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We report a novel, computationally efficient approach for solving hard nonlinear problems of reinforcement learning (RL). Here we combine umbrella sampling, from computational physics/chemistry, with optimal control methods. The approach is…
The paper addresses general constrained and non-linear optimization problems. For some of these notoriously hard problems, there exists a reformulation as an unconstrained, global optimization problem. We illustrate the transformation, and…
Existing methods for nonlinear robust control often use scenario-based approaches to formulate the control problem as nonlinear optimization problems. Increasing the number of scenarios improves robustness, while increasing the size of the…
In these two lectures I review our theoretical understanding of spin glasses paying a particular attention to the basic physical ideas. We introduce the replica method and we describe its probabilistic consequences (we stress the recently…
Coordination is a desirable feature in many multi-agent systems such as robotic and socioeconomic networks. We consider a task allocation problem as a binary networked coordination game over an undirected regular graph. Each agent in the…
A spin glass is a diluted magnetic material in which the magnetic moments are randomly interacting, with a huge number of metastable states which prevent reaching equilibrium. Spin-glass models are conceptually simple, but require very…
The choice of the parameter value for regularized inverse problems is critical to the results and remains a topic of interest. This article explores a criterion for selecting a good parameter value by maximizing the probability of the data,…
We study the spacial and temporal multiscale properties of complex systems. We present accelerated algorithms for dilute spin glasses and display explicitly their relation to the effective dynamics of specific collective degrees of freedom…
We consider the problem of strategic classification, where a learner must build a model to classify agents based on features that have been strategically modified. Previous work in this area has concentrated on the case when the learner is…
This paper provides a non-robust interpretation of the distributionally robust optimization (DRO) problem by relating the distributional uncertainties to the chance probabilities. Our analysis allows a decision-maker to interpret the size…
The assortment problem in revenue management is the problem of deciding which subset of products to offer to consumers in order to maximise revenue. A simple and natural strategy is to select the best assortment out of all those that are…
In this paper we consider multiple constrained resource allocation problems, where the constraints can be specified by formulating activity dependency restrictions or by using game-theoretic models. All the problems are focused on generic…
Research in reinforcement learning has produced algorithms for optimal decision making under uncertainty that fall within two main types. The first employs a Bayesian framework, where optimality improves with increased computational time.…
Motion planning under differential constraints is a classic problem in robotics. To date, the state of the art is represented by sampling-based techniques, with the Rapidly-exploring Random Tree algorithm as a leading example. Yet, the…
We consider reinforcement learning in changing Markov Decision Processes where both the state-transition probabilities and the reward functions may vary over time. For this problem setting, we propose an algorithm using a sliding window…
We consider the problem of globally minimizing the sum of many rational functions over a given compact semialgebraic set. The number of terms can be large (10 to 100), the degree of each term should be small (up to 10), and the number of…
This paper shows how we can combine logical representations of actions and decision theory in such a manner that seems natural for both. In particular we assume an axiomatization of the domain in terms of situation calculus, using what is…
Robust optimization(RO) is an important tool for handling optimization problem with uncertainty. The main objective of RO is to solve optimization problems due to uncertainty associated with constraints satisfying all realizations of…
Strategic Decision-Making is always challenging because it is inherently uncertain, ambiguous, risky, and complex. It is the art of possibility. We develop a systematic taxonomy of decision-making frames that consists of 6 bases, 18…
In this article we introduce the use of recently developed min/max-plus techniques in order to solve the optimal attitude estimation problem in filtering for nonlinear systems on the special orthogonal (SO(3)) group. This work helps obtain…