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arXiv · 1206.4613

Near-Optimal BRL using Optimistic Local Transitions

Mauricio Araya·Olivier Buffet·Vincent Thomas
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Abstract

Model-based Bayesian Reinforcement Learning (BRL) allows a found formalization of the problem of acting optimally while facing an unknown environment, i.e., avoiding the exploration-exploitation dilemma. However, algorithms explicitly addressing BRL suffer from such a combinatorial explosion that a large body of work relies on heuristic algorithms. This paper introduces BOLT, a simple and (almost) deterministic heuristic algorithm for BRL which is optimistic about the transition function. We analyze BOLT's sample complexity, and show that under certain parameters, the algorithm is near-optimal in the Bayesian sense with high probability. Then, experimental results highlight the key differences of this method compared to previous work.

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Mauricio Araya, Olivier Buffet, Vincent Thomas. 2012-06-18. Near-Optimal BRL using Optimistic Local Transitions. https://arxiv.org/abs/1206.4613

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