
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
Let $a$ and $b$ be real numbers. Consider the following five statements:
1. $a < b$
2. $b < 0$
3. $a < 0$
4. $\frac{1}{a} < \frac{1}{b}$
5. $a^2 < b^2$

What is the maximum number of these statements that can be true for any values of $a$ and $b$?

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