arXiv Machine Learning

Preference-Guided Cooperation in Multi-Objective Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

The paper introduces Meta-Gradient Informed Multi-Objective Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MIRL), a framework that leverages the structure of multiple objectives to enhance cooperation among agents. By formulating MOMARL at both team and individual levels and using objective-wise counterfactual credit assignment, MIRL allows agents to learn how to prioritize objectives individually while jointly optimizing a system-level objective. Experiments on a multi-objective particle environment demonstrate that MIRL, especially its dynamic variant, improves Pareto-front quality compared to baseline methods.

arXiv AI
Jun 9

Counterfactual Credit Policy Optimization for Multi-Agent Collaboration

arXiv:2603. 21563v4 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Collaborative multi-agent large language models (LLMs) can solve complex reasoning tasks by decomposing roles, but reinforcement learning for such systems is limited by credit assignment: shared terminal rewards obscure individual contributions and can encourage free-riding.

By Zhongyi Li, Wan Tian, Yikun Ban, Jinju Chen, Huiming Zhang, Yang Liu, Fuzhen Zhuang
arXiv AI
Jun 2

Coordination Graphs for Constrained Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

arXiv:2606. 02337v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Constrained Multi-agent reinforcement learning (CMARL) faces two intertwined challenges: the joint action space grows exponentially with the number of agents, and additional requirements couple agents in ways that reward structure alone does not capture.

By Santiago Amaya-Corredor, Miguel Calvo-Fullana, Anders Jonsson
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 24

Optimization without Future Compromises? Decentralized Coordination via Collective and Reinforcement Learning

The paper introduces Hierarchical Reinforcement and Collective Learning (HRCL), a framework that combines multi‑agent reinforcement learning (MARL) with decentralized coordination. HRCL uses MARL at a high level to generate strategic guidance that limits the decision space for low‑level agents, enabling efficient short‑term coordination while considering long‑term effects. Experiments on synthetic, energy‑management, and drone‑swarm scenarios demonstrate faster convergence and significant reductions in system‑wide and individual costs compared to standalone MARL.

By Chuhao Qin, Evangelos Pournaras
arXiv Machine Learning
4d ago

Events as Triggers for Behavioral Diversity in Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

The paper introduces a new multi‑agent reinforcement learning framework that separates agent identity from behavior by using events to trigger behavioral changes. It proposes Neural Manifold Diversity (NMD) to create a continuous behavior manifold and an event‑based hypernetwork that generates Low‑Rank Adaptation (LoRA) modules for on‑the‑fly policy reconfiguration. The authors prove that this design preserves reward maximization and show empirically that it outperforms baselines, generalizes zero‑shot, and uniquely solves tasks requiring sequential behavior reassignment.

By Hannes B\"uchi, Manon Flageat, Eduardo Sebasti\'an, Amanda Prorok
arXiv AI
Sep 21

Collab-Solver: Collaborative Solving Policy Learning for Mixed-Integer Linear Programming

Collab‑Solver introduces a multi‑agent policy learning framework for mixed‑integer linear programming (MILP) that enables collaborative optimization of multiple solver modules. By modeling the interaction between cut selection and branching as a Stackelberg game, the approach employs a two‑phase learning paradigm—data‑communicated policy pretraining followed by coordinated policy refinement. Experiments on synthetic and large‑scale real‑world MILP datasets show that the jointly learned policies markedly improve solving performance and generalize well across diverse instance sets.

By Siyuan Li, Yifan Yu, Zhihao Zhang, Mengjing Chen, Fangzhou Zhu, Tao Zhong, Peng Liu, Jianye Hao
arXiv AI
Oct 28

WCC: A Learning-Based Framework for Deciding When to Apply Cooperative Coevolution in Large-Scale Optimization

WCC is a learning‑based framework that decides dynamically when to apply Cooperative Coevolution (CC) versus Non‑Decomposition Algorithms (NDAs) in large‑scale global optimization. It models this decision as a Markov decision process, using a tailored feature set, reward scheme, and network architecture to enable fine‑grained, adaptive switching and conditional budget allocation without expert input. Experiments show WCC competes strongly and generalizes across problems, horizons, and baseline optimizers, supporting a low‑budget "train‑once and reuse" approach while providing new practical insights into CC deployment.

By Wenjie Qiu, Hepei Li, Jianfeng Wang, Jun Zhang, Yue-Jiao Gong