6,327 research outputs found
Risk-sensitive average optimality in Markov decision processes
summary:In this note attention is focused on finding policies optimizing risk-sensitive optimality criteria in Markov decision chains. To this end we assume that the total reward generated by the Markov process is evaluated by an exponential utility function with a given risk-sensitive coefficient. The ratio of the first two moments depends on the value of the risk-sensitive coefficient; if the risk-sensitive coefficient is equal to zero we speak on risk-neutral models. Observe that the first moment of the generated reward corresponds to the expectation of the total reward and the second central moment of the reward variance. For communicating Markov processes and for some specific classes of unichain processes long run risk-sensitive average reward is independent of the starting state. In this note we present necessary and sufficient condition for existence of optimal policies independent of the starting state in unichain models and characterize the class of average risk-sensitive optimal policies
Continuous-time Markov decision processes under the risk-sensitive average cost criterion
This paper studies continuous-time Markov decision processes under the
risk-sensitive average cost criterion. The state space is a finite set, the
action space is a Borel space, the cost and transition rates are bounded, and
the risk-sensitivity coefficient can take arbitrary positive real numbers.
Under the mild conditions, we develop a new approach to establish the existence
of a solution to the risk-sensitive average cost optimality equation and obtain
the existence of an optimal deterministic stationary policy.Comment: 14 page
Risk Aversion in Finite Markov Decision Processes Using Total Cost Criteria and Average Value at Risk
In this paper we present an algorithm to compute risk averse policies in
Markov Decision Processes (MDP) when the total cost criterion is used together
with the average value at risk (AVaR) metric. Risk averse policies are needed
when large deviations from the expected behavior may have detrimental effects,
and conventional MDP algorithms usually ignore this aspect. We provide
conditions for the structure of the underlying MDP ensuring that approximations
for the exact problem can be derived and solved efficiently. Our findings are
novel inasmuch as average value at risk has not previously been considered in
association with the total cost criterion. Our method is demonstrated in a
rapid deployment scenario, whereby a robot is tasked with the objective of
reaching a target location within a temporal deadline where increased speed is
associated with increased probability of failure. We demonstrate that the
proposed algorithm not only produces a risk averse policy reducing the
probability of exceeding the expected temporal deadline, but also provides the
statistical distribution of costs, thus offering a valuable analysis tool
Budgeted Reinforcement Learning in Continuous State Space
A Budgeted Markov Decision Process (BMDP) is an extension of a Markov
Decision Process to critical applications requiring safety constraints. It
relies on a notion of risk implemented in the shape of a cost signal
constrained to lie below an - adjustable - threshold. So far, BMDPs could only
be solved in the case of finite state spaces with known dynamics. This work
extends the state-of-the-art to continuous spaces environments and unknown
dynamics. We show that the solution to a BMDP is a fixed point of a novel
Budgeted Bellman Optimality operator. This observation allows us to introduce
natural extensions of Deep Reinforcement Learning algorithms to address
large-scale BMDPs. We validate our approach on two simulated applications:
spoken dialogue and autonomous driving.Comment: N. Carrara and E. Leurent have equally contribute
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