English

Neural feedback approximation for stochastic control with degenerate diffusions: error estimates and numerical analysis

Optimization and Control 2026-07-11 v1 Numerical Analysis

Abstract

We study finite-horizon stochastic optimal control problems and approximate the resulting time-discrete formulation by a direct policy-learning problem over neural-network feedback maps. We prove a quantitative convergence estimate, in an averaged sense, for the error between the time-discrete value and the value induced by an approximately optimized neural policy. The bound separates the approximation of near-optimal feedback policies, the localization of stochastic trajectories on compact sets, and the optimization tolerance in training. The analysis does not require transition-density assumptions and covers possibly degenerate diffusions and deterministic controlled dynamics in a unified framework. Numerical experiments are provided for a degenerate stochastic radial target problem, a Hamilton--Jacobi--Bellman benchmark, and a gas storage problem, illustrating the approach and separating the main error sources: time discretization, restriction to piecewise-constant policies, neural-network approximation, and Monte Carlo evaluation.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.10254,
  title  = {Neural feedback approximation for stochastic control with degenerate diffusions: error estimates and numerical analysis},
  author = {Olivier Bokanowski and Jean-François Chassagneux and Marco Scaratti and Xavier Warin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.10254},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

36 pages, 22 figures