arXiv:2404.06023v3 Announce Type: replace-cross
Abstract: Motivated by Q-learning, we study nonsmooth contractive stochastic approximation (SA) with constant stepsize. We focus on two important class...
By Yixuan Zhang, Dongyan Huo, Yudong Chen, Qiaomin Xie
arXiv:2607. 01525v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: This monograph provides an introduction to mean field reinforcement learning through the lens of Markov decision processes arising from large-population stochastic control with mean field interactions and common noise.
By Ren\'e Carmona, Mathieu Lauri\`ere
arXiv:2510. 01721v3 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Distributionally robust reinforcement learning (DRRL) seeks policies that perform well when the deployment transition model differs from the nominal model generating the data.
By Saptarshi Mandal, Yashaswini Murthy, R. Srikant
arXiv:2407. 04521v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: This paper studies the continuous-time q-learning in mean-field jump-diffusion models in a setting where the environment simulator does not provide direct access to the population distribution.
By Xiaoli Wei, Xiang Yu, Fengyi Yuan
arXiv:2506. 07040v4 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: We study model-free methods for distributionally robust infinite-horizon average-reward Markov decision processes (MDPs).
By Yang Xu, Swetha Ganesh, Vaneet Aggarwal
The paper introduces Robust Fed-Q, a federated Q‑learning algorithm designed for settings where multiple agents interact with a shared Markov Decision Process and communicate through a central server. It combines model‑based and model‑free reinforcement learning techniques with a median‑of‑means strategy from robust statistics to handle a small fraction of adversarial agents. The authors prove that Robust Fed-Q achieves exact convergence to the optimal value function with high probability, attains near‑optimal finite‑time rates that benefit from collaboration, and requires only “~O(1)” communication rounds per guarantee.
By Sreejeet Maity, Aritra Mitra
The paper investigates model‑free robust Q‑learning with χ² uncertainty sets and linear function approximation, using data from a single trajectory of an unknown nominal MDP. It introduces a variational reformulation of the robust Bellman target and a blockwise frozen‑target scheme to overcome estimation and non‑contractivity challenges, and proves a finite‑time error bound for every discount factor γ in (0,1). A neural‑network experiment demonstrates the practical use of the variational target in a continuous‑state nonlinear‑control task.
By Saptarshi Mandal, Yashaswini Murthy, R. Srikant
arXiv:2602. 20403v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: We study distributionally robust online learning, where a risk-averse learner updates decisions sequentially to guard against worst-case distributions drawn from a Wasserstein ambiguity set centered at past observations.
By Guixian Chen, Salar Fattahi, Soroosh Shafiee
arXiv:2609.14922v1 Announce Type: cross
Abstract: For constant-stepsize stochastic approximation (SA), the iterates converge in distribution to a stationary law that depends on the stepsize $\alpha.$...
By Yixuan Zhang, Qiaomin Xie
arXiv:2607. 11005v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: This paper develops a model-free reinforcement learning framework for continuous--time extended mean field control problems, where both the dynamics and reward may depend on the joint distribution of states and controls.
By Ziheng Cheng, Xin Guo, Huy\^en Pham, Yufei Zhang
arXiv:2511. 21466v3 Announce Type: replace Abstract: We study Consensus-Based Optimization (CBO) for two-layer neural network training.
By William De Deyn, Michael Herty, Giovanni Samaey
This paper addresses model-free continuous-time mean-field control in a setting where the population dynamics evolve continuously according to an unknown McKean-Vlasov stochastic differential equation, while only discrete-time transition data are available. In the model-based formulation, policy evaluation is naturally described by a stationary Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation on $\mathcal P_2(\mathbb R^d)$, but this equation involves the drift and diffusion coefficients of the controlled McKean-Vlasov dynamics, which are not identifiable when only discrete-time data are available.