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Related papers: On the Convergence of Min-Max Langevin Dynamics an…

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Mean-field Langevin dynamics (MFLD) minimizes an entropy-regularized nonlinear convex functional defined over the space of probability distributions. MFLD has gained attention due to its connection with noisy gradient descent for mean-field…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-10-31 Atsushi Nitanda

Mean field games formalize dynamic games with a continuum of players and explicit interaction where the players can have heterogeneous states. As they additionally yield approximate equilibria of corresponding $N$-player games, they are of…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2020-01-09 Berenice Anne Neumann

This paper studies a type of rank-based mean field game in which competing agents strategically switch among multiple effort regimes. We propose an entropy regularized auxiliary problem where the switching decisions are randomized to the…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2026-05-29 Zongxia Liang , Shu Wang , Xiang Yu

We study the convergence to equilibrium of an underdamped Langevin equation that is controlled by a linear feedback force. Specifically, we are interested in sampling the possibly multimodal invariant probability distribution of a Langevin…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-01-12 Tobias Breiten , Carsten Hartmann , Lara Neureither , Upanshu Sharma

We tackle the problem of learning equilibria in simulation-based games. In such games, the players' utility functions cannot be described analytically, as they are given through a black-box simulator that can be queried to obtain noisy…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2020-02-26 Alberto Marchesi , Francesco Trovò , Nicola Gatti

This paper presents new families of algorithms for the repeated play of two-agent (near) zero-sum games and two-agent zero-sum stochastic games. For example, the family includes fictitious play and its variants as members. Commonly, the…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2023-11-03 Yuksel Arslantas , Ege Yuceel , Yigit Yalin , Muhammed O. Sayin

Langevin MCMC gradient optimization is a class of increasingly popular methods for estimating a posterior distribution. This paper addresses the algorithm as applied in a decentralized setting, wherein data is distributed across a network…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2020-09-22 Vyacheslav Kungurtsev

We consider the problem of computing mixed Nash equilibria of two-player zero-sum games with continuous sets of pure strategies and with first-order access to the payoff function. This problem arises for example in game-theory-inspired…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-09-04 Guillaume Wang , Lénaïc Chizat

We contribute the first provable guarantees of global convergence to Nash equilibria (NE) in two-player zero-sum convex Markov games (cMGs) by using independent policy gradient methods. Convex Markov games, recently defined by Gemp et al.…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2025-06-23 Fivos Kalogiannis , Emmanouil-Vasileios Vlatakis-Gkaragkounis , Ian Gemp , Georgios Piliouras

We study the mean field Langevin dynamics and the associated particle system. By assuming the functional convexity of the energy, we obtain the $L^p$-convergence of the marginal distributions towards the unique invariant measure for the…

Probability · Mathematics 2025-11-06 Fan Chen , Zhenjie Ren , Songbo Wang

We introduce a zero-sum game problem of mean-field type as an extension of the classical zero-sum Dynkin game problem to the case where the payoff processes might depend on the value of the game and its probability law. We establish…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-05-06 Boualem Djehiche , Roxana Dumitrescu

We address payoff-based decentralized learning in infinite-horizon zero-sum Markov games. In this setting, each player makes decisions based solely on received rewards, without observing the opponent's strategy or actions nor sharing…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2025-02-11 Reda Ouhamma , Maryam Kamgarpour

Recently, the paper [12] introduces a derivative-free consensus-based particle method that finds the Nash equilibrium of non-convex multiplayer games, where it proves the global exponential convergence in the sense of mean-field law. This…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-05-21 Hui Huang , Jethro Warnett

Sampling from discrete distributions is a ubiquitous task in machine learning, recently revisited by the emergence of discrete diffusion models. While Langevin algorithms constitute the state of the art for continuous spaces, discrete…

Statistics Theory · Mathematics 2026-02-18 Armand Gissler , Saeed Saremi , Francis Bach

We propose a zero-order optimization method for sequential min-max problems based on two populations of interacting particles. The systems are coupled so that one population aims to solve the inner maximization problem, while the other aims…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2024-07-25 Giacomo Borghi , Hui Huang , Jinniao Qiu

Probably one of the most striking examples of the close connections between global optimization processes and statistical physics is the simulated annealing method, inspired by the famous Monte Carlo algorithm devised by Metropolis et al.…

Numerical Analysis · Mathematics 2024-01-12 Lorenzo Pareschi

We introduce a new approach for computing optimal equilibria via learning in games. It applies to extensive-form settings with any number of players, including mechanism design, information design, and solution concepts such as correlated,…

Min-max saddle point games appear in a wide range of applications in machine leaning and signal processing. Despite their wide applicability, theoretical studies are mostly limited to the special convex-concave structure. While some recent…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2020-03-19 Babak Barazandeh , Meisam Razaviyayn

Many recent AI architectures are inspired by zero-sum games, however, the behavior of their dynamics is still not well understood. Inspired by this, we study standard gradient descent ascent (GDA) dynamics in a specific class of non-convex…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-01-14 Lampros Flokas , Emmanouil-Vasileios Vlatakis-Gkaragkounis , Georgios Piliouras

We develop provably efficient reinforcement learning algorithms for two-player zero-sum finite-horizon Markov games with simultaneous moves. To incorporate function approximation, we consider a family of Markov games where the reward…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-06-25 Qiaomin Xie , Yudong Chen , Zhaoran Wang , Zhuoran Yang