
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
The number of roots of the function $f(x) = x^2 + bx - 3$ ($b \in \mathbb{R}$) is 2 if the discriminant $b^2 + 12$ is greater than, equal to, or less than zero.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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