
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
Consider the expression $a^4 - a^{-4}$. Which of the following options correctly simplifies this expression?
A) $(a - a^{-1})(a + a^{-1})(b \times c + 2)$
B) $(a + a^{-1})^2(a - a^{-1})^2$
C) $(a^2 - 1 + a^{-2})(a^2 + 1 + a^{-2})$
D) $(a - a^{-1})(a + a^{-1})(a^2 + 1 + a^{-2})$
E) None of these

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