A Multi-Agent Rhizomatic Pipeline for Non-Linear Literature Analysis

TL;DR

This paper introduces Rhizomatic Research Agent (V3), a multi-agent pipeline for non-linear literature analysis inspired by Deleuzian philosophy, capable of uncovering complex research patterns often missed by traditional methods.

Contribution

It presents a novel, automated, multi-agent system that operationalizes rhizomatic principles for comprehensive, non-linear literature mapping using LLMs, semantic analysis, and rupture detection.

Findings

System surfaces cross-disciplinary convergences.

Identifies structural research gaps overlooked by traditional reviews.

Demonstrates capacity to map complex knowledge landscapes.

Abstract

Systematic literature reviews in the social sciences overwhelmingly follow arborescent logics -- hierarchical keyword filtering, linear screening, and taxonomic classification -- that suppress the lateral connections, ruptures, and emergent patterns characteristic of complex research landscapes. This research note presents the Rhizomatic Research Agent (V3), a multi-agent computational pipeline grounded in Deleuzian process-relational ontology, designed to conduct non-linear literature analysis through 12 specialized agents operating across a seven-phase architecture. The system was developed in response to the methodological groundwork established by (Narayan2023), who employed rhizomatic inquiry in her doctoral research on sustainable energy transitions but relied on manual, researcher-driven exploration. The Rhizomatic Research Agent operationalizes the six principles of the rhizome -- connection, heterogeneity, multiplicity, asignifying rupture, cartography, and decalcomania -- into an automated pipeline integrating large language model (LLM) orchestration, dual-source corpus ingestion from OpenAlex and arXiv, SciBERT semantic topography, and dynamic rupture detection protocols. Preliminary deployment demonstrates the system's capacity to surface cross-disciplinary convergences and structural research gaps that conventional review methods systematically overlook. The pipeline is open-source and extensible to any phenomenon zone where non-linear knowledge mapping is required.