Related papers: Positive Dynamic Programming: A Critique
We propose a new method for optimistic planning in infinite-horizon discounted Markov decision processes based on the idea of adding regularization to the updates of an otherwise standard approximate value iteration procedure. This…
This paper proposes a general incremental policy iteration adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) algorithm for model-free robust optimal control of unknown nonlinear systems. The approach integrates recursive least squares estimation with…
In this article, we discuss two algorithms tailored to discrete-time deterministic finite-horizon nonlinear optimal control problems or so-called deterministic trajectory optimization problems. Both algorithms can be derived from an…
In this paper, we consider a discrete-time Markov Decision Process (MDP) on a finite state-action space with a long-run risk-sensitive criterion used as the objective function. We discuss the concept of Blackwell optimality and comment on…
In recent years, considerable work has been done to tackle the issue of designing control laws based on observations to allow unknown dynamical systems to perform pre-specified tasks. At least as important for autonomy, however, is the…
We consider the problem of tracking a target whose dynamics is modeled by a continuous It\=o semi-martingale. The aim is to minimize both deviation from the target and tracking efforts. We establish the existence of asymptotic lower bounds…
In this paper, near optimal tracking of a class of nonlinear systems is addressed. Adaptive (approximate) dynamic programming approach is used to calculate the optimal control in closed form. ADP (Adaptive (approximate) dynamic programming)…
Dynamic decisions are pivotal to economic policy making. We show how existing evidence from randomized control trials can be utilized to guide personalized decisions in challenging dynamic environments with budget and capacity constraints.…
There is growing interest in termination reasoning for non-linear programs and, meanwhile, recent dynamic strategies have shown they are able to infer invariants for such challenging programs. These advances led us to hypothesize that…
We revisit Blackwell's celebrated approachability problem which considers a repeated vector-valued game between a player and an adversary. Motivated by settings in which the action set of the player or adversary (or both) is difficult to…
In large language model (LLM)-based recommendation systems, direct preference optimization (DPO) effectively aligns recommendations with user preferences, requiring multi-negative objective functions to leverage abundant implicit-feedback…
Though switched dynamical systems have shown great utility in modeling a variety of physical phenomena, the construction of an optimal control of such systems has proven difficult since it demands some type of optimal mode scheduling. In…
Dual control denotes a class of control problems where the parameters governing the system are imperfectly known. The challenge is to find the optimal balance between probing, i.e. exciting the system to understand it more, and caution,…
We consider reinforcement learning (RL) in episodic MDPs with adversarial full-information reward feedback and unknown fixed transition kernels. We propose two model-free policy optimization algorithms, POWER and POWER++, and establish…
We present a method for constructing the log-optimal portfolio using the well-calibrated forecasts of market values. Dawid's notion of calibration and the Blackwell approachability theorem are used for computing well-calibrated forecasts.…
The mathematical modeling of numerous real-world applications results in hierarchical optimization problems with two decision makers where at least one of them has to solve an optimal control problem of ordinary or partial differential…
This paper introduces a novel Differential Dynamic Programming (DDP) algorithm for solving discrete-time finite-horizon optimal control problems with inequality constraints. Two variants, namely Feasible- and Infeasible-IPDDP algorithms,…
We consider a class of optimization problems that involve determining the maximum value that a function in a particular class can attain subject to a collection of difference constraints. We show that a particular linear programming…
We study the incremental knapsack problem, where one wishes to sequentially pack items into a knapsack whose capacity expands over a finite planning horizon, with the objective of maximizing time-averaged profits. While various…
Classical adaptive control proves total-system stability for control of linear plants, but only for plants meeting very restrictive assumptions. Approximate Dynamic Programming (ADP) has the potential, in principle, to ensure stability…