Exploring the Limits of Fine-grained LLM-based Physics Inference via Premise Removal Interventions

Language models can hallucinate when performing complex and detailed mathematical reasoning. Physics provides a rich domain for assessing mathematical reasoning capabilities where physical context imbues the use of symbols which needs to satisfy complex semantics (e.g., units, tensorial order), leading to instances where inference may be algebraically coherent, yet unphysical. In this work, we assess the ability of Language Models (LMs) to perform fine-grained mathematical and physical reasoning using a curated dataset encompassing multiple notations and Physics subdomains. We improve zero-shot scores using synthetic in-context examples, and demonstrate non-linear degradation of derivation quality with perturbation strength via the progressive omission of supporting premises. We find that the models' mathematical reasoning is not physics-informed in this setting, where physical context is predominantly ignored in favour of reverse-engineering solutions.