{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7208724748","doi":"https://doi.org/10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759","title":"A Circuit for Plural Reference: How LLMs Represent and Retrieve Singular and Plural Entities","display_name":"A Circuit for Plural Reference: How LLMs Represent and Retrieve Singular and Plural Entities","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-01-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7208724748","doi":"https://doi.org/10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759","doi":"https://doi.org/10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759","pdf_url":"https://aclanthology.org/2026.findings-emnlp.1759.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S7407096085","display_name":"Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EMNLP (Findings of EMNLP)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320244","host_organization_name":"Association for Computational Linguistics","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320244"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computational Linguistics"],"type":"conference"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EMNLP 2026","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},"volume":null,"type":"conference-paper","indexed_in":["arxiv","crossref","datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"bronze","oa_url":"https://aclanthology.org/2026.findings-emnlp.1759.pdf","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5149991675","display_name":"Anh Danh","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Dang Thi Thao Anh","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5010936969","display_name":"Rick Nouwen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9571-4644","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9571-4644"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I193662353","display_name":"Utrecht University","ror":"https://ror.org/04pp8hn57","country_code":"NL","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I193662353"]}],"countries":["NL"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Rick Nouwen","raw_affiliation_strings":["Utrecht University ,"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Utrecht University ,","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I193662353"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5135281889","display_name":"Massimo Poesio","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I166337079","display_name":"Queen Mary University of London","ror":"https://ror.org/026zzn846","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I124357947","https://openalex.org/I166337079"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I193662353","display_name":"Utrecht University","ror":"https://ror.org/04pp8hn57","country_code":"NL","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I193662353"]}],"countries":["GB","NL"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Massimo Poesio","raw_affiliation_strings":["Queen Mary University of London","Utrecht University ,"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Queen Mary University of London","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I166337079"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Utrecht University ,","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I193662353"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":2,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.69879164,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":"37627","last_page":"37644"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10181","display_name":"Natural Language Processing Techniques","score":0.5390999913215637,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10181","display_name":"Natural Language Processing Techniques","score":0.5390999913215637,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10028","display_name":"Topic Modeling","score":0.22750000655651093,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12026","display_name":"Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)","score":0.18129999935626984,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/coreference-resolution","display_name":"coreference resolution","score":0.8820000290870667},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/plural-reference","display_name":"plural reference","score":0.9620000123977661},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/large-language-models","display_name":"large language models","score":0.777999997138977},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/attention-patterns","display_name":"attention patterns","score":0.515999972820282},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/mechanistic-interpretability","display_name":"mechanistic interpretability","score":0.9470000267028809},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/causal-intervention","display_name":"causal intervention","score":0.8330000042915344},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/antecedent-selection","display_name":"antecedent selection","score":0.7820000052452087},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/plural-pronouns","display_name":"plural pronouns","score":0.5740000009536743},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/conjunction-and","display_name":"conjunction 'and'","score":0.5920000076293945},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/entity-representation","display_name":"entity representation","score":0.5559999942779541}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779835924","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q146786","display_name":"Plural","level":2,"score":0.9567000269889832},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2781067378","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17027399","display_name":"Interpretability","level":2,"score":0.89410001039505},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C28076734","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q63087","display_name":"Coreference","level":3,"score":0.6998000144958496},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C204321447","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30642","display_name":"Natural language processing","level":1,"score":0.6654999852180481},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.5595999956130981},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.5454999804496765},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41895202","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8162","display_name":"Linguistics","level":1,"score":0.5443000197410583},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177264268","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1514741","display_name":"Set (abstract data type)","level":2,"score":0.4902999997138977},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780451532","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q759676","display_name":"Task (project management)","level":2,"score":0.3944999873638153},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780902518","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6033780","display_name":"Inheritance (genetic algorithm)","level":3,"score":0.33809998631477356},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C511192102","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5156948","display_name":"Comprehension","level":2,"score":0.33719998598098755},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C98045186","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205663","display_name":"Process (computing)","level":2,"score":0.3345000147819519},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C138268822","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1051925","display_name":"Resolution (logic)","level":2,"score":0.32679998874664307},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C59656382","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q191536","display_name":"Conjunction (astronomy)","level":2,"score":0.2896000146865845},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776548248","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12621536","display_name":"Judgement","level":2,"score":0.28519999980926514},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2781249084","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q908656","display_name":"Preference","level":2,"score":0.28130000829696655},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C15744967","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9418","display_name":"Psychology","level":0,"score":0.2678999900817871}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":3,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759","doi":"https://doi.org/10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759","pdf_url":"https://aclanthology.org/2026.findings-emnlp.1759.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S7407096085","display_name":"Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EMNLP (Findings of EMNLP)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320244","host_organization_name":"Association for Computational Linguistics","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320244"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computational Linguistics"],"type":"conference"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EMNLP 2026","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2609.03687","doi":null,"is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.03687","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.03687","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2609.03687","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2609.03687","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2609.03687","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759","doi":"https://doi.org/10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.18653/2026.findings-emnlp.1759","pdf_url":"https://aclanthology.org/2026.findings-emnlp.1759.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S7407096085","display_name":"Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EMNLP (Findings of EMNLP)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320244","host_organization_name":"Association for Computational Linguistics","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320244"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computational Linguistics"],"type":"conference"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EMNLP 2026","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"study_designs":[],"awards":[],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321800","display_name":"Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek","ror":"https://ror.org/04jsz6e67"}],"has_content":{"pdf":true,"grobid_xml":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7208724748.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7208724748.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W4416037565","https://openalex.org/W2820779948","https://openalex.org/W4285273149","https://openalex.org/W7166853002","https://openalex.org/W7220566620","https://openalex.org/W2951046677","https://openalex.org/W4404403129","https://openalex.org/W1789782362","https://openalex.org/W7095793581","https://openalex.org/W4415088432"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Coreference":[0],"resolution":[1],"is":[2,93],"an":[3],"important":[4],"task":[5],"in":[6,40,74,110,116],"contextual":[7],"reasoning.In":[8],"this":[9],"paper,":[10],"we":[11,59],"investigate":[12],"the":[13,38,75,87,90,97,101,140],"mechanism":[14],"for":[15,23,69,95,112],"representing":[16,71],"and":[17,20,32,99,136],"retrieving":[18],"singular":[19],"plural":[21,24,83,113,118,129],"entities":[22,79,115],"reference.We":[25],"use":[26],"a":[27,44,53,61,82,117,128],"combination":[28],"of":[29,55,63],"mechanistic":[30],"interpretability":[31],"attention":[33,64],"pattern":[34],"analysis":[35],"to":[36,46,49,89,123,126],"study":[37],"process":[39],"which":[41],"LLMs":[42,106],"predict":[43],"pronoun":[45],"refer":[47],"back":[48],"previously":[50],"mentioned":[51],"entities.Using":[52],"range":[54],"causal":[56],"intervention":[57],"techniques,":[58],"find":[60,104],"set":[62],"heads":[65],"that":[66,80,92,105],"are":[67,120,133,137],"responsible":[68,94],"(1)":[70],"coreference":[72],"information":[73,88],"input,":[76],"(2)":[77],"identifying":[78],"form":[81],"reference,":[84],"(3)":[85],"transferring":[86],"component":[91],"selecting":[96],"antecedents":[98],"predicting":[100],"pronoun.We":[102],"also":[103],"align":[107],"with":[108],"humans":[109],"preference":[111],"pronoun.Specifically,":[114],"construction":[119],"more":[121],"likely":[122],"be":[124],"referred":[125],"as":[127],"entity":[130],"if":[131],"they":[132],"ontologically":[134],"similar":[135],"linked":[138],"by":[139],"conjunction":[141],"and.":[142],"1":[143]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-11-02T09:45:03.842371","created_date":"2026-09-05T00:00:00"}