Near-Optimal Policy Identification in Robust Constrained Markov Decision Processes via Epigraph Form

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Kitamura, Toshinori, Kozuno, Tadashi, Kumagai, Wataru, Hoshino, Kenta, Hosoe, Yohei, Kasaura, Kazumi, Hamaya, Masashi, Parmas, Paavo, Matsuo, Yutaka
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Kitamura, Toshinori
Kozuno, Tadashi
Kumagai, Wataru
Hoshino, Kenta
Hosoe, Yohei
Kasaura, Kazumi
Hamaya, Masashi
Parmas, Paavo
Matsuo, Yutaka
author_facet Kitamura, Toshinori
Kozuno, Tadashi
Kumagai, Wataru
Hoshino, Kenta
Hosoe, Yohei
Kasaura, Kazumi
Hamaya, Masashi
Parmas, Paavo
Matsuo, Yutaka
contents Designing a safe policy for uncertain environments is crucial in real-world control systems. However, this challenge remains inadequately addressed within the Markov decision process (MDP) framework. This paper presents the first algorithm guaranteed to identify a near-optimal policy in a robust constrained MDP (RCMDP), where an optimal policy minimizes cumulative cost while satisfying constraints in the worst-case scenario across a set of environments. We first prove that the conventional policy gradient approach to the Lagrangian max-min formulation can become trapped in suboptimal solutions. This occurs when its inner minimization encounters a sum of conflicting gradients from the objective and constraint functions. To address this, we leverage the epigraph form of the RCMDP problem, which resolves the conflict by selecting a single gradient from either the objective or the constraints. Building on the epigraph form, we propose a bisection search algorithm with a policy gradient subroutine and prove that it identifies an $\varepsilon$-optimal policy in an RCMDP with $\tilde{\mathcal{O}}(\varepsilon^{-4})$ robust policy evaluations.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_16286
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Near-Optimal Policy Identification in Robust Constrained Markov Decision Processes via Epigraph Form
Kitamura, Toshinori
Kozuno, Tadashi
Kumagai, Wataru
Hoshino, Kenta
Hosoe, Yohei
Kasaura, Kazumi
Hamaya, Masashi
Parmas, Paavo
Matsuo, Yutaka
Machine Learning
Optimization and Control
Designing a safe policy for uncertain environments is crucial in real-world control systems. However, this challenge remains inadequately addressed within the Markov decision process (MDP) framework. This paper presents the first algorithm guaranteed to identify a near-optimal policy in a robust constrained MDP (RCMDP), where an optimal policy minimizes cumulative cost while satisfying constraints in the worst-case scenario across a set of environments. We first prove that the conventional policy gradient approach to the Lagrangian max-min formulation can become trapped in suboptimal solutions. This occurs when its inner minimization encounters a sum of conflicting gradients from the objective and constraint functions. To address this, we leverage the epigraph form of the RCMDP problem, which resolves the conflict by selecting a single gradient from either the objective or the constraints. Building on the epigraph form, we propose a bisection search algorithm with a policy gradient subroutine and prove that it identifies an $\varepsilon$-optimal policy in an RCMDP with $\tilde{\mathcal{O}}(\varepsilon^{-4})$ robust policy evaluations.
title Near-Optimal Policy Identification in Robust Constrained Markov Decision Processes via Epigraph Form
topic Machine Learning
Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.16286