{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4416109867","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3774942","title":"How Do Large Language Models Understand Relevance? A Mechanistic Interpretability Perspective","display_name":"How Do Large Language Models Understand Relevance? A Mechanistic Interpretability Perspective","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-11-11","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4416109867","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3774942"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3774942","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3774942","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4394735545","display_name":"ACM Transactions on Information Systems","issn_l":"1046-8188","issn":["1046-8188","1558-2868"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"ACM Transactions on Information Systems","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":false,"oa_status":"closed","oa_url":null,"any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100393403","display_name":"Qi Liu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4144-938X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I78988378","display_name":"Renmin University of China","ror":"https://ror.org/041pakw92","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Qi Liu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China","Renmin University of China, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4144-938X","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Renmin University of China, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5091059793","display_name":"Haozhe Duan","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2027-2568"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I78988378","display_name":"Renmin University of China","ror":"https://ror.org/041pakw92","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Haozhe Duan","raw_affiliation_strings":["Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China","Renmin University of China, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2027-2568","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Renmin University of China, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5072119199","display_name":"Jiaxin Mao","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9257-5498"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I78988378","display_name":"Renmin University of China","ror":"https://ror.org/041pakw92","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Jiaxin Mao","raw_affiliation_strings":["Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China","Renmin University of China, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9257-5498","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Renmin University of China, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5025631695","display_name":"Ji-Rong Wen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9777-9676"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I78988378","display_name":"Renmin University of China","ror":"https://ror.org/041pakw92","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ji-Rong Wen","raw_affiliation_strings":["Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China","Renmin University of China, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9777-9676","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Renmin University of China, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":1,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78988378"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":4.0534,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":2,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.94885754,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":97,"max":98},"biblio":{"volume":"44","issue":"2","first_page":"1","last_page":"27"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10286","display_name":"Information Retrieval and Search Behavior","score":0.5566999912261963,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"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/T10286","display_name":"Information Retrieval and Search Behavior","score":0.5566999912261963,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"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":0.10830000042915344,"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/T13629","display_name":"Text Readability and Simplification","score":0.07320000231266022,"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/relevance","display_name":"Relevance (law)","score":0.8998000025749207},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/interpretability","display_name":"Interpretability","score":0.8122000098228455},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/operationalization","display_name":"Operationalization","score":0.6668000221252441},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/ranking","display_name":"Ranking (information retrieval)","score":0.5843999981880188},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/perspective","display_name":"Perspective (graphical)","score":0.506600022315979},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/process","display_name":"Process (computing)","score":0.5054000020027161},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/pairwise-comparison","display_name":"Pairwise comparison","score":0.43130001425743103}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C158154518","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7310970","display_name":"Relevance (law)","level":2,"score":0.8998000025749207},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2781067378","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17027399","display_name":"Interpretability","level":2,"score":0.8122000098228455},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7310000061988831},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C9354725","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q286017","display_name":"Operationalization","level":2,"score":0.6668000221252441},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C189430467","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7293293","display_name":"Ranking (information retrieval)","level":2,"score":0.5843999981880188},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C12713177","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1900281","display_name":"Perspective (graphical)","level":2,"score":0.506600022315979},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C98045186","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205663","display_name":"Process (computing)","level":2,"score":0.5054000020027161},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C184898388","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1435712","display_name":"Pairwise comparison","level":2,"score":0.43130001425743103},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777984123","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9248237","display_name":"Pointwise","level":2,"score":0.4154999852180481},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C23123220","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q816826","display_name":"Information retrieval","level":1,"score":0.3580000102519989},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.34599998593330383},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.32710000872612},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C511192102","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5156948","display_name":"Comprehension","level":2,"score":0.3046000003814697},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C137293760","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3621696","display_name":"Language model","level":2,"score":0.3027999997138977},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C204321447","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30642","display_name":"Natural language processing","level":1,"score":0.30079999566078186},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C180747234","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23373","display_name":"Cognitive psychology","level":1,"score":0.2782999873161316},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C43091099","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1067788","display_name":"Through-the-lens metering","level":3,"score":0.2705000042915344},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776802673","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1548396","display_name":"Relevance theory","level":3,"score":0.25360000133514404},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C99016210","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5488129","display_name":"Query expansion","level":2,"score":0.25290000438690186}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1145/3774942","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3774942","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4394735545","display_name":"ACM Transactions on Information Systems","issn_l":"1046-8188","issn":["1046-8188","1558-2868"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"ACM Transactions on Information Systems","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":null,"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320322499","display_name":"Renmin University of China","ror":"https://ror.org/041pakw92"}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":39,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2021581601","https://openalex.org/W2092488901","https://openalex.org/W2896457183","https://openalex.org/W2951534261","https://openalex.org/W3010694149","https://openalex.org/W3034439313","https://openalex.org/W3035313607","https://openalex.org/W3095156104","https://openalex.org/W4200632869","https://openalex.org/W4221166192","https://openalex.org/W4229494842","https://openalex.org/W4252076394","https://openalex.org/W4296932880","https://openalex.org/W4308023630","https://openalex.org/W4308504405","https://openalex.org/W4316116432","https://openalex.org/W4316135772","https://openalex.org/W4320003957","https://openalex.org/W4327644068","https://openalex.org/W4378465300","https://openalex.org/W4383046915","https://openalex.org/W4384107234","https://openalex.org/W4385245566","https://openalex.org/W4385688511","https://openalex.org/W4386839891","https://openalex.org/W4387210443","https://openalex.org/W4387561528","https://openalex.org/W4387846872","https://openalex.org/W4389523765","https://openalex.org/W4392121825","https://openalex.org/W4395443869","https://openalex.org/W4396822183","https://openalex.org/W4400525779","https://openalex.org/W4400526908","https://openalex.org/W4401044046","https://openalex.org/W4405655184","https://openalex.org/W4409670826","https://openalex.org/W4410089370","https://openalex.org/W6966796872"],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Recent":[0],"studies":[1],"have":[2],"shown":[3],"that":[4],"large":[5],"language":[6],"models":[7],"(LLMs)":[8],"can":[9],"assess":[10],"relevance":[11,23,37,53,85,101,122,136],"and":[12,22,35,73,92,110],"support":[13],"information":[14,94,102],"retrieval":[15],"(IR)":[16],"tasks":[17],"such":[18],"as":[19],"document":[20,93],"ranking":[21],"judgment":[24,54],"generation.":[25],"However,":[26],"the":[27,56,67,96,107,117,125,133],"internal":[28],"mechanisms":[29,134],"by":[30],"which":[31],"off-the-shelf":[32],"LLMs":[33,88,148],"understand":[34],"operationalize":[36],"remain":[38],"largely":[39],"unexplored.":[40],"In":[41],"this":[42],"article,":[43],"we":[44,65],"systematically":[45],"investigate":[46],"how":[47],"different":[48],"LLM":[49],"modules":[50],"contribute":[51],"to":[52,104,120],"through":[55],"lens":[57],"of":[58,69],"mechanistic":[59],"interpretability.":[60],"Using":[61],"activation":[62],"patching":[63],"techniques,":[64],"analyze":[66],"roles":[68],"various":[70],"model":[71],"components":[72],"identify":[74],"a":[75],"multi-stage,":[76],"progressive":[77],"process":[78,100],"in":[79,95,106,116,124,138],"generating":[80],"either":[81],"pointwise":[82],"or":[83],"pairwise":[84],"judgment.":[86],"Specifically,":[87],"first":[89],"extract":[90],"query":[91],"early":[97],"layers,":[98,109],"then":[99],"according":[103],"instructions":[105],"middle":[108],"finally":[111],"utilize":[112],"specific":[113],"attention":[114],"heads":[115],"later":[118],"layers":[119],"generate":[121],"judgments":[123],"required":[126],"format.":[127],"Our":[128],"findings":[129],"provide":[130],"insights":[131],"into":[132],"underlying":[135],"assessment":[137],"LLMs,":[139],"offering":[140],"valuable":[141],"implications":[142],"for":[143,149],"future":[144],"research":[145],"on":[146],"leveraging":[147],"IR":[150],"tasks.":[151]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":2}],"updated_date":"2026-05-21T06:26:12.895304","created_date":"2025-11-11T00:00:00"}