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Q-Learning under Finite Model Uncertainty

Optimization and Control 2026-02-10 v3 Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Probability

Abstract

We propose a robust Q-learning algorithm for Markov decision processes under model uncertainty when each state-action pair is associated with a finite ambiguity set of candidate transition kernels. This finite-measure framework enables highly flexible, user-designed uncertainty models and goes beyond the common KL and Wasserstein ball formulations. We establish almost sure convergence of the learned Q-function to the robust optimum, and derive non-asymptotic high-probability error bounds that separate stochastic approximation error from transition-kernel estimation error. Finally, we show that Wasserstein ball and parametric ambiguity sets can be approximated by finite ambiguity sets, allowing our algorithm to be used as a generic solver beyond the finite setting.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2407.04259,
  title  = {Q-Learning under Finite Model Uncertainty},
  author = {Julian Sester and Cécile Decker},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2407.04259},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T17:29:47.156Z