Related papers: Oracle Complexity Reduction for Model-free LQR: A …
We study the value of stochastic predictions in online optimal control with random disturbances. Prior work provides performance guarantees based on prediction error but ignores the stochastic dependence between predictions and…
Deep Q-learning algorithms often suffer from poor gradient estimations with an excessive variance, resulting in unstable training and poor sampling efficiency. Stochastic variance-reduced gradient methods such as SVRG have been applied to…
Traditional control theory-based methods require tailored engineering for each system and constant fine-tuning. In power plant control, one often needs to obtain a precise representation of the system dynamics and carefully design the…
Recent literature has made much progress in understanding \emph{online LQR}: a modern learning-theoretic take on the classical control problem in which a learner attempts to optimally control an unknown linear dynamical system with fully…
We study the exploration-exploitation dilemma in the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) setting. Inspired by the extended value iteration algorithm used in optimistic algorithms for finite MDPs, we propose to relax the optimistic optimization…
In this paper we analyze the necessary number of samples to estimate the gradient of any multidimensional smooth (possibly non-convex) function in a zero-order stochastic oracle model. In this model, an estimator has access to noisy values…
A step-search sequential quadratic programming method is proposed for solving nonlinear equality constrained stochastic optimization problems. It is assumed that constraint function values and derivatives are available, but only stochastic…
For various typical cases and situations where the formulation results in an optimal control problem, the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) approach and its variants continue to be highly attractive. In certain scenarios, it can happen that…
We consider policy gradient algorithms for the indefinite least squares stationary optimal control, e.g., linear-quadratic-regulator (LQR) with indefinite state and input penalization matrices. Such a setup has important applications in…
We lower bound the complexity of finding $\epsilon$-stationary points (with gradient norm at most $\epsilon$) using stochastic first-order methods. In a well-studied model where algorithms access smooth, potentially non-convex functions…
Sample inefficiency is a long-lasting problem in reinforcement learning (RL). The state-of-the-art estimates the optimal action values while it usually involves an extensive search over the state-action space and unstable optimization.…
We consider a class of finite time horizon nonlinear stochastic optimal control problem, where the control acts additively on the dynamics and the control cost is quadratic. This framework is flexible and has found applications in many…
This paper studies the robustness of reinforcement learning algorithms to errors in the learning process. Specifically, we revisit the benchmark problem of discrete-time linear quadratic regulation (LQR) and study the long-standing open…
Recursive Marginal Quantization (RMQ) allows fast approximation of solutions to stochastic differential equations in one-dimension. When applied to two factor models, RMQ is inefficient due to the fact that the optimization problem is…
Designing the optimal linear quadratic regulator (LQR) for a large-scale multi-agent system (MAS) is time-consuming since it involves solving a large-size matrix Riccati equation. The situation is further exasperated when the design needs…
We propose a quantum-assisted framework for solving constrained finite-horizon nonlinear optimal control problems using a barrier Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) approach. Within this framework, a quantum subroutine is incorporated…
We study finite-sum nonconvex optimization problems, where the objective function is an average of $n$ nonconvex functions. We propose a new stochastic gradient descent algorithm based on nested variance reduction. Compared with…
Optimizing noisy functions online, when evaluating the objective requires experiments on a deployed system, is a crucial task arising in manufacturing, robotics and many others. Often, constraints on safe inputs are unknown ahead of time,…
We consider the problem of discounted optimal state-feedback regulation for general unknown deterministic discrete-time systems. It is well known that open-loop instability of systems, non-quadratic cost functions and complex nonlinear…
Reinforcement learning (RL) aims to find an optimal policy by interaction with an environment. Consequently, learning complex behavior requires a vast number of samples, which can be prohibitive in practice. Nevertheless, instead of…