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First page of SqueezeBench: Saturation-Resilient Evaluation of Mathematical Capability

SqueezeBench: Saturation-Resilient Evaluation of Mathematical Capability

Pablo Manrique, Hai Xia, Stefan Szeider

cs.AI Oct 9, 2026 · v1 cs.LG cs.LO
A benchmark whose records are computable Lean 4 functions with Mathlib-based proofs of bounds, checked by the Lean kernel and nanoda via Comparator.
AI systems are making rapid progress in mathematics, but this progress is hard to measure. Benchmarks of solved problems saturate, and in benchmarks of open problems each problem can be resolved for the first time only once. We present SqueezeBench, a benchmark that is resilient to saturation: a success raises the bar instead of removing the problem. Each problem fixes an integer function $f(n)$ whose values are known only for small $n$, and the benchmark keeps a lower and an upper record on it. A record is a computable Lean function with a machine-checked proof that it bounds $f$. A submission proposes a new function and proves that it bounds $f$, that it is no worse than the current record at any $n$, and that it is strictly better at some $n$. Once accepted, it becomes the record that the next submission has to beat. The system thus chooses the bound as well as its proof, and it may improve the record at a single $n$ or its growth rate. At every $n$, the gap between the two records shows how far the certified bounds are from determining $f(n)$. Every proof is checked by two independent Lean kernels, so no referee needs to check the mathematics. The checks also reject a function that computes $f$ by exhaustive search at small $n$, and a maintainer only reads the submitter's report and looks for such a search at larger $n$. We release ten problems from extremal combinatorics with twenty proved initial records and the admission tools. As a baseline, agents based on a frontier language model, with at most one hour per record, had 82 submissions accepted and improved every record, without going beyond the published literature. Agents based on two newer models then started from these records, had 60 more submissions accepted and improved 19 of the 20 records again. For eight of the ten problems, at least one record is still asymptotically behind the best published bound.

Mathematical AI benchmarks saturate, and benchmarks of open problems lose each problem once it is first solved. Intermediate progress such as improved bounds earns little or no credit.

Each of ten extremal combinatorics problems (cap sets, Roth numbers, Golomb rulers, Ramsey numbers, and others) fixes an integer function f, formalized in Lean 4 with Mathlib, and keeps a lower and an upper record. A submission supplies a new computable Lean function with proofs that it bounds f (valid), is never worse than the current record (improves), and is strictly better at some n (strict). Proofs are checked by the Lean kernel and the independent nanoda kernel through the Lean FRO's Comparator tool. Accepted submissions become the new records to beat.

Claude-based agents with at most one hour per record had 82 submissions accepted and improved all 20 seed records. Agents based on newer models then had 60 more accepted and improved 19 of the 20 records again. For eight of the ten problems, at least one record remains asymptotically behind the best published bound.