Related papers: Duality and sensitivity analysis of multistage lin…
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…
We develop a Sequential Quadratic Optimization (SQP) algorithm for minimizing a stochastic objective function subject to deterministic equality constraints. The method utilizes two different stepsizes, one which exclusively scales the…
In this paper, we introduce a primal-dual algorithmic framework for solving Symmetric Cone Programs (SCPs), a versatile optimization model that unifies and extends Linear, Second-Order Cone (SOCP), and Semidefinite Programming (SDP). Our…
Stochastic gradient descent (SGD) is a widely adopted iterative method for optimizing differentiable objective functions. In this paper, we propose and discuss a novel approach to scale up SGD in applications involving non-convex functions…
Block coordinate descent (BCD) methods and their variants have been widely used in coping with large-scale nonconstrained optimization problems in many fields such as imaging processing, machine learning, compress sensing and so on. For…
Following the recently developed algorithms for fully probabilistic control design for general dynamic stochastic systems [15], [18], this paper presents the solution to the probabilistic dual heuristic programming (DHP) adaptive critic…
We consider (stochastic) convex-concave saddle point (SP) problems with high-dimensional decision variables, arising in various applications including machine learning problems. To contend with the challenges in computing full gradients, we…
Signal Temporal Logic (STL) has gained popularity in recent years as a specification language for cyber-physical systems, especially in robotics. Beyond being expressive and easy to understand, STL is appealing because the synthesis…
This paper presents three new computational methods for calculating design sensitivities of statistical moments and reliability of high-dimensional complex systems subject to random input. The first method represents a novel integration of…
We study a pessimistic stochastic bilevel program in the context of sequential two-player games, where the leader makes a binary here-and-now decision, and the follower responds a continuous wait-and-see decision after observing the…
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…
We are interested in high-order linear multistep schemes for time discretization of adjoint equations arising within optimal control problems. First we consider optimal control problems for ordinary differential equations and show loss of…
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…
In this paper, a two-step strategy for parametric sensitivity analysis for such systems is proposed, exploiting advantages and synergies between two recently proposed sensitivity analysis methodologies for stochastic dynamics. The first…
Many applications -- including power systems, robotics, and economics -- involve a dynamical system interacting with a stochastic and hard-to-model environment. We adopt a reinforcement learning approach to control such systems.…
We present a novel accelerated primal-dual (APD) method for solving a class of deterministic and stochastic saddle point problems (SPP). The basic idea of this algorithm is to incorporate a multi-step acceleration scheme into the…
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…
We develop a GPU-accelerated dynamic programming (DP) method for valuing, operating, and bidding energy storage under multistage stochastic electricity prices. Motivated by computational limitations in existing models, we formulate DP…
Sequential decision problems in applications such as manipulation in warehouses, multi-step meal preparation, and routing in autonomous vehicle networks often involve reasoning about uncertainty, planning over discrete modes as well as…
Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) have been used to formulate many decision-making problems in science and engineering. The objective is to synthesize the best decision (action selection) policies to maximize expected rewards (minimize…