arXiv Machine Learning By Martin Hernandez, Xinyan Qing, Mo Zhou, Yuhua Zhu

Continuous-Time Policy Gradient from Discrete Data: Convergence Analysis and Model-Free Algorithms

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The paper introduces a continuous‑time policy gradient framework that works with discrete observation data. It derives performance difference lemmas and policy gradient formulas for randomized and parametrized policies, proving exponential convergence for an entropy‑regularized policy flow and providing explicit convergence bounds for discrete updates. By integrating with PhiBE, the authors create model‑free actor‑critic algorithms that maintain the continuous‑time structure, and demonstrate their effectiveness on both linear‑quadratic and nonlinear robotic control tasks.

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