PROMETHEUS: Automating Deep Causal Research Integrating Text, Data and Models

Sridhar Mahadevan

arXiv:2605.12835 · 2026-05-14 공개 · arXiv · PDF

world-models causal-models counterfactual-evaluation sheaf-theory scientific-literature gluing-diagnostics deep-causal-research text-mining

Abstract

Large language models can extract local causal claims from text, but those claims become more useful when organized as persistent, navigable world models rather than as flat summaries. We introduce PROMETHEUS, a framework that turns retrieved literature, filings, reviews, reports, agent traces, source data, code, simulations, and scientific models into causal atlases: sheaf-like families of local causal predictive-state models over an explicit cover of a research substrate. Each local region contains causal episodes, structured claim tables, predictive tests, support statistics, and provenance; restriction maps compare overlapping regions; gluing diagnostics expose agreement, drift, contradiction, and underdetermination. The resulting Topos World Model is not a single universal graph. It is a research instrument for navigating what a corpus says, where it says it, how strongly it is supported, and where local claims fail to assemble into a coherent global view. Three literature-atlas case studies -- ocean-temperature impacts on marine populations, GLP-1 weight-loss evidence, and resveratrol/red-wine health-benefit claims -- illustrate deep causal research from text with explicit locality, evidence, persistent state, and gluing tension. Four grounded-counterfactual case studies -- a Nature Climate Change microplastics forcing paper, an Indus Valley hydrology paper with VIC-derived figure data and model code, the canonical Sachs protein-signaling study with single-cell perturbation data, and a Nature singing-mouse study with MAPseq projection matrices -- show a stronger mode: when a paper ships source data, simulation outputs, or code, PROMETHEUS can evaluate a counterfactual against that scientific substrate and then rebuild the sheaf world model around the

한국어 요약

📋 한 줄 요약

**[자동 과학 발견 · 인과 추론]** 논문·데이터·코드·시뮬레이션을 명시적 cover 위의 sheaf 형태 국소 인과 예측 상태 모델로 조직화해 "Topos World Model"을 만드는 PROMETHEUS를 제안한다.

🎯 핵심 기여도

💡 핵심 아이디어

LLM이 추출한 국소 인과 주장을 평탄 요약으로 합치는 대신, 토포스 위의 sheaf처럼 국소 영역과 restriction map으로 구성한다. 그러면 어디서 합쳐지고 어디서 깨지는지가 구조적으로 드러난다.

🔬 기술적 접근법

📊 주요 결과

💭 의의 및 한계

**의의**: LLM 추출 인과 주장의 한계를 보강해 "어디서 무엇이 얼마나 지지되는지"를 구조적으로 항해하는 새로운 연구 인스트루먼트를 제공한다. **한계**: 논문이 데이터·코드·시뮬레이션을 함께 제공하지 않으면 counterfactual 모드의 강력함이 제한된다.

🚀 실용적 활용