Related papers: An Alternating Approach to Approximate Dynamic Pro…

In this paper, we consider a class of continuous-time, continuous-space stochastic optimal control problems. Building upon recent advances in Markov chain approximation methods and sampling-based algorithms for deterministic path planning,…

This work considers the sample complexity of obtaining an $\varepsilon$-optimal policy in an average reward Markov Decision Process (AMDP), given access to a generative model (simulator). When the ground-truth MDP is weakly communicating,…

This paper studies the problem of Anytime-Competitive Markov Decision Process (A-CMDP). Existing works on Constrained Markov Decision Processes (CMDPs) aim to optimize the expected reward while constraining the expected cost over random…

This paper introduces a novel approach to solving multi-block nonconvex composite optimization problems through a proximal linearized Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM). This method incorporates an Increasing Penalization…

We introduce a QPLEX Decision Process (QDP) as a model for dynamic control of queueing systems with non-stationary arrivals, general service distributions, and service-level chance constraints. QDPs integrate QPLEX, a computational modeling…

A popular approach to solving a decision process with non-Markovian rewards (NMRDP) is to exploit a compact representation of the reward function to automatically translate the NMRDP into an equivalent Markov decision process (MDP) amenable…

Learning and optimal control under robust Markov decision processes (MDPs) have received increasing attention, yet most existing theory, algorithms, and applications focus on finite-horizon or discounted models. Long-run average-reward…

In the aftermath of an extreme natural hazard, community residents must have access to functioning food retailers to maintain food security. Food security is dependent on supporting critical infrastructure systems, including electricity,…

Computing optimal conditional reachability probabilities in Markov decision processes (MDPs) is tractable by a reduction to reachability probabilities. Yet, this reduction yields cyclic, challenging MDPs that are often notoriously hard to…

In this paper, we develop approximate dynamic programming methods for stochastic systems modeled as Markov Decision Processes, given both soft performance criteria and hard constraints in a class of probabilistic temporal logic called…

Because failures in distribution systems caused by extreme weather events directly result in consumers' outages, this paper proposes a state-based decision-making model with the objective of mitigating loss of load to improve the…

The recent success in using human preferences to align large language models (LLMs) has significantly improved their performance in various downstream tasks, such as question answering, mathematical reasoning, and code generation. However,…

This paper develops a dynamic programming (DP) approach for decentralized stochastic optimal control problems with delayed sharing information patterns, which exhibits the fundamental Properties of classical DP of centralized partially…

We introduce distributional dynamic programming (DP) methods for optimizing statistical functionals of the return distribution, with standard reinforcement learning as a special case. Previous distributional DP methods could optimize the…

In this paper we propose a corrected semi-proximal ADMM (alternating direction method of multipliers) for the general $p$-block $(p\!\ge 3)$ convex optimization problems with linear constraints, aiming to resolve the dilemma that almost all…

Previous work on planning as active inference addresses finite horizon problems and solutions valid for online planning. We propose solving the general Stochastic Shortest-Path Markov Decision Process (SSP MDP) as probabilistic inference.…

The goal of a traditional Markov decision process (MDP) is to maximize expected cumulative reward over a defined horizon (possibly infinite). In many applications, however, a decision maker may be interested in optimizing a specific…

We extend a primal-dual fixed point algorithm (PDFP) proposed in [5] to solve two kinds of separable multi-block minimization problems, arising in signal processing and imaging science. This work shows the flexibility of applying PDFP…

In recent years, quantitative investment methods combined with artificial intelligence have attracted more and more attention from investors and researchers. Existing related methods based on the supervised learning are not very suitable…

Markov decision processes (MDPs) with rewards are a widespread and well-studied model for systems that make both probabilistic and nondeterministic choices. A fundamental result about MDPs is that their minimal and maximal expected rewards…