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Main Authors: Bai, Wensong, Zhang, Chao, Fu, Yichao, Zhao, Peilin, Qian, Hui, Dai, Bin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.06637
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author Bai, Wensong
Zhang, Chao
Fu, Yichao
Zhao, Peilin
Qian, Hui
Dai, Bin
author_facet Bai, Wensong
Zhang, Chao
Fu, Yichao
Zhao, Peilin
Qian, Hui
Dai, Bin
contents In this paper, we propose the first fully push-forward-based distributional reinforcement learning algorithm, named PACER, which consists of a distributional critic, a stochastic actor and a sample-based encourager. Specifically, the push-forward operator is leveraged in both the critic and actor to model the return distributions and stochastic policies respectively, enabling them with equal modeling capability and thus enhancing the synergetic performance. Since it is infeasible to obtain the density function of the push-forward policies, novel sample-based regularizers are integrated in the encourager to incentivize efficient exploration and alleviate the risk of trapping into local optima. Moreover, a sample-based stochastic utility value policy gradient is established for the push-forward policy update, which circumvents the explicit demand of the policy density function in existing REINFORCE-based stochastic policy gradient. As a result, PACER fully utilizes the modeling capability of the push-forward operator and is able to explore a broader class of the policy space, compared with limited policy classes used in existing distributional actor critic algorithms (i.e. Gaussians). We validate the critical role of each component in our algorithm with extensive empirical studies. Experimental results demonstrate the superiority of our algorithm over the state-of-the-art.
format Preprint
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publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle PACER: A Fully Push-forward-based Distributional Reinforcement Learning Algorithm
Bai, Wensong
Zhang, Chao
Fu, Yichao
Zhao, Peilin
Qian, Hui
Dai, Bin
Machine Learning
In this paper, we propose the first fully push-forward-based distributional reinforcement learning algorithm, named PACER, which consists of a distributional critic, a stochastic actor and a sample-based encourager. Specifically, the push-forward operator is leveraged in both the critic and actor to model the return distributions and stochastic policies respectively, enabling them with equal modeling capability and thus enhancing the synergetic performance. Since it is infeasible to obtain the density function of the push-forward policies, novel sample-based regularizers are integrated in the encourager to incentivize efficient exploration and alleviate the risk of trapping into local optima. Moreover, a sample-based stochastic utility value policy gradient is established for the push-forward policy update, which circumvents the explicit demand of the policy density function in existing REINFORCE-based stochastic policy gradient. As a result, PACER fully utilizes the modeling capability of the push-forward operator and is able to explore a broader class of the policy space, compared with limited policy classes used in existing distributional actor critic algorithms (i.e. Gaussians). We validate the critical role of each component in our algorithm with extensive empirical studies. Experimental results demonstrate the superiority of our algorithm over the state-of-the-art.
title PACER: A Fully Push-forward-based Distributional Reinforcement Learning Algorithm
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.06637