arXiv:2605. 26179v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Density functional theory (DFT) serves as the basis for computational discovery in materials science and chemistry, yet each calculation demands extensive human effort: adjusting algorithms when convergence stalls, revising plans when unexpected physics emerges, and inserting steps as intermediate results reshape the problem.
By Penghui Yang, Zhonghan Zhang, Yue Li, Xinrun Wang, Yanchen Deng, Yuhao Lu, Bijun Tang, Zheng Liu, Bo An
arXiv:2609.01526v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Scientific agents must learn not only how to reason, but also what to believe. However, existing LLM agents typically express scientific hypotheses in...
By Qing Zhao, Haowei Li, Weijian Deng, Pengxu Wei, Liang Lin
The paper investigates how closed‑loop autonomous discovery systems can develop false‑science induction when physical objects and measurements are incorrectly paired. It demonstrates that such misbinding causes neural surrogates to learn spurious associations, diverting experimental effort toward low‑performing regions in both green fluorescent protein fitness and materials band‑gap prediction loops. The study shows that the coherence of these errors—not just their frequency—drives budget misallocation and proposes monitoring strategies to detect and quarantine corrupted hypothesis axes.
By Hanbing Liang, Fujun Liu
arXiv:2607. 02329v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Autonomous-research agents have demonstrated end-to-end LLM automation in machine-learning sandboxes where execution provides calibration.
By Haonan Huang
arXiv:2605.26087v2 Announce Type: replace-cross
Abstract: Frontier LLMs now perform strongly across a wide range of physics evaluations, but it is hard to disentangle genuine reasoning from recall of...
By Matt L. Wiemann, Lindsay M. Smith, Peter Melchior, Siddharth Mishra-Sharma, Andrew Gordon Wilson, Pavel Izmailov, Carolina Cuesta-L\'azaro
The paper introduces ARCHE, an autonomous system that combines a general-purpose reasoning model, a domain-specialized computational chemistry model, and a structured tool registry to automate chemical mechanism discovery. ARCHE interprets scientific questions, generates and prioritizes mechanistic hypotheses, orchestrates computational workflows, and refines conclusions in a closed loop. The authors validate the system on three challenging scenarios, including reconstructing stereocontrolling transition states, proposing a radical pathway for an unpublished reaction, and identifying a descriptor governing selectivity in nickel-catalyzed cross‑coupling reactions.
By Dong Li, Sixuan Mi, Zihao Ye, Huan Xiong, Tao XU, Tong Zhu, Aijia Zhang, Junqi Gao, Kaiyan Zhang, Shijie Wang, Bowen Zhou, Yuqiang Li, Biqing Qi