Related papers: Constrained Reinforcement Learning for Short Video…
We introduce and study constrained Markov Decision Processes (cMDPs) with anytime constraints. An anytime constraint requires the agent to never violate its budget at any point in time, almost surely. Although Markovian policies are no…
Cross-domain Recommendation systems leverage multi-domain user interactions to improve performance, especially in sparse data or new user scenarios. However, CDR faces challenges such as effectively capturing user preferences and avoiding…
We consider large-scale Markov decision processes (MDPs) with parameter uncertainty, under the robust MDP paradigm. Previous studies showed that robust MDPs, based on a minimax approach to handle uncertainty, can be solved using dynamic…
Real-world sequential decision making problems commonly involve partial observability, which requires the agent to maintain a memory of history in order to infer the latent states, plan and make good decisions. Coping with partial…
In many sequential decision-making problems, the goal is to optimize a utility function while satisfying a set of constraints on different utilities. This learning problem is formalized through Constrained Markov Decision Processes (CMDPs).…
In supervised learning, we fit a single statistical model to a given data set, assuming that the data is associated with a singular task, which yields well-tuned models for specific use, but does not adapt well to new contexts. By contrast,…
Reinforcement learning in non-stationary environments is challenging due to abrupt and unpredictable changes in dynamics, often causing traditional algorithms to fail to converge. However, in many real-world cases, non-stationarity has some…
We introduce a new framework of episodic tabular Markov decision processes (MDPs) with adversarial preferences, which we refer to as preference-based MDPs (PbMDPs). Unlike standard episodic MDPs with adversarial losses, where the numerical…
In this paper, we deal with the problem of jointly determining the optimal coding strategy and the scheduling decisions when receivers obtain layered data from multiple servers. The layered data is encoded by means of Prioritized Random…
We propose a general framework for entropy-regularized average-reward reinforcement learning in Markov decision processes (MDPs). Our approach is based on extending the linear-programming formulation of policy optimization in MDPs to…
We propose and study a general framework for regularized Markov decision processes (MDPs) where the goal is to find an optimal policy that maximizes the expected discounted total reward plus a policy regularization term. The extant…
Emerging short-video platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and ShareChat present unique challenges for recommender systems, primarily originating from a continuous stream of new content. ShareChat alone receives approximately 2 million…
We study reinforcement learning problems where state observations are stochastically triggered by actions, a constraint common in many real-world applications. This framework is formulated as Action-Triggered Sporadically Traceable Markov…
In our previous work, we proposed a systematic cross-layer framework for dynamic multimedia systems, which allows each layer to make autonomous and foresighted decisions that maximize the system's long-term performance, while meeting the…
We consider the problem of learning an unknown Markov Decision Process (MDP) that is weakly communicating in the infinite horizon setting. We propose a Thompson Sampling-based reinforcement learning algorithm with dynamic episodes (TSDE).…
We study a class of sequential decision-making problems with augmented predictions, potentially provided by a machine learning algorithm. In this setting, the decision-maker receives prediction intervals for unknown parameters that become…
We study minimax optimal reinforcement learning in episodic factored Markov decision processes (FMDPs), which are MDPs with conditionally independent transition components. Assuming the factorization is known, we propose two model-based…
Recently, short video platforms have achieved rapid user growth by recommending interesting content to users. The objective of the recommendation is to optimize user retention, thereby driving the growth of DAU (Daily Active Users).…
We consider online learning for episodic stochastically constrained Markov decision processes (CMDPs), which plays a central role in ensuring the safety of reinforcement learning. Here the loss function can vary arbitrarily across the…
Reinforcement learning is widely used in applications where one needs to perform sequential decisions while interacting with the environment. The problem becomes more challenging when the decision requirement includes satisfying some safety…