Study nonparametric estimator for Markov chain transition matrices in offline setting.
problem Estimating transition matrices of finite controlled Markov chains from logged data.
method Developed sample complexity bounds and conditions for minimaxity.
result Achieving certain statistical risk requires balancing mixing properties and sample size.
Optimizes control of hybrid systems with multiple switching processes.
problem Optimal control of hybrid systems with multiple Markov switching processes.
method Combines two separate Markov chains into one synthetic chain, derives HJB equations, and solves the portfolio choice problem.
result Derives explicit solutions and value functions for the optimal control problem.
Develops CLTs for Markov chain transition probabilities and policies.
problem Estimating transition probabilities and policies in controlled Markov chains.
method Non-parametric estimator for transition matrices; CLTs for value, Q-, and advantage functions; goodness-of-fit tests.
result Asymptotic normality of estimators under specific logging policies.
The paper provides concentration inequalities for Markov chain variance estimators.
problem Estimating the variance of Markov chains with concentration properties.
method Martingale decomposition method for uniformly geometrically ergodic Markov chains.
result Explicit control of the p-th moment of the OBM estimator difference and dependence on p and mixing time.
Optimizes MCMC chains with neural control variates.
problem Reducing variance in Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations.
method Uses neural networks as control variates to minimize asymptotic variance.
result Derives optimal convergence rate under various ergodicity assumptions.
Bootstrap method for Markov chains in reinforcement learning.
problem Distributional consistency in finite controlled Markov chains with unknown control policies.
method Model-based bootstrap with novel LLN and CLT for visitation counts and transition increments.
result Asymptotically valid confidence intervals for value and Q-functions in offline RL. This paper develops numerical methods for finding optimal dividend pay-out and reinsurance policies. A generalized singular control formulation of surplus and discounted payoff function are introduced, where the surplus is modeled by a regime-switching process subject to both regular and singular controls. To approxima…
Algorithm learns mixtures of Markov chains and MDPs from short trajectories.
problem Learning mixtures of Markov chains and MDPs from short unlabeled trajectories.
method Subspace estimation, spectral clustering, EM algorithm, model estimation, classification.
result 96.6% average accuracy on a mixture of two MDPs in gridworld, outperforming EM algorithm with random initialization.
The paper studies how quickly samples from Langevin dynamics become independent.
problem Understanding the dependence between samples along Langevin dynamics and related algorithms.
method Measures dependence via Φ-mutual information and proves strong data processing inequalities. result The Φ-mutual information between samples decreases exponentially to zero. This paper investigates methods for estimating the optimal stochastic control policy for a Markov Decision Process with unknown transition dynamics and an unknown reward function. This form of model-free reinforcement learning comprises many real world systems such as playing video games, simulated control tasks, and r…
Algorithm selects optimal experiments in Markov chains to learn unknown quantities.
problem Designing efficient experiments in Markov chains to learn about unknown quantities.
method Proposes extsc{markov-design} algorithm for sequential policy selection.
result Algorithm provably converges to optimal measurement allocation.
Investor selects portfolios based on news attention in a hidden Markov model.
problem Mean-variance portfolio selection in a dynamic attention context.
method Closed-loop equilibrium strategies via extended HJB equation and Markov chain approximation.
result Equilibrium strategies found through iterative algorithm and numerical examples.
We consider an investor faced with the utility maximization problem in which the risky asset price process has pure-jump dynamics affected by an unobservable continuous-time finite-state Markov chain, the intensity of which can also be controlled by actions of the investor. Using the classical filtering theory, we redu…
Randomized control methods improve asset pricing and performance analysis.
problem Challenges in drawing inferences from traditional random portfolios in performance evaluation.
method Geometric random walks and Markov chain Monte Carlo methods to construct flexible control groups.
result Captured premia associated with size, value, quality, and momentum in a constrained setting.
New Markov chains defined on simplicial complexes for understanding their topology.
problem Understanding the topology of simplicial complexes and hypergraphs.
method Defining new Markov chains on simplicial complexes and studying their properties.
result The generator of the new Markov chain is the upper Laplacian, and the Markov chain is positive recurrent.
Develops a model for bid and ask prices using stochastic control.
problem Modeling bid and ask prices of a European asset.
method Formulates a stochastic control problem, uses Girsanov theorem, Esscher transform, and dynamic programming.
result Derives equations to determine bid and ask prices.
Control charts have traditionally been used in industrial statistics, but are constantly seeing new areas of application, especially in the age of Industry 4.0. This paper introduces a new method, which is suitable for applications in the healthcare sector, especially for monitoring a health-characteristic of a patient…
New bounds for SMC show its advantage over MCMC in multimodal distributions.
problem Estimating expectations under multimodal distributions with slow global mixing.
method Proves finite sample complexities for SMC with local mixing times, addressing bias through sequential resampling.
result SMC provides fully polynomial time approximation for multimodal problems.
Market makers optimize bid/ask quotes under hidden Markov chain uncertainty.
problem Optimizing market quotes with hidden factors affecting order intensities.
method Solves stochastic control problem using filtering, control, and PDMPs theory.
result Value function is unique viscosity solution of dynamic programming equation.
Neural models learn continuous-time Markov chain transition rates from data.
problem Learning transition rates for complex stochastic systems.
method Neural networks to model nonlinear transition rates from observed data.
result Neural models outperform traditional methods in accuracy.
In this paper we propose a novel variance reduction approach for additive functionals of Markov chains based on minimization of an estimate for the asymptotic variance of these functionals over suitable classes of control variates. A distinctive feature of the proposed approach is its ability to significantly reduce th…
Markov chain decoders improve generative models' ability to produce heavy-tailed data.
problem Generative models struggle with heavy-tailed distributions.
method Replaced Gaussian decoder with Markov chain-based Phase-Type distributions.
result Significantly reduced tail Kolmogorov-Smirnov distance and extreme quantile error.
The paper analyzes stability of random matrix products with Markovian noise.
problem Analyzing stability of random matrix products with Markovian noise.
method Using a super-Lyapunov drift condition and controlled growth of matrix-valued functions, the paper provides an exponential stability result for the p-th moment of random matrix product.
result Finite-time p-th moment bounds for linear stochastic approximation and TD learning algorithms.
A new method simulates a lazy version of a Markov chain for empirical inference.
problem Estimating and testing unknown Markov chains with limited data.
method Simulates an α-lazy version of an unknown Markov chain, making it ergodic.
result The pseudo spectral gap can be applied to non-ergodic Markov chains.
Reduces identity testing of reversible Markov chains to simpler symmetric chain tests.
problem Testing identity of reversible Markov chains from a single trajectory.
method Using lumping-congruent Markov embeddings, the problem is simplified to testing symmetric chains over a larger state space.
result Achieves state-of-the-art sample complexity for identity testing.
Stochastic gradient methods are the workhorse (algorithms) of large-scale optimization problems in machine learning, signal processing, and other computational sciences and engineering. This paper studies Markov chain gradient descent, a variant of stochastic gradient descent where the random samples are taken on the t…
Study optimal portfolios in a non-Markovian regime-switching model with random time horizon.
problem Optimal portfolio selection in a market with non-Markovian regime-switching and random time horizon.
method Formulated as a constrained stochastic linear-quadratic optimal control problem, derived closed-form expressions for optimal portfolios and efficient frontier.
result Closed-form expressions for optimal portfolios and efficient frontier derived under non-Markovian regime-switching and random time horizon.
Study Markov chain gradient descent in Hilbert spaces for quadratic loss.
problem Approximating optimal solutions for quadratic loss functions.
method Developed a Markov chain-based stochastic gradient algorithm in Hilbert spaces.
result Established probabilistic upper bounds on convergence.
We consider the inverse reinforcement learning problem, that is, the problem of learning from, and then predicting or mimicking a controller based on state/action data. We propose a statistical model for such data, derived from the structure of a Markov decision process. Adopting a Bayesian approach to inference, we sh…
We introduce a general framework for measuring risk in the context of Markov control processes with risk maps on general Borel spaces that generalize known concepts of risk measures in mathematical finance, operations research and behavioral economics. Within the framework, applying weighted norm spaces to incorporate …
The paper develops methods for high-dimensional inference in Markov random fields.
problem Statistical inference for high-dimensional Markov random fields.
method Markov Chain Monte Carlo Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MCMC-MLE) with Elastic-net regularization.
result The proposed methods achieve ℓ1-consistency and false discovery rate control. Enhanced Markov chain sampler learns network statistics faster.
problem Learning network statistics efficiently.
method Integrates graph Forman curvature into Markov chain transition probabilities and stationary distribution.
result Curved Markov chain Monte Carlo achieves faster convergence.
Stochastic kernel based dimensionality reduction approaches have become popular in the last decade. The central component of many of these methods is a symmetric kernel that quantifies the vicinity between pairs of data points and a kernel-induced Markov chain on the data. Typically, the Markov chain is fully specified…
DNFS trains efficient samplers for discrete distributions using locally equivariant Transformers.
problem Sampling from unnormalised discrete distributions.
method DNFS learns a rate matrix to satisfy the Kolmogorov equation, using control variates and locally equivariant Transformers.
result DNFS achieves efficient and effective sampling across various applications.
Expands Hidden Markov Model to include Markov chain observations.
problem Handling Markov chain observations in Hidden Markov Models.
method Developed Expectation-Maximization algorithm and Viterbi algorithm analogs.
result Estimates transition probabilities for hidden states and observations.
In this paper we describe three stochastic models based on a semi-Markov chains approach and its generalizations to study the high frequency price dynamics of traded stocks. The three models are: a simple semi-Markov chain model, an indexed semi-Markov chain model and a weighted indexed semi-Markov chain model. We show…
New insights into Markov chain geometry via positive transition measures.
problem Lack of statistical meaning in the space of transition probabilities.
method Constructing an extension of the space of transition probabilities using Amari's theory of positive measures.
result Introduction of a new dually flat structure for the space of positive transition measures.
In his 2011 work, Maas has shown that the law of any time-reversible continuous-time Markov chain with finite state space evolves like a gradient flow of the relative entropy with respect to its stationary distribution. In this work we show the converse to the above by showing that if the relative law of a Markov chain…
SGD converges to an invariant distribution with sub-Gaussian or sub-exponential properties.
problem Optimizing smooth and strongly convex objectives using SGD.
method Analysis through Markov chains, focusing on convergence and concentration properties.
result SGD iterates and their invariant limit distribution inherit sub-Gaussian or sub-exponential concentration properties.
New method estimates convergence bounds for nonlinear Markov chains.
problem Difficulty in describing properties of nonlinear Markov chains.
method Coupling Markov chains to reconstitute distribution relationships and estimate convergence bounds.
result Estimation of convergence bounds is more precise than existing results.
Elo ratings learn model parameters quickly using Markov chains.
problem Ranking players in online settings.
method Bradley--Terry--Luce model and Markov chain theory.
result Elo learns model parameters at a competitive rate.
New algorithm trains deep neural networks without global optimization.
problem Training deep neural networks efficiently and without global optimization.
method Uses random complex exponential activation functions and Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling.
result Consistently attains theoretical approximation rate for residual networks.
DCDC calculates convergence rates for Markov chains using neural networks.
problem Computing precise convergence rates for Markov chains is hard.
method Developed a neural network-based algorithm (DCDC) to bound convergence rates in Wasserstein distance.
result Demonstrated effective convergence bounds for real-world Markov chains.
New method improves Bayesian inference for large models.
problem Bayesian inference in large-scale models like neural networks.
method Non-parametric variational approximation with a modified Langevin algorithm.
result Improves convergence speed and accuracy compared to existing methods.
We address the problem of estimating the mixing time of a Markov chain from a single trajectory of observations. Unlike most previous works which employed Hilbert space methods to estimate spectral gaps, we opt for an approach based on contraction with respect to total variation. Specifically, we estimate the contracti…
Controller-Augmented Hidden Markov Models (CHMMs) are a framework for constrained sequential inference.
problem Hidden Markov models fail under pathwise constraints like precedence, visitation, or monotonic state progression.
method CHMMs compile constraints into finite-state controllers, then use standard forward-backward and Viterbi recursions to compute exact constrained posteriors and paths.
result CHMMs provide exact constrained inference, monotone ascent in constrained EM, and linear complexity in controller cardinality.
We study the problem of learning the transition matrices of a set of Markov chains from a single stream of observations on each chain. We assume that the Markov chains are ergodic but otherwise unknown. The learner can sample Markov chains sequentially to observe their states. The goal of the learner is to sequentially…
Method reconstructs hidden Markov chains from insurance data.
problem Recovering hidden Markov chains from incomplete insurance data.
method Neural architecture to explicitly provide transition probabilities.
result Neural model successfully validates decompression of insurance information.