Related papers: KL-learning: Online solution of Kullback-Leibler c…
Controlling the stochastic dynamics of biological populations is a challenge that arises across various biological contexts. However, these dynamics are inherently nonlinear and involve a discrete state space, i.e., the number of molecules,…
We study the worst-case probability that $Y$ outperforms a benchmark $X$ when the law of $Y$ lies in a Kullback-Leibler neighbourhood of the benchmark. The max-min problem over couplings admits a tractable dual (via optimal transport),…
This paper formulates a stochastic optimal control problem for linear networked control systems featuring stochastic packet disordering with a unique stabilizing solution certified. The problem is solved by proposing reinforcement learning…
Many applications -- including power systems, robotics, and economics -- involve a dynamical system interacting with a stochastic and hard-to-model environment. We adopt a reinforcement learning approach to control such systems.…
We consider a Kullback-Leibler-based algorithm for the stochastic multi-armed bandit problem in the case of distributions with finite supports (not necessarily known beforehand), whose asymptotic regret matches the lower bound of…
At the heart of reinforcement learning are actions -- decisions made in response to observations of the environment. Actions are equally fundamental in the modeling of stochastic processes, as they trigger discontinuous state transitions…
We introduce a mini-batch stochastic variance-reduced algorithm to solve finite-sum scale invariant problems which cover several examples in machine learning and statistics such as principal component analysis (PCA) and estimation of…
This paper shows that the optimal policy and value functions of a Markov Decision Process (MDP), either discounted or not, can be captured by a finite-horizon undiscounted Optimal Control Problem (OCP), even if based on an inexact model.…
In this paper, we consider a class of continuous-time, continuous-space stochastic optimal control problems. Building upon recent advances in Markov chain approximation methods and sampling-based algorithms for deterministic path planning,…
Sampling in score-based diffusion models can be performed by solving either a reverse-time stochastic differential equation (SDE) parameterized by an arbitrary time-dependent stochasticity parameter or a probability flow ODE, corresponding…
Online machine learning (OML) algorithms do not need any training phase and can be deployed directly in an unknown environment. OML includes multi-armed bandit (MAB) algorithms that can identify the best arm among several arms by achieving…
This paper is concerned with a backward stochastic linear-quadratic (LQ, for short) optimal control problem with deterministic coefficients. The weighting matrices are allowed to be indefinite, and cross-product terms in the control and…
In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to solve the Inverse Stochastic Optimal Control (ISOC) problem of the linear-quadratic sensorimotor (LQS) control model. The LQS model represents the current state-of-the-art in describing…
Optimal control theory deals with finding protocols to steer a system between assigned initial and final states, such that a trajectory-dependent cost function is minimized. The application of optimal control to stochastic systems is an…
This paper considers an ergodic version of the bounded velocity follower problem, assuming that the decision maker lacks knowledge of the underlying system parameters and must learn them while simultaneously controlling. We propose…
This paper applies a reinforcement learning (RL) method to solve infinite horizon continuous-time stochastic linear quadratic problems, where drift and diffusion terms in the dynamics may depend on both the state and control. Based on…
A new approach to computation of optimal policies for MDP (Markov decision process) models is introduced. The main idea is to solve not one, but an entire family of MDPs, parameterized by a weighting factor $\zeta$ that appears in the…
In this paper, we provide two new stable online algorithms for the problem of prediction in reinforcement learning, \emph{i.e.}, estimating the value function of a model-free Markov reward process using the linear function approximation…
ODE solvers with randomly sampled timestep sizes appear in the context of chaotic dynamical systems, differential equations with low regularity, and, implicitly, in stochastic optimisation. In this work, we propose and study the stochastic…
This paper proposes an Online Control-Informed Learning (OCIL) framework, which employs the well-established optimal control and state estimation techniques in the field of control to solve a broad class of learning tasks in an online…