Related papers: Computational Approaches for Stochastic Shortest P…

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…

We study the sample complexity of learning an $\epsilon$-optimal policy in the Stochastic Shortest Path (SSP) problem. We first derive sample complexity bounds when the learner has access to a generative model. We show that there exists a…

We study the stochastic shortest path (SSP) problem in reinforcement learning with linear function approximation, where the transition kernel is represented as a linear mixture of unknown models. We call this class of SSP problems as linear…

Most exact algorithms for general partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) use a form of dynamic programming in which a piecewise-linear and convex representation of one value function is transformed into another. We examine…

Although many real-world stochastic planning problems are more naturally formulated by hybrid models with both discrete and continuous variables, current state-of-the-art methods cannot adequately address these problems. We present the…

Stochastic dual dynamic programming (SDDP) is a state-of-the-art method for solving multi-stage stochastic optimization, widely used for modeling real-world process optimization tasks. Unfortunately, SDDP has a worst-case complexity that…

In the optimization of dynamic systems, the variables typically have constraints. Such problems can be modeled as a Constrained Markov Decision Process (CMDP). This paper considers the peak Constrained Markov Decision Process (PCMDP), where…

We present an algorithm that, given a representation of a road network in lane-level detail, computes a route that minimizes the expected cost to reach a given destination. In doing so, our algorithm allows us to solve for the complex…

In contrast to the advances in characterizing the sample complexity for solving Markov decision processes (MDPs), the optimal statistical complexity for solving constrained MDPs (CMDPs) remains unknown. We resolve this question by providing…

This paper presents a methodology for using varying sample sizes in sequential quadratic programming (SQP) methods for solving equality constrained stochastic optimization problems. The first part of the paper deals with the delicate issue…

We devise new algorithms for the single-source shortest paths (SSSP) problem with non-negative edge weights in the CONGEST model of distributed computing. While close-to-optimal solutions, in terms of the number of rounds spent by the…

We study the problem of refining satisfiability bounds for partially-known stochastic systems against planning specifications defined using syntactically co-safe Linear Temporal Logic (scLTL). We propose an abstraction-based approach that…

This paper studies parametric Markov decision processes (pMDPs), an extension to Markov decision processes (MDPs) where transitions probabilities are described by polynomials over a finite set of parameters. Fixing values for all parameters…

In this paper, we give a new framework for the stochastic shortest path problem in finite state and action spaces. Our framework generalizes both the frameworks proposed by Bertsekas and Tsitsikli and by Bertsekas and Yu. We prove that the…

This article presents a dynamic regret analysis for stochastic model predictive control (SMPC) in linear systems with quadratic performance index and additive and multiplicative uncertainties. Under a finite support assumption, the problem…

We consider a dynamic programming (DP) approach to approximately solving an infinite-horizon constrained Markov decision process (CMDP) problem with a fixed initial-state for the expected total discounted-reward criterion with a…

In many operations management problems, we need to make decisions sequentially to minimize the cost while satisfying certain constraints. One modeling approach to study such problems is constrained Markov decision process (CMDP). When…

We present the Goal Uncertain Stochastic Shortest Path (GUSSP) problem -- a general framework to model path planning and decision making in stochastic environments with goal uncertainty. The framework extends the stochastic shortest path…

In this paper we propose two algorithms in the tabular setting and an algorithm for the function approximation setting for the Stochastic Shortest Path (SSP) problem. SSP problems form an important class of problems in Reinforcement…

We introduce an algorithm called SQDP (Stochastic Quadratic Dynamic Programming) to solve some multistage stochastic optimization problems having strongly convex recourse functions. The algorithm extends the classical Stochastic Dual…