Quantile Markov Decision Process

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Li, Xiaocheng, Zhong, Huaiyang, Brandeau, Margaret L.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2017
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author Li, Xiaocheng
Zhong, Huaiyang
Brandeau, Margaret L.
author_facet Li, Xiaocheng
Zhong, Huaiyang
Brandeau, Margaret L.
contents The goal of a traditional Markov decision process (MDP) is to maximize expected cumulative reward over a defined horizon (possibly infinite). In many applications, however, a decision maker may be interested in optimizing a specific quantile of the cumulative reward instead of its expectation. In this paper we consider the problem of optimizing the quantiles of the cumulative rewards of a Markov decision process (MDP), which we refer to as a quantile Markov decision process (QMDP). We provide analytical results characterizing the optimal QMDP value function and present a dynamic programming-based algorithm to solve for the optimal policy. The algorithm also extends to the MDP problem with a conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) objective. We illustrate the practical relevance of our model by evaluating it on an HIV treatment initiation problem, where patients aim to balance the potential benefits and risks of the treatment.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_1711_05788
institution arXiv
publishDate 2017
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Quantile Markov Decision Process
Li, Xiaocheng
Zhong, Huaiyang
Brandeau, Margaret L.
Artificial Intelligence
The goal of a traditional Markov decision process (MDP) is to maximize expected cumulative reward over a defined horizon (possibly infinite). In many applications, however, a decision maker may be interested in optimizing a specific quantile of the cumulative reward instead of its expectation. In this paper we consider the problem of optimizing the quantiles of the cumulative rewards of a Markov decision process (MDP), which we refer to as a quantile Markov decision process (QMDP). We provide analytical results characterizing the optimal QMDP value function and present a dynamic programming-based algorithm to solve for the optimal policy. The algorithm also extends to the MDP problem with a conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) objective. We illustrate the practical relevance of our model by evaluating it on an HIV treatment initiation problem, where patients aim to balance the potential benefits and risks of the treatment.
title Quantile Markov Decision Process
topic Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.05788