PHYSICS: Benchmarking Foundation Models on University-Level Physics Problem Solving

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2503.21821v1
• Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2025 06:21:56 GMT
• Title: PHYSICS: Benchmarking Foundation Models on University-Level Physics Problem Solving
• Authors: Kaiyue Feng, Yilun Zhao, Yixin Liu, Tianyu Yang, Chen Zhao, John Sous, Arman Cohan,
• Abstract summary: We introduce PHYSICS, a comprehensive benchmark for university-level physics problem solving.<n>It contains 1297 expert-annotated problems covering six core areas: classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, electromagnetism, atomic physics, and optics.
• Score: 38.44445350202585
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: We introduce PHYSICS, a comprehensive benchmark for university-level physics problem solving. It contains 1297 expert-annotated problems covering six core areas: classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, electromagnetism, atomic physics, and optics. Each problem requires advanced physics knowledge and mathematical reasoning. We develop a robust automated evaluation system for precise and reliable validation. Our evaluation of leading foundation models reveals substantial limitations. Even the most advanced model, o3-mini, achieves only 59.9% accuracy, highlighting significant challenges in solving high-level scientific problems. Through comprehensive error analysis, exploration of diverse prompting strategies, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)-based knowledge augmentation, we identify key areas for improvement, laying the foundation for future advancements.

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