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We propose a general framework for entropy-regularized average-reward reinforcement learning in Markov decision processes (MDPs). Our approach is based on extending the linear-programming formulation of policy optimization in MDPs to…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2017-05-23 Gergely Neu , Anders Jonsson , Vicenç Gómez

Consider the problem of approximating the optimal policy of a Markov decision process (MDP) by sampling state transitions. In contrast to existing reinforcement learning methods that are based on successive approximations to the nonlinear…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2017-10-18 Mengdi Wang

Markov Decision Processes (MDP) is an useful framework to cast optimal sequential decision making problems. Given any MDP the aim is to find the optimal action selection mechanism i.e., the optimal policy. Typically, the optimal policy…

Systems and Control · Computer Science 2014-03-18 Chandrashekar Lakshminarayanan , Shalabh Bhatnagar

With the increasing need for handling large state and action spaces, general function approximation has become a key technique in reinforcement learning (RL). In this paper, we propose a general framework that unifies model-based and…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-10-03 Zixiang Chen , Chris Junchi Li , Angela Yuan , Quanquan Gu , Michael I. Jordan

The linear Markov Decision Process (MDP) framework offers a principled foundation for reinforcement learning (RL) with strong theoretical guarantees and sample efficiency. However, its restrictive assumption-that both transition dynamics…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2025-06-03 Sinian Zhang , Kaicheng Zhang , Ziping Xu , Tianxi Cai , Doudou Zhou

We propose a new method for optimistic planning in infinite-horizon discounted Markov decision processes based on the idea of adding regularization to the updates of an otherwise standard approximate value iteration procedure. This…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-06-16 Antoine Moulin , Gergely Neu

In this paper, we consider risk-sensitive Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) with Borel state and action spaces and unbounded cost under both finite and infinite planning horizons. Our optimality criterion is based on the recursive…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-10-16 Nicole Bäuerle , Alexander Glauner

Markov decision problems are most commonly solved via dynamic programming. Another approach is Bellman residual minimization, which directly minimizes the squared Bellman residual objective function. However, compared to dynamic…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-04-28 Donghwan Lee , Hyukjun Yang

Stochastic and soft optimal policies resulting from entropy-regularized Markov decision processes (ER-MDP) are desirable for exploration and imitation learning applications. Motivated by the fact that such policies are sensitive with…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-01-03 Tien Mai , Patrick Jaillet

This paper provides a general and abstract approach to approximate ergodic regimes of Markov and Feller processes. More precisely, we show that the recursive algorithm presented in Lamberton & Pages (2002) and based on simulation algorithms…

Probability · Mathematics 2018-01-17 Gilles Pagès , Clément Rey

Discrete time stochastic optimal control problems and Markov decision processes (MDPs), respectively, serve as fundamental models for problems that involve sequential decision making under uncertainty and as such constitute the theoretical…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-03-08 Christian Beck , Arnulf Jentzen , Konrad Kleinberg , Thomas Kruse

Distributional reinforcement learning improves performance by capturing environmental stochasticity, but a comprehensive theoretical understanding of its effectiveness remains elusive. In addition, the intractable element of the infinite…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-05-14 Taehyun Cho , Seungyub Han , Seokhun Ju , Dohyeong Kim , Kyungjae Lee , Jungwoo Lee

We rigorously derive novel error bounds for extended dynamic mode decomposition (EDMD) to approximate the Koopman operator for discrete- and continuous time (stochastic) systems; both for i.i.d. and ergodic sampling under non-restrictive…

Approximate value iteration (AVI) is a family of algorithms for reinforcement learning (RL) that aims to obtain an approximation of the optimal value function. Generally, AVI algorithms implement an iterated procedure where each step…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-03-07 Théo Vincent , Alberto Maria Metelli , Boris Belousov , Jan Peters , Marcello Restelli , Carlo D'Eramo

The key assumption underlying linear Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) is that the learner has access to a known feature map $\phi(x, a)$ that maps state-action pairs to $d$-dimensional vectors, and that the rewards and transitions are…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-09-20 Noah Golowich , Ankur Moitra , Dhruv Rohatgi

In this paper, we consider the stochastic iterative counterpart of the value iteration scheme wherein only noisy and possibly biased approximations of the Bellman operator are available. We call this counterpart as the approximate value…

Systems and Control · Computer Science 2021-06-01 Arunselvan Ramaswamy , Shalabh Bhatnagar

This paper studies function approximation for finite horizon discrete time Markov decision processes under certain convexity assumptions. Uniform convergence of these approximations on compact sets is proved under several sampling schemes…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2018-02-21 Jeremy Yee

We study reinforcement learning methods with linear function approximation under non-Markov state and cost processes. We first consider the policy evaluation method and show that the algorithm converges under suitable ergodicity conditions…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-01-05 Ali Devran Kara

We build on a recently introduced geometric interpretation of Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) to analyze classical MDP-solving algorithms: Value Iteration (VI) and Policy Iteration (PI). First, we develop a geometry-based analytical…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-03-07 Arsenii Mustafin , Aleksei Pakharev , Alex Olshevsky , Ioannis Ch. Paschalidis

Discrete time stochastic optimal control problems and Markov decision processes (MDPs) are fundamental models for sequential decision-making under uncertainty and as such provide the mathematical framework underlying reinforcement learning…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-07-01 Arnulf Jentzen , Konrad Kleinberg , Thomas Kruse