read-theory

name	read-theory
description	Verify theoretical claims — mathematical derivations, proofs, and formal arguments. Targets claims with evidence_type "theoretical" from check_claim.json.
author	PaperDoctor Research
license	MIT
argument-hint	["paper_dir"]
allowed-tools	Read

Verify Theory

Check each claim tagged evidence_type: "theoretical" by reading the paper's arguments and verifying them step by step.

Workflow

- [ ] Step 1: Load claims
- [ ] Step 2: Verify each argument
- [ ] Step 3: Save report

---

Step 1: Load Claims

Read {paper_dir}/reports/check_claim.json. Filter to claims where evidence_type includes "theoretical".

Each claim's id, source, quote, claim, evidence_type fields should be copied as-is into the output — do not modify them.

Read the full paper text from {paper_dir}/metadata/{arxiv_id}/mathpix/{arxiv_id}.md.

---

Step 2: Verify Each Argument

For each theoretical claim, locate the relevant reasoning in the paper. Check:

• Correctness — does each step follow from the previous one? (algebraic, logical, or conceptual)
• Assumptions — are any implicit assumptions missing or unjustified?
• Edge cases — does the result hold at boundary conditions?
• Notation consistency — are symbols used consistently throughout?

For each claim, produce:

{
  "id": 3,
  "source": "method",
  "quote": "Eqn. 4 → 6, Section 3.1\n\nBy substituting Eqn. 4 into Eqn. 5, we obtain the closed-form loss in Eqn. 6",
  "claim": "The soft-label loss simplifies to a closed-form KL divergence",
  "evidence_type": ["theoretical"],
  "status": "pass",
  "reason": ""
}

Field definitions (paper triple → fields):

Field	When	Purpose
quote	always	The Where evidence. Start with where in the paper the argument lives (equation range, section, theorem), then a blank line, then the original sentence under scrutiny.
reason	warning/error only	The Why. What issue was found (e.g. "implicit assumption that distributions share support"). For pass you may include a one-line note about the verification work performed (e.g. "re-derived substitution from Eqn. 4 to 6").
suggest	warning/error only	The How. One-sentence concrete fix the author can apply.

Statuses:

Status	Meaning
pass	Argument is correct
warning	Correct but has implicit assumptions, ambiguity, or missing edge-case discussion
error	Error found — wrong sign, dropped term, invalid logical step

When status is warning or error, reason should explain the problem precisely and suggest should propose a concrete fix.

---

Step 3: Save Report

Output: {paper_dir}/reports/check_theory.json

{
  "summary": {
    "total": 3,
    "pass": 2,
    "warning": 1,
    "error": 0
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "id": 3,
      "source": "method",
      "quote": "Eqn. 4 → 6, Section 3.1\n\nBy substituting Eqn. 4 into Eqn. 5, we obtain the closed-form loss in Eqn. 6",
      "claim": "The soft-label loss simplifies to a closed-form KL divergence",
      "evidence_type": ["theoretical"],
      "status": "warning",
      "reason": "Re-derived substitution from Eqn. 4 to 6 — derivation assumes teacher and student distributions share the same support, but this is not stated.",
      "suggest": "State the shared-support assumption explicitly before Eqn. 4."
    }
  ]
}

Coverage Rule

Every claim with theoretical in evidence_type MUST appear in results. No claim may be silently skipped. If a claim's theory is trivial or self-evident, still include it with status: "pass" and a brief note.

Tips

• Reproduce each derivation from scratch — do not just skim the steps
• For math: pay attention to summation indices and what gets absorbed vs cancelled
• For non-math arguments: check if the logic actually supports the conclusion
• A missing qualifier is a warning, not an error