The paper introduces Quasar, a model‑free Q‑learning algorithm that guarantees asymptotic convergence for reachability objectives in Markov Decision Processes that are free of non‑terminal maximal end components (MECs). Unlike prior model‑based methods, Quasar does not estimate transition probabilities, reducing memory usage from O(|S|²|A|) to O(|S||A|). Experiments on the Quantitative Verification Benchmark Set show that Quasar converges to optimal policies with far fewer samples than existing state‑of‑the‑art model‑based approaches.
By Lu-Chin Chang, Suguman Bansal
arXiv:2512. 14617v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Many practical decision-making problems involve tasks whose success depends on the entire system history, rather than on achieving a state with desired properties.
By Alessandro Trapasso, Luca Iocchi, Fabio Patrizi
arXiv:2607. 01197v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Quantum computing has emerged as a promising computational paradigm for machine learning (ML), with the potential to offer computational advantages over classical approaches.
By Chuanming Yu, Jiaming Liu, Zihao Ge, Xiongfei Wu, Lulu Zhu, Pengzhan Zhao, Jianjun Zhao
The paper introduces BUMEX, a reinforcement learning exploration strategy that leverages a set of prior models containing the true transition kernel and reward function. By optimizing over this model set, the method derives upper and lower bounds on the Q‑function to guide exploration, providing theoretical guarantees of convergence to the optimal policy. When the model set follows a bounded‑parameter MDP structure, the optimization becomes convex, enabling finite‑time convergence under mild assumptions and demonstrating accelerated learning in simulations.
By J. S. van Hulst, W. P. M. H. Heemels, D. J. Antunes
arXiv:2607. 10694v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: We study the problem of optimal continual fine-tuning for a pre-trained Foundation Model deployed at a resource-limited device.
By Thomas Tsouparopoulos, Iordanis Koutsopoulos
arXiv:2607. 10959v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Standard learning rate schedules such as cosine annealing are tied to a fixed training horizon, limiting their ability to accommodate post hoc horizon extension.
By Jianhao Ma, Yuxin Chen