Related papers: Convex Q-Learning, Part 1: Deterministic Optimal C…
We consider a general class of regression models with normally distributed covariates, and the associated nonconvex problem of fitting these models from data. We develop a general recipe for analyzing the convergence of iterative algorithms…
Effectively leveraging large, previously collected datasets in reinforcement learning (RL) is a key challenge for large-scale real-world applications. Offline RL algorithms promise to learn effective policies from previously-collected,…
In temporal difference (TD) learning, off-policy sampling is known to be more practical than on-policy sampling, and by decoupling learning from data collection, it enables data reuse. It is known that policy evaluation (including…
We prove that a single-layer neural network trained with the Q-learning algorithm converges in distribution to a random ordinary differential equation as the size of the model and the number of training steps become large. Analysis of the…
Unsupervised learning is the most challenging problem in machine learning and especially in deep learning. Among many scenarios, we study an unsupervised learning problem of high economic value --- learning to predict without costly pairing…
While reinforcement learning algorithms provide automated acquisition of optimal policies, practical application of such methods requires a number of design decisions, such as manually designing reward functions that not only define the…
Neural networks (NNs) have been extremely successful across many tasks in machine learning. Quantization of NN weights has become an important topic due to its impact on their energy efficiency, inference time and deployment on hardware.…
Conventional optimization methods in machine learning and controls rely heavily on first-order update rules. Selecting the right method and hyperparameters for a particular task often involves trial-and-error or practitioner intuition,…
Solving nonlinear optimal control problems is a challenging task, particularly for high-dimensional problems. We propose algorithms for model-based policy iterations to solve nonlinear optimal control problems with convergence guarantees.…
Quadratic assignment problems are a fundamental class of combinatorial optimization problems which are ubiquitous in applications, yet their exact resolution is NP-hard. To circumvent this impasse, it was proposed to regularize such…
Motivated by applications arising from large scale optimization and machine learning, we consider stochastic quasi-Newton (SQN) methods for solving unconstrained convex optimization problems. The convergence analysis of the SQN methods,…
In this paper, we present a novel sufficient condition for the stability of discrete-time linear systems that can be represented as a set of piecewise linear constraints, which make them suitable for quadratic programming optimization…
Quadratic constrained quadratic programming problems often occur in various fields such as engineering practice, management science, and network communication. This article mainly studies a non convex quadratic programming problem with…
We consider the problem of reinforcement learning using function approximation, where the approximating basis can change dynamically while interacting with the environment. A motivation for such an approach is maximizing the value function…
In this paper, we introduce a unified framework for analyzing a large family of Q-learning algorithms, based on switching system perspectives and ODE-based stochastic approximation. We show that the nonlinear ODE models associated with…
We propose a random coordinate descent algorithm for optimizing a non-convex objective function subject to one linear constraint and simple bounds on the variables. Although it is common use to update only two random coordinates…
We analyze worst-case convergence guarantees of first-order optimization methods over a function class extending that of smooth and convex functions. This class contains convex functions that admit a simple quadratic upper bound. Its study…
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 consider the problem of synthesizing optimal linear feedback policies subject to arbitrary convex constraints on the feedback matrix. This is known to be a hard problem in the usual formulations ($\Htwo,\Hinf,\LQR$) and previous works…
Federated learning enables training on a massive number of edge devices. To improve flexibility and scalability, we propose a new asynchronous federated optimization algorithm. We prove that the proposed approach has near-linear convergence…