Reinforcement Learning Meets Large Language Models: A Survey of Advancements and Applications Across the LLM Lifecycle

Abstract

In recent years, training methods centered on Reinforcement Learning (RL) have markedly enhanced the reasoning and alignment performance of Large Language Models (LLMs), particularly in understanding human intents, following user instructions, and bolstering inferential strength. Although existing surveys offer overviews of RL augmented LLMs, their scope is often limited, failing to provide a comprehensive summary of how RL operates across the full lifecycle of LLMs. We systematically review the theoretical and practical advancements whereby RL empowers LLMs, especially Reinforcement Learning with Verifiable Rewards (RLVR). First, we briefly introduce the basic theory of RL. Second, we thoroughly detail application strategies for RL across various phases of the LLM lifecycle, including pre-training, alignment fine-tuning, and reinforced reasoning. In particular, we emphasize that RL methods in the reinforced reasoning phase serve as a pivotal driving force for advancing model reasoning to its limits. Next, we collate existing datasets and evaluation benchmarks currently used for RL fine-tuning, spanning human-annotated datasets, AI-assisted preference data, and program-verification-style corpora. Subsequently, we review the mainstream open-source tools and training frameworks available, providing clear practical references for subsequent research. Finally, we analyse the future challenges and trends in the field of RL-enhanced LLMs. This survey aims to present researchers and practitioners with the latest developments and frontier trends at the intersection of RL and LLMs, with the goal of fostering the evolution of LLMs that are more intelligent, generalizable, and secure.