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We introduce a general framework for Markov decision problems under model uncertainty in a discrete-time infinite horizon setting. By providing a dynamic programming principle we obtain a local-to-global paradigm, namely solving a local,…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-01-06 Ariel Neufeld , Julian Sester , Mario Šikić

Robust Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) are a powerful framework for modeling sequential decision-making problems with model uncertainty. This paper proposes the first first-order framework for solving robust MDPs. Our algorithm interleaves…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-01-18 Julien Grand-Clément , Christian Kroer

We develop a generic policy gradient method with the global optimality guarantee for robust Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). While policy gradient methods are widely used for solving dynamic decision problems due to their scalable and…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-11-01 Qiuhao Wang , Shaohang Xu , Chin Pang Ho , Marek Petrik

This paper deals with control of partially observable discrete-time stochastic systems. It introduces and studies Markov Decision Processes with Incomplete Information and with semi-uniform Feller transition probabilities. The important…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-08-30 Eugene A. Feinberg , Pavlo O. Kasyanov , Michael Z. Zgurovsky

Online planning in Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) enables agents to make sequential decisions by simulating future trajectories from the current state, making it well-suited for large-scale or dynamic environments. Sample-based methods…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2025-09-22 Tamir Shazman , Idan Lev-Yehudi , Ron Benchetit , Vadim Indelman

Decision-making under distribution shift is a central challenge in reinforcement learning (RL), where training and deployment environments differ. We study this problem through the lens of robust Markov decision processes (RMDPs), which…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-10-17 Jingwen Gu , Yiting He , Zhishuai Liu , Pan Xu

We present an efficient robust value iteration for \texttt{s}-rectangular robust Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) with a time complexity comparable to standard (non-robust) MDPs which is significantly faster than any existing method. We do…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-02-01 Navdeep Kumar , Kfir Levy , Kaixin Wang , Shie Mannor

Markov decision processes (MDPs) are the defacto frame-work for sequential decision making in the presence ofstochastic uncertainty. A classical optimization criterion forMDPs is to maximize the expected discounted-sum pay-off, which…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2020-02-28 Tomas Brazdil , Krishnendu Chatterjee , Petr Novotny , Jiri Vahala

In this paper, we propose a general theory of ambiguity-averse MDPs, which treats the uncertain transition probabilities as random variables and evaluates a policy via a risk measure applied to its random return. This ambiguity-averse MDP…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2026-02-04 Axel Benyamine , Julien Grand-Clément , Marek Petrik , Michael I. Jordan , Alain Durmus

Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) are a formal framework for modeling and solving sequential decision-making problems. In finite-time horizons such problems are relevant for instance for optimal stopping or specific supply chain problems,…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2024-05-07 Sara Klein , Simon Weissmann , Leif Döring

Addressing uncertainty is critical for autonomous systems to robustly adapt to the real world. We formulate the problem of model uncertainty as a continuous Bayes-Adaptive Markov Decision Process (BAMDP), where an agent maintains a…

Constrained decision-making is essential for designing safe policies in real-world control systems, yet simulated environments often fail to capture real-world adversities. We consider the problem of learning a policy that will maximize the…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-02-10 Sourav Ganguly , Kishan Panaganti , Arnob Ghosh , Adam Wierman

In classical Markov Decision Processes (MDPs), action costs and transition probabilities are assumed to be known, although an accurate estimation of these parameters is often not possible in practice. This study addresses MDPs under cost…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2019-06-24 Merve Merakli , Simge Kucukyavuz

This paper investigates the optimization problem of an infinite stage discrete time Markov decision process (MDP) with a long-run average metric considering both mean and variance of rewards together. Such performance metric is important…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2020-08-11 Li Xia

Markov decision processes (MDPs) provide a standard framework for sequential decision making under uncertainty. However, MDPs do not take uncertainty in transition probabilities into account. Robust Markov decision processes (RMDPs) address…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2024-05-01 Krishnendu Chatterjee , Ehsan Kafshdar Goharshady , Mehrdad Karrabi , Petr Novotný , Đorđe Žikelić

We consider Markov decision processes under parameter uncertainty. Previous studies all restrict to the case that uncertainties among different states are uncoupled, which leads to conservative solutions. In contrast, we introduce an…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2012-06-22 Shie Mannor , Ofir Mebel , Huan Xu

In this work we investigate an importance sampling approach for evaluating policies for a structurally time-varying factored Markov decision process (MDP), i.e. the policy's value is estimated with a high-probability confidence interval. In…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2023-02-07 Carmel Fiscko , Soummya Kar , Bruno Sinopoli

In high-stake scenarios like medical treatment and auto-piloting, it's risky or even infeasible to collect online experimental data to train the agent. Simulation-based training can alleviate this issue, but may suffer from its inherent…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-03-16 Jialian Li , Tongzheng Ren , Dong Yan , Hang Su , Jun Zhu

Robust Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) and risk-sensitive MDPs are both powerful tools for making decisions in the presence of uncertainties. Previous efforts have aimed to establish their connections, revealing equivalences in specific…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2024-05-27 Runyu Zhang , Yang Hu , Na Li

This paper investigates natural conditions for the existence of optimal policies for a Markov decision process with incomplete information (MDPII) and with expected total costs. The MDPII is the classic model of a controlled stochastic…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-09-30 Eugene A. Feinberg , Pavlo O. Kasyanov , Michael Z. Zgurovsky