English
Related papers

Related papers: Approximate Policy Iteration Schemes: A Comparison

200 papers

In this paper we provide faster algorithms for approximately solving discounted Markov Decision Processes in multiple parameter regimes. Given a discounted Markov Decision Process (DMDP) with $|S|$ states, $|A|$ actions, discount factor…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2020-12-24 Aaron Sidford , Mengdi Wang , Xian Wu , Yinyu Ye

Safe policy improvement (SPI) is an offline reinforcement learning problem in which a new policy that reliably outperforms the behavior policy with high confidence needs to be computed using only a dataset and the behavior policy. Markov…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2025-08-20 Kasper Engelen , Guillermo A. Pérez , Marnix Suilen

Bisimulation metrics define a distance measure between states of a Markov decision process (MDP) based on a comparison of reward sequences. Due to this property they provide theoretical guarantees in value function approximation (VFA). In…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-11-15 Mete Kemertas , Allan Jepson

We study the computational complexity of the infinite-horizon discounted-reward Markov Decision Problem (MDP) with a finite state space $|\mathcal{S}|$ and a finite action space $|\mathcal{A}|$. We show that any randomized algorithm needs a…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2017-05-24 Yichen Chen , Mengdi Wang

This note re-visits the rolling-horizon control approach to the problem of a Markov decision process (MDP) with infinite-horizon discounted expected reward criterion. Distinguished from the classical value-iteration approach, we develop an…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-06-07 Hyeong Soo Chang

Given a Markov Decision Process (MDP) with $n$ states and a totalnumber $m$ of actions, we study the number of iterations needed byPolicy Iteration (PI) algorithms to converge to the optimal$\gamma$-discounted policy. We consider two…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2016-02-11 Bruno Scherrer

Many control problems in environments that can be modeled as Markov decision processes (MDPs) concern infinite-time horizon specifications. The classical aim in this context is to compute a control policy that maximizes the probability of…

Systems and Control · Computer Science 2017-05-03 Ruediger Ehlers , Salar Moarref , Ufuk Topcu

Relational Markov Decision Processes are a useful abstraction for complex reinforcement learning problems and stochastic planning problems. Recent work developed representation schemes and algorithms for planning in such problems using the…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2012-06-26 Chenggang Wang , Roni Khardon

Markov Decision Processes are classically solved using Value Iteration and Policy Iteration algorithms. Recent interest in Reinforcement Learning has motivated the study of methods inspired by optimization, such as gradient ascent. Among…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-05-05 Sajad Khodadadian , Prakirt Raj Jhunjhunwala , Sushil Mahavir Varma , Siva Theja Maguluri

Preferences play a key role in determining what goals/constraints to satisfy when not all constraints can be satisfied simultaneously. In this paper, we study how to synthesize preference satisfying plans in stochastic systems, modeled as…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2022-10-06 Abhishek N. Kulkarni , Jie Fu

Policy iteration (PI) is a widely used algorithm for synthesizing optimal feedback control policies across many engineering and scientific applications. When PI is deployed on infinite-horizon, nonlinear, autonomous optimal-control…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-07-15 Tobias Ehring , Behzad Azmi , Bernard Haasdonk

We study an approach to policy selection for large relational Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). We consider a variant of approximate policy iteration (API) that replaces the usual value-function learning step with a learning step in policy…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2011-09-13 A. Fern , R. Givan , S. Yoon

This paper proposes a general incremental policy iteration adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) algorithm for model-free robust optimal control of unknown nonlinear systems. The approach integrates recursive least squares estimation with…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-09-01 Qingkai Meng , Fenglan Wang , Lin Zhao

We consider infinite-horizon stationary $\gamma$-discounted Markov Decision Processes, for which it is known that there exists a stationary optimal policy. Using Value and Policy Iteration with some error $\epsilon$ at each iteration, it is…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2012-11-30 Bruno Scherrer , Boris Lesner

We study policy iteration (PI) for deterministic infinite-horizon discounted optimal control problems, whose value function is characterized by a stationary Hamilton--Jacobi--Bellman (HJB) equation. At the PDE level, PI is fundamentally…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2026-04-14 Namkyeong Cho , Yeoneung Kim

There are no computationally feasible algorithms that provide solutions to the finite horizon Risk-sensitive Constrained Markov Decision Process (Risk-CMDP) problem, even for problems with moderate horizon. With an aim to design the same,…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-03-27 Vartika Singh , Veeraruna Kavitha

We study the $(\varepsilon, \delta)$-PAC policy identification problem in finite-horizon episodic Markov Decision Processes. Existing approaches provide finite-time guarantees for approximate settings ($\varepsilon>0$) but suffer from high…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-05-06 Cyrille Kone , Kevin Jamieson

We introduce and study constrained Markov Decision Processes (cMDPs) with anytime constraints. An anytime constraint requires the agent to never violate its budget at any point in time, almost surely. Although Markovian policies are no…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-06-14 Jeremy McMahan , Xiaojin Zhu

Recently discovered polyhedral structures of the value function for finite state-action discounted Markov decision processes (MDP) shed light on understanding the success of reinforcement learning. We investigate the value function polytope…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-06-27 Yue Wu , Jesús A. De Loera

This paper investigates recursive feasibility, recursive robust stability and near-optimality properties of policy iteration (PI). For this purpose, we consider deterministic nonlinear discrete-time systems whose inputs are generated by PI…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-10-27 Mathieu Granzotto , Olivier Lindamulage De Silva , Romain Postoyan , Dragan Nesic , Zhong-Ping Jiang