds":[{"seed":0,"grok_step":9308,"final_test":1},{"seed":1,"grok_step":7589,"final_test":1}]},"task_geometry":[{"task":"mod_add","geometry":"circular","PR":11.8,"H1":0.11,"Fourier_raw":0.65},{"task":"grid2d","geometry":"torus-like","H2":0.073,"note":"highest H2 among tasks"},{"task":"S5 composition","geometry":"non-circular higher-dimensional","PR":16.1,"H1":0.022,"Fourier_raw":0.29},{"task":"random relabel","geometry":"unstructured","grokked":false,"PR":49}],"caveat":"The task-specific geometry table uses only one to two seeds per task and has no error bars; S5 also differs in embedding dimension."},"phase3b":{"frozen_ring":"failed to grok","frozen_line":"failed to grok","frozen_random_2d":"failed to grok","bottleneck_2":"failed to grok","bottleneck_4":"failed to grok","bottleneck_16":"grokked late","interpretation":"mere collapse or rigidly imposing one frequency is insufficient"},"phase3c":{"setup":"mod-add only; transformer and MLP; two seeds per condition; coefficients 0, 0.5, 2.0","geometry_shift":{"dist_to_ring":"0.65 to 0.31","PR":"14 to 2.2","H1":"0.07 to 0.57"},"grok_shift_vs_baseline":{"transformer":{"coef_0_5":"-23%","coef_2_0":"-33%"},"MLP":{"coef_0_5":"-32%","coef_2_0":"-33%"}},"final_test_correct_angular":1,"controls":{"magnitude_only":{"ring_formed":false,"dist_to_ring":0.85,"PR":59,"transformer_grok_shift":"+44%","MLP_final_test":0.14},"scrambled_ring":{"dist_to_ring":0.2,"PR":2.2,"transformer_grok_shift":"-26%","MLP_grok_shift":"-5%"}}},"artifacts":{"metric_CSVs":8,"PCA_movies":9,"run_JSONs":77,"offline_runs":114}}{
"run_id": "R-g91e",
"section": "controls",
"detail": "verify which Phase 3c claims survive the controls and identify limitations"
}{"verified":{"correct_angular":"earlier grok onset for transformer at both active coefficients and for MLP at both active coefficients; final test accuracy 1.0","magnitude_only":"no ring; transformer delayed by 44%; MLP did not grok and ended at test accuracy 0.14","scrambled_ring":"tight ring; transformer accelerated by 26%; MLP changed by 5%, approximately baseline"},"limitations":["two seeds per condition","condition means only; no per-seed error bars available to the parent researcher","one task","two nonzero coefficient points","MLP active-dose means differ by only one percentage point"],"defensible_statement":"On modular addition, soft ring pressure brought generalization earlier in both architectures while magnitude-only pressure did not; the sign is consistent, but effect size, significance, and graded dose dependence are not established."}{
"title": "Soft angular ring pressure advances grokking on modular addition, but the initial evidence supports only a sign claim",
"statement": "With embeddings left learnable, auxiliary pressure toward the calibrated ring moved grokking earlier for both a transformer and an MLP; magnitude-only pressure did not. The result supports angular structure as causally relevant, but not yet a precise magnitude or graded dose response.",
"evidence": "Two seeds per condition on mod-add. Correct angular pressure: transformer -23%/-33% and MLP -32%/-33% at coefficients 0.5/2.0, final test 1.0. Magnitude-only delayed transformer +44% and left MLP at final test 0.14. Scrambled ring: transformer -26%, MLP -5%.",
"caveats": "No per-seed error bars, one task, and only two active coefficient points. The MLP response is flat across the two doses. Frozen-manifold failures show that rigidly imposing a single-frequency ring is not equivalent to softly encouraging angular structure."
}{"finding_id":"F-g56a","recorded":true,"status":"provisional"}{
"query": "soft angular ring pressure grokking sign claim limitations",
"max_results": 5
}{"results":[{"id":"F-g56a","title":"Soft angular ring pressure advances grokking on modular addition, but the initial evidence supports only a sign claim","use":"Reuse the same auxiliary-loss implementation. Harden seed variance, the coefficient-response shape, and cross-task replication. Do not claim significance or dose dependence from the initial two-seed result."}]}{
"title": "Phase 3c hardening: is angular-pressure acceleration real, graded, and cross-task?",
"research_question": "Does the initial sign of earlier grokking under soft angular ring pressure survive proper seeding; how large is it; is it a graded coefficient response or a threshold; and does it replicate on modular multiplication?",
"method": "Reuse the exact additive loss from the prior run. Train a one-layer transformer and a two-layer MLP on (a+b) mod 97 and (a*b) mod 97 with AdamW, weight decay 1.0, learning rate 1e-3, d=128, training fraction 0.3, and a 30000-step horizon. For addition use the evenly spaced ring Gram target. For multiplication use discrete-log order on the nonzero residues with T[i,j]=cos(2*pi*(dlog(i)-dlog(j))/(p-1)). Use ten shared seeds per condition. Define grok step as first test accuracy at least 0.95, censored at the horizon.",
"controls": [
"coefficient 0 baseline",
"magnitude-only pressure at matched coefficients",
"scrambled-ring target at matched coefficients",
"final test accuracy guardrail",
"grokked-only analysis to test censoring sensitivity"
],
"evaluation": "Correct-angular coefficient grid {0,0.25,0.5,1.0,2.0,4.0}. Report per-condition mean, standard deviation, bootstrap 95% CI, Mann-Whitney U, paired Wilcoxon, rank-biserial effect size, and final test accuracy. Compute Spearman over the full grid and separately within active doses so the zero-to-positive cliff cannot masquerade as a graded response.",
"experiments": [
"mod-add coefficient grid on transformer and MLP",
"mod-add magnitude and scrambled controls",
"mod-mul discrete-log-ring coefficient grid on transformer and MLP",
"mod-mul matched controls",
"full-grid versus active-dose trend analysis and censoring-robust analysis"
],
"deliverables": [
"dose curves with uncertainty",
"condition statistics table",
"specificity-control figure",
"one-paragraph verdict that explicitly chooses graded, saturating, null, or harmful"
],
"compute": {
"gpu_type": "A100-80GB",
"num_gpus": 1
}
}{"proposal_id":"P-h7d2","status":"drafted","compute":{"gpu_type":"A100-80GB","num_gpus":1},"conditions":36,"seeds_per_condition":10}{
"proposal_id": "P-h7d2"
}{"run_id":"R-h12a","status":"queued_before_compute","requested_gpu":"A100-80GB","alternative_available":{"gpu_type":"A40","suitable_for":"d=128 small-model batched ensemble","relative_hourly_cost":"about 3.7x cheaper"},"work_started":false}{
"run_id": "R-h12a",
"reason": "No work started. Reallocate the identical small-model batched study to the cheaper adequate A40; preserve all conditions, seeds, endpoints, and controls."
}{"run_id":"R-h12a","status":"stopped","work_completed":false,"artifacts_created":false}{
"proposal_id": "P-h7d2"
}{"run_id":"R-h84f","status":"finished","actual_gpu":"A40","conditions":36,"seeds_per_condition":10,"total_runs":360,"errors":0,"note":"Scientific specification unchanged; conditions were trained as manually batched seed ensembles."}{
"run_id": "R-h84f",
"section": "metrics",
"detail": "full coefficient grid, uncertainty, full-grid and active-dose tests, and censoring-robust comparison"
}{"setup":{"tasks":["mod_add","mod_mul"],"architectures":["transformer","MLP"],"seeds_per_condition":10,"horizon_steps":30000,"grok_threshold_test_accuracy":0.95,"coefficient_grid":[0,0.25,0.5,1,2,4]},"grok_step_means":{"mod_add":{"transformer":{"baseline":21240,"coef_0_25":6550,"coef_0_5":7090,"coef_1":6600,"coef_2":5720,"coef_4":5530},"MLP":{"baseline":13590,"coef_0_25":8250,"coef_0_5":8620,"coef_1":8540,"coef_2":8930,"coef_4":9310}},"mod_mul":{"transformer":{"baseline":21530,"coef_0_25":6960,"coef_0_5":6180,"coef_1":6070,"coef_2":5510,"coef_4":4940},"MLP":{"baseline":11520,"coef_0_25":6840,"coef_0_5":6940,"coef_1":6950,"coef_2":7110,"coef_4":7580}}},"coef_2_comparison":[{"task":"mod_add","arch":"transformer","baseline":21240,"angular":5720,"shift":"-73%","bootstrap_CI":[4640,6850],"Mann_Whitney_p":"<0.001","Wilcoxon_p":0.002,"rank_biserial":1,"final_test":1},{"task":"mod_add","arch":"MLP","baseline":13590,"angular":8930,"shift":"-34%","bootstrap_CI":[7980,9930],"Mann_Whitney_p":"<0.001","Wilcoxon_p":0.002,"rank_biserial":0.97,"final_test":1},{"task":"mod_mul","arch":"transformer","baseline":21530,"angular":5510,"shift":"-74%","bootstrap_CI":[4430,6770],"Mann_Whitney_p":"<0.001","Wilcoxon_p":0.002,"rank_biserial":1,"final_test":1},{"task":"mod_mul","arch":"MLP","baseline":11520,"angular":7110,"shift":"-38%","bootstrap_CI":[6440,7820],"Mann_Whitney_p":"<0.001","Wilcoxon_p":0.002,"rank_biserial":1,"final_test":1}],"full_grid_spearman":{"mod_add_transformer":{"rho":-0.518,"p":"<0.001"},"mod_add_MLP":{"rho":-0.282,"p":0.029},"mod_mul_transformer":{"rho":-0.543,"p":"<0.001"},"mod_mul_MLP":{"rho":-0.305,"p":0.018}},"active_dose_spearman":{"mod_add_transformer":{"rho":-0.17,"p":0.235},"mod_add_MLP":{"rho":0.21,"p":0.152},"mod_mul_transformer":{"rho":-0.23,"p":0.116},"mod_mul_MLP":{"rho":0.21,"p":0.151}},"censoring_robust_grokked_only":{"mod_add_transformer":{"baseline":20267,"angular_coef_2":5720,"shift":"-72%"},"mod_add_MLP":{"baseline":13590,"angular_coef_2":8930,"shift":"-34%"},"mod_mul_transformer":{"baseline":17900,"angular_coef_2":5510,"shift":"-69%"},"mod_mul_MLP":{"baseline":11520,"angular_coef_2":7110,"shift":"-38%"}},"geometry":{"correct_angular_dist_to_ring":"0.72 to approximately 0.01","correct_angular_PR":"approximately 10-17 to approximately 2.05"},"verdict":"Large cross-task, cross-architecture acceleration with preserved final accuracy. The curve is a zero-to-positive cliff followed by a plateau, not a graded dose response."}{
"run_id": "R-h84f",
"section": "controls",
"detail": "magnitude-only and scrambled-ring controls at matched coefficients, including grok reliability, terminal accuracy, and geometry"
}{"magnitude_only":{"geometry":{"dist_to_ring":0.71,"PR":"approximately 55"},"mod_add_transformer":{"coef_0_5_shift":"+34%","coef_2_shift":"+31%"},"mod_mul_transformer":{"coef_2_shift":"+32%"},"MLP":{"grokked_seeds":"0/10 on both tasks","final_test_range":"0.10-0.14"},"interpretation":"Harmful rather than accelerative; generic norm pressure does not reproduce the effect."},"scrambled_ring":{"geometry":{"dist_to_ring":"approximately 0.98","PR":"approximately 2.05","note":"forms a tight ring but with arithmetic labels permuted"},"transformer":{"mod_add_shift":"-35% to -37%","mod_mul_shift":"-35%","interpretation":"about half the correct-target acceleration; flexible attention can re-index"},"MLP":{"mod_add_shifts":"-0.7% at coefficient 0.5 and +11% at coefficient 2.0","mod_mul_shift":"+18% at coefficient 2.0","interpretation":"no acceleration when the arithmetic correspondence is wrong"}},"correct_angular":{"final_test":1,"all_active_conditions_grokked":"10/10","smallest_tested_coefficient":0.25},"specificity_verdict":"The effect is specific to low-dimensional angular structure; correct arithmetic correspondence is required for the rigid MLP, while the transformer can partially exploit a scrambled but faithful ring."}{
"title": "Soft correct-angular pressure robustly accelerates grokking as a saturating threshold",
"statement": "Across modular addition and multiplication, soft pressure toward the task-correct ring geometry brings grokking substantially earlier in both a transformer and an MLP while preserving final accuracy. The effect saturates at the smallest tested positive coefficient rather than increasing monotonically with dose.",
"evidence": "Ten shared seeds per condition. At coefficient 2: add transformer 21240 to 5720 (-73%), add MLP 13590 to 8930 (-34%), mul transformer 21530 to 5510 (-74%), mul MLP 11520 to 7110 (-38%); all Mann-Whitney p<0.001, paired Wilcoxon p=0.002, final test 1.0. Active-dose Spearman is nonsignificant: transformer -0.17/-0.23, MLP +0.21/+0.21. Magnitude-only delays transformers and yields 0/10 MLP groks; scrambled rings help transformers but not MLPs.",
"caveats": "The result is established for two modular tasks and two small architectures. It does not establish the same intervention for non-cyclic task geometries. Transformer baselines include censored seeds, but grokked-only shifts remain -69% to -72%; MLP shifts remain -34% to -38%."
}{"finding_id":"F-g56b","recorded":true,"status":"validated","supersedes":"F-g56a"}{
"title": "Phase 2 hardening: is task-specific grokking geometry real beyond seed and dimension noise?",
"research_question": "Do the different geometry signatures previously observed across modular addition, modular multiplication, a 2D grid, S5 composition, and random relabeling survive proper seeding and matched embedding dimension?",
"method": "Reuse the calibrated geometry probes and task code. Run ten shared seeds per task. At d=128 run mod-add, mod-mul, grid2d, and random relabeling. At d=256 run S5, mod-add, and grid2d so S5 is compared against cyclic tasks at matched dimension. For grokked checkpoints measure raw and dimension-normalized participation ratio, stable rank, H1, H2, natural-index Fourier concentration, discrete-log Fourier concentration for multiplication, distance to ring, and angular entropy. For random relabeling report end-of-training descriptors and grok reliability.",
"controls": [
"matched d=256 add and grid runs for the S5 comparison",
"dimension-normalized participation ratio; raw PR secondary",
"random-relabeling negative control",
"natural-index versus discrete-log-index Fourier for multiplication",
"shared seed set across tasks"
],
"evaluation": "Report mean, standard deviation, and 95% CI per task. Use Kruskal-Wallis across tasks followed by pre-registered directional Mann-Whitney contrasts with rank-biserial effects: grid H2 greater than add and mul; add natural-index Fourier greater than mul natural-index Fourier while mul discrete-log Fourier matches add; S5 lower circularity and higher normalized effective dimension than cyclic tasks at d=256; random relabeling does not grok. Report between-task versus within-task variance for each descriptor.",
"experiments": [
"d=128 core task battery with ten seeds each",
"d=256 S5 plus matched add and grid controls",
"pre-registered topology, indexing, circularity, and variance contrasts"
],
"deliverables": [
"per-task descriptor table with uncertainty",
"grok-reliability table",
"matched-dimension panel",
"between-versus-within variance analysis",
"verdict separating supported signatures from seed noise"
],
"compute": {
"gpu_type": "A100-80GB",
"num_gpus": 1
}
}{"proposal_id":"P-g2h9","status":"drafted_not_launched","compute":{"gpu_type":"A100-80GB","num_gpus":1},"reason":"Independent follow-up awaiting approval"}