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We consider two core algorithmic problems for probabilistic verification: the maximal end-component decomposition and the almost-sure reachability set computation for Markov decision processes (MDPs). For MDPs with treewidth $k$, we present…
Two standard models for probabilistic systems are Markov chains (MCs) and Markov decision processes (MDPs). Classic objectives for such probabilistic models for control and planning problems are reachability and stochastic shortest path.…
State aggregation aims to reduce the computational complexity of solving Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) while preserving the performance of the original system. A fundamental challenge lies in optimizing policies within the aggregated, or…
There are two primary approaches to solving Markov decision problems (MDPs): dynamic programming based on the Bellman equation and linear programming (LP). Dynamic programming methods are the most widely used and form the foundation of both…
Consider a Markov decision process (MDP) that admits a set of state-action features, which can linearly express the process's probabilistic transition model. We propose a parametric Q-learning algorithm that finds an approximate-optimal…
Finite-horizon Markov decision processes (MDPs) with high-dimensional exogenous uncertainty and endogenous states arise in operations and finance, including the valuation and exercise of Bermudan and real options, but face a scalability…
Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) is a rich mathematical framework that embraces a large class of complex sequential decision-making problems under uncertainty with limited observations. However, the complexity of…
Calculating optimal policies is known to be computationally difficult for Markov decision processes (MDPs) with Borel state and action spaces. This paper studies finite-state approximations of discrete time Markov decision processes with…
We consider deterministic Markov decision processes (MDPs) and apply max-plus algebra tools to approximate the value iteration algorithm by a smaller-dimensional iteration based on a representation on dictionaries of value functions. The…
We consider a class of optimization problems over stochastic variables where the algorithm can learn information about the value of any variable through a series of costly steps; we model this information acquisition process as a Markov…
The aim of this paper is to approximate a finite-state Markov process by another process with fewer states, called herein the approximating process. The approximation problem is formulated using two different methods. The first method,…
We introduce a framework for approximate dynamic programming that we apply to discrete time chains on $\mathbb{Z}_+^d$ with countable action sets. Our approach is grounded in the approximation of the (controlled) chain's generator by that…
The solution convergence of Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) can be accelerated by prioritized sweeping of states ranked by their potential impacts to other states. In this paper, we present new heuristics to speed up the solution…
Computing optimal conditional reachability probabilities in Markov decision processes (MDPs) is tractable by a reduction to reachability probabilities. Yet, this reduction yields cyclic, challenging MDPs that are often notoriously hard to…
The problem of constrained Markov decision process (CMDP) is investigated, where an agent aims to maximize the expected accumulated discounted reward subject to multiple constraints on its utilities/costs. A new primal-dual approach is…
A popular approach to solving large probabilistic systems relies on aggregating states based on a measure of similarity. Many approaches in the literature are heuristic. A number of recent methods rely instead on metrics based on the notion…
In this paper we consider the problem of computing an $\epsilon$-optimal policy of a discounted Markov Decision Process (DMDP) provided we can only access its transition function through a generative sampling model that given any…
The goal of this work is to formally abstract a Markov process evolving in discrete time over a general state space as a finite-state Markov chain, with the objective of precisely approximating its state probability distribution in time,…
We consider average-cost Markov decision processes (MDPs) with Borel state spaces, countable, discrete action spaces, and strictly unbounded one-stage costs. For the minimum pair approach, we introduce a new majorization condition on the…
We consider a finite-state partially observable Markov decision problem (POMDP) with an infinite horizon and a discounted cost, and we propose a new method for computing a cost function approximation that is based on features and…