A Survey on Deep Learning for Theorem Proving

Theorem proving is a fundamental aspect of mathematics, spanning from informal reasoning in mathematical language to rigorous derivations in formal systems. In recent years, the advancement of deep learning, especially the emergence of LLMs, has sparked a notable surge of research exploring these techniques to enhance the process of theorem proving. This paper presents a pioneering comprehensive survey of deep learning for theorem proving by offering i) a thorough review of existing approaches across various tasks such as autoformalization, premise selection, proofstep generation, and proof search; ii) a meticulous summary of available datasets and strategies for data generation; iii) a detailed analysis of evaluation metrics and the performance of state-of-the-art; and iv) a critical discussion on the persistent challenges and the promising avenues for future exploration. Our survey aims to serve as a foundational reference for deep learning approaches in theorem proving, seeking to catalyze further research endeavors in this rapidly growing field.