Multi-agent Off-policy Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning for Partially Observable Environments

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhaikhan, Ainur, Sayed, Ali H.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Zhaikhan, Ainur
Sayed, Ali H.
author_facet Zhaikhan, Ainur
Sayed, Ali H.
contents This study proposes the use of a social learning method to estimate a global state within a multi-agent off-policy actor-critic algorithm for reinforcement learning (RL) operating in a partially observable environment. We assume that the network of agents operates in a fully-decentralized manner, possessing the capability to exchange variables with their immediate neighbors. The proposed design methodology is supported by an analysis demonstrating that the difference between final outcomes, obtained when the global state is fully observed versus estimated through the social learning method, is $\varepsilon$-bounded when an appropriate number of iterations of social learning updates are implemented. Unlike many existing dec-POMDP-based RL approaches, the proposed algorithm is suitable for model-free multi-agent reinforcement learning as it does not require knowledge of a transition model. Furthermore, experimental results illustrate the efficacy of the algorithm and demonstrate its superiority over the current state-of-the-art methods.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_04974
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Multi-agent Off-policy Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning for Partially Observable Environments
Zhaikhan, Ainur
Sayed, Ali H.
Machine Learning
Multiagent Systems
This study proposes the use of a social learning method to estimate a global state within a multi-agent off-policy actor-critic algorithm for reinforcement learning (RL) operating in a partially observable environment. We assume that the network of agents operates in a fully-decentralized manner, possessing the capability to exchange variables with their immediate neighbors. The proposed design methodology is supported by an analysis demonstrating that the difference between final outcomes, obtained when the global state is fully observed versus estimated through the social learning method, is $\varepsilon$-bounded when an appropriate number of iterations of social learning updates are implemented. Unlike many existing dec-POMDP-based RL approaches, the proposed algorithm is suitable for model-free multi-agent reinforcement learning as it does not require knowledge of a transition model. Furthermore, experimental results illustrate the efficacy of the algorithm and demonstrate its superiority over the current state-of-the-art methods.
title Multi-agent Off-policy Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning for Partially Observable Environments
topic Machine Learning
Multiagent Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.04974