Stable-MM-R1: Anchoring Multimodal Reasoning Dynamics via Entropy-Guided Stratification

Abstract:While Reinforcement Learning (RL) effectively incentivizes reasoning in Large Language Models, current pipelines are hindered by training instability and rapid entropy collapse. These limitations often stem from "Rollout Silencing" and low-quality gradient signals in standard sampling procedures. In this work, we propose a robust, data-centric framework to stabilize RL training. We first introduce Potential-Aware Query Mining (PAQM), which filters data dynamically to focus on the "Distillation Zone"---samples with high potential for capability elicitation. Furthermore, we present Hybrid Stratified Replay (HSR), a novel mechanism that restructures batches by stratifying rollouts based on Path Entropy, a rollout-level confidence proxy, and outcome reward. Within each optimization step, HSR reuses current-policy "Stability Anchors" and "Hard Negatives" to construct high-contrast optimization groups, then clears its buffers before the next step. This approach mitigates entropy collapse while improving the utilization of learning signals under limited compute. Our method outperforms strong baselines on complex reasoning tasks, offering a principled solution for stable and efficient RL fine-tuning.

Machine Learning (cs.LG); Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)

arXiv:2609.07148 [cs.LG]

(or arXiv:2609.07148v1 [cs.LG] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.07148 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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