arXiv:2606. 16729v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: While there is an extensive body of work characterizing the sample complexity of discounted cumulative-reward MDPs, finite sample analyses for average-reward MDPs have been limited, and most existing works rely on restrictive assumptions such as ergodicity or access to a generative model.
By Jongmin Lee, Ernest K. Ryu, Vaneet Aggarwal
We study infinite-horizon average-reward constrained Markov decision processes (CMDPs) under the weakly communicating assumption. Existing high-probability guarantees for this setting either require c...
The paper investigates learning Nash equilibria in partially observable Markov games (POMGs) where agents cannot fully observe the state. By focusing on a subclass with independent state transitions and a Markov potential game structure, the authors propose an independent learning algorithm that allows agents to converge to an approximate Nash equilibrium using only their own observations and actions, without communication. Under a filter stability assumption, finite‑history policies are shown to approximate the POMG sufficiently, enabling a surrogate near‑potential Markov game and yielding quasi‑polynomial sample and computational complexity.
By Philip Jordan, Maryam Kamgarpour
The paper investigates best‑policy identification in finite‑horizon, risk‑sensitive reinforcement learning using the entropic risk measure. It identifies a gap between known lower bounds ≥ η(e^{|eta|H}) and upper bounds ≤ O(e^{2|eta|H}) for sample complexity, attributing the excess factor to loose concentration bounds for exponential utilities. By employing a forward‑model algorithm with KL‑based exploration bonuses and a novel stopping rule, the authors achieve a sample complexity that matches the lower bound, closing the previously open exponential gap.
By Amer Essakine, Claire Vernade
The paper investigates when intrinsic rewards effectively drive exploration in reinforcement learning. It introduces a formal criterion that evaluates policies based on the counterfactual information they acquire, comparing how well their histories can replace experience from alternative policies. Using a simple environment, the authors show that common intrinsic reward objectives—count-based, prediction-error, empowerment, and information-gain—can lead to Pareto-suboptimal exploration under this criterion, and they propose conditions and a new objective that better align with optimal exploration.
By Scott W. Viteri (Stanford University), Laura Gomezjurado Gonzalez (Stanford University), Clark Barrett (Stanford University)
arXiv:2609.39093v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: We study infinite-horizon average-reward constrained Markov decision processes (CMDPs) under the weakly communicating assumption. Existing high-probabi...
By Kihyun Yu, Seoungbin Bae, Dabeen Lee
arXiv:2607. 16858v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Across environments with mixed sources of uncertainty, unsupervised reinforcement learning requires intrinsic motivation that does not precommit to a particular direction of surprise.
By Alireza Furutanpey, Schahram Dustdar
arXiv:2511.08097v2 Announce Type: replace-cross
Abstract: We consider a general infinite horizon Heterogeneous Restless multi-armed Bandit (RMAB). Heterogeneity is a fundamental problem for many real...
By Dheeraj Narasimha, Nicolas Gast
arXiv:2606. 29980v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Zero-shot Transfer in Reinforcement Learning (RL) aims to train an agent that can generate optimal policies for any reward function, without additional learning at transfer time, while training only on reward-free trajectories.
By Louis Bagot (SyCoSMA), Mathieu Lefort (LIRIS, SyCoSMA, IRISA, MALT, UR), La\"etitia Matignon (SyCoSMA)
arXiv:2409. 14557v4 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: We study a structured class of Markov Decision Processes, known as Exo-MDPs, in which the state space is partitioned into exogenous and endogenous components.
By Jia Wan, Sean R. Sinclair, Devavrat Shah, Martin J. Wainwright
arXiv:2608. 10526v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Motivated by decentralized applications, we study cooperative multi-agent bandits in continuous (Lipschitz) action spaces when the Lipschitz constant is unknown.
By Ricardo Parada, Chenzhang Zhao, William Chang
arXiv:2608. 07301v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: We study what can be recovered about the transition probabilities of a Markov decision process from optimal actions alone.
By Neal Batra