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In this work, we design quantum algorithms that are more efficient than classical algorithms to solve time-dependent and finite-horizon Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) in two distinct settings: (1) In the exact dynamics setting, where the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-08-11 Bin Luo , Yuwen Huang , Jonathan Allcock , Xiaojun Lin , Shengyu Zhang , John C. S. Lui

The centralized training for decentralized execution paradigm emerged as the state-of-the-art approach to $\epsilon$-optimally solving decentralized partially observable Markov decision processes. However, scalability remains a significant…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-01-14 Johan Peralez , Aurèlien Delage , Jacopo Castellini , Rafael F. Cunha , Jilles S. Dibangoye

This paper proposes several novel optimization algorithms for minimizing a nonlinear objective function. The algorithms are enlightened by the optimal state trajectory of an optimal control problem closely related to the minimized objective…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-04-01 Hongxia Wang , Yeming Xu , Ziyuan Guo , Huanshui Zhang

We consider sequential decision problems in which we adaptively choose one of finitely many alternatives and observe a stochastic reward. We offer a new perspective of interpreting Bayesian ranking and selection problems as adaptive…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2016-06-16 Yingfei Wang , Warren Powell

This paper develops a policy gradient method for entropy-regularized mean-field control in the discounted infinite-horizon setting. We consider randomized feedback policies and a coupled representative-particle/population system, in which…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2026-05-21 Erhan Bayraktar , Martin Hernandez , Qinxin Yan , Yuhua Zhu

We provide a new algorithm for solving Risk Sensitive Partially Observable Markov Decisions Processes, when the risk is modeled by a utility function, and both the state space and the space of observations is finite. This algorithm is based…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-07-19 Arsham Afsardeir , Andreas Kapetanis , Vaios Laschos , Klaus Obermayer

We consider the estimation of the policy gradient in partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDP) with a special class of structured policies that are finite-state controllers. We show that the gradient estimation can be done in…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2012-07-09 Huizhen Yu

We cast policy gradient methods as the repeated application of two operators: a policy improvement operator $\mathcal{I}$, which maps any policy $\pi$ to a better one $\mathcal{I}\pi$, and a projection operator $\mathcal{P}$, which finds…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-10-26 Dibya Ghosh , Marlos C. Machado , Nicolas Le Roux

In this article we develop a gradient-based algorithm for the solution of multiobjective optimization problems with uncertainties. To this end, an additional condition is derived for the descent direction in order to account for…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2018-08-02 Sebastian Peitz , Michael Dellnitz

Many real-world problems require trading off multiple competing objectives. However, these objectives are often in different units and/or scales, which can make it challenging for practitioners to express numerical preferences over…

We introduce a gradient-based learning method to automatically adapt Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) proposal distributions to intractable targets. We define a maximum entropy regularised objective function, referred to as generalised speed…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2020-01-07 Michalis K. Titsias , Petros Dellaportas

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

This paper presents a novel stochastic gradient descent algorithm for constrained optimization. The proposed algorithm randomly samples constraints and components of the finite sum objective function and relies on a relaxed logarithmic…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-05-13 Naum Dimitrieski , Jing Cao , Christian Ebenbauer

The ultimate goal of optimization is to find the minimizer of a target function.However, typical criteria for active optimization often ignore the uncertainty about the minimizer. We propose a novel criterion for global optimization and an…

Methodology · Statistics 2012-02-13 Il Memming Park , Marcel Nassar , Mijung Park

This paper studies the distributed optimization problem when the objective functions might be nondifferentiable and subject to heterogeneous set constraints. Unlike existing subgradient methods, we focus on the case when the exact…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-11-23 Kui Zhu , Yutao Tang

Classical decision theory models behaviour in terms of utility maximisation where utilities represent rational preference relations over outcomes. However, empirical evidence and theoretical considerations suggest that we need to go beyond…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2015-06-04 Jules Hedges , Paulo Oliva , Evguenia Sprits , Viktor Winschel , Philipp Zahn

Current state-of-the-art multi-objective optimization solvers, by computing gradients of all $m$ objective functions per iteration, produce after $k$ iterations a measure of proximity to critical conditions that is upper-bounded by…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-05-26 I. F. D. Oliveira , R. H. C. Takahashi

The study of first-order optimization is sensitive to the assumptions made on the objective functions. These assumptions induce complexity classes which play a key role in worst-case analysis, including the fundamental concept of algorithm…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2024-05-30 Charles Guille-Escuret , Adam Ibrahim , Baptiste Goujaud , Ioannis Mitliagkas

In this paper, we consider gradient methods for minimizing smooth convex functions, which employ the information obtained at the previous iterations in order to accelerate the convergence towards the optimal solution. This information is…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-06-02 Yurii Nesterov , Mihai I. Florea

Continuous-time Markov decision processes are an important class of models in a wide range of applications, ranging from cyber-physical systems to synthetic biology. A central problem is how to devise a policy to control the system in order…

Systems and Control · Computer Science 2016-06-01 Ezio Bartocci , Luca Bortolussi , Tomǎš Brázdil , Dimitrios Milios , Guido Sanguinetti