Related papers: Stochastic Dynamic Programming Heuristic for the (…
This work addresses an extended class of optimal control problems where a target for a system state has the form of an ellipsoid rather than a fixed, single point. As a computationally affordable method for resolving the extended problem,…
We are interested in optimally driving a dynamical system that can be influenced by exogenous noises. This is generally called a Stochastic Optimal Control (SOC) problem and the Dynamic Programming (DP) principle is the natural way of…
Numerical resolution of high-dimensional nonlinear PDEs remains a huge challenge due to the curse of dimensionality. Starting from the weak formulation of the Lawson-Euler scheme, this paper proposes a stochastic particle method (SPM) by…
One stream of reinforcement learning research is exploring biologically plausible models and algorithms to simulate biological intelligence and fit neuromorphic hardware. Among them, reward-modulated spike-timing-dependent plasticity…
One often encounters the curse of dimensionality in the application of dynamic programming to determine optimal policies for controlled Markov chains. In this paper, we provide a method to construct sub-optimal policies along with a bound…
We study data-driven learning of robust stochastic control for infinite-horizon systems with potentially continuous state and action spaces. In many managerial settings--supply chains, finance, manufacturing, services, and dynamic…
Stochastic convex optimization algorithms are the most popular way to train machine learning models on large-scale data. Scaling up the training process of these models is crucial, but the most popular algorithm, Stochastic Gradient Descent…
We address the application of stochastic optimization methods for the simultaneous control of parameter-dependent systems. In particular, we focus on the classical Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) approach of Robbins and Monro, and on the…
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,…
We define a SDP framework based on the RLSTD algorithm and multivariate simplex B-splines. We introduce a local forget factor capable of preserving the continuity of the simplex splines. This local forget factor is integrated with the RLSTD…
Memory is a key computational bottleneck when solving large-scale convex optimization problems such as semidefinite programs (SDPs). In this paper, we focus on the regime in which storing an $n\times n$ matrix decision variable is…
In this work, we propose a stochastic gradient descent (SGD) framework to design data-driven policy gradient descent algorithms for the linear quadratic regulator problem. Two alternative schemes are considered to estimate the policy…
The most common approaches for solving multistage stochastic programming problems in the research literature have been to either use value functions ("dynamic programming") or scenario trees ("stochastic programming") to approximate the…
We study the inbound supply mode and inventory management decision making for a company that sells an assortment of products. Stochastic demand for each product arrives periodically and unmet demand is backlogged. Each product has two…
Stochastic parametrisations are used in weather and climate models to improve the representation of unpredictable unresolved processes. When compared to a deterministic model, a stochastic model represents `model uncertainty', i.e., sources…
In this paper, we propose a new approach for stochastic control problems arising from utility maximization. The main idea is to directly start from the dynamical programming equation and compute the conditional expectation using a novel…
We study the joint scheduling of behind-the-meter distributed energy resources (DERs), including flexible loads, renewable generation, and battery energy storage systems, under net energy metering tariffs with demand charges. The problem is…
This article introduces a novel distributionally robust model predictive control (DRMPC) algorithm for a specific class of controlled dynamical systems where the disturbance multiplies the state and control variables. These classes of…
We consider distributionally robust optimization (DRO) problems, reformulated as distributionally robust feasibility (DRF) problems, with multiple expectation constraints. We propose a generic stochastic first-order meta-algorithm, where…
We present an approach for approximately solving discrete-time stochastic optimal-control problems by combining direct trajectory optimization, deterministic sampling, and policy optimization. Our feedback motion-planning algorithm uses a…