This work extends HiP-MDPs to robust state abstractions for multi-task and meta-reinforcement learning.
problem Limited observability of state in HiP-MDPs for real-world scenarios with rich observation spaces.
method Inspired by Block MDPs, the work extends HiP-MDPs to enable robust state abstractions for multi-task and meta-reinforcement learning.
result Transfer and generalization bounds based on task and state similarity, and sample complexity bounds that depend on the aggregate number of samples across tasks.
We study the problem of formally verifying the robustness to adversarial examples of support vector machines (SVMs), a major machine learning model for classification and regression tasks. Following a recent stream of works on formal robustness verification of (deep) neural networks, our approach relies on a sound abst…
This paper simplifies OPE in large state spaces using state abstractions.
problem Accurately evaluating policies offline in large state spaces.
method Developed a backward-model-irrelevance condition and an iterative state abstraction procedure.
result Deeply-abstracted states substantially simplify OPE sample complexity.
Algorithm finds latent structure in value functions for improved reinforcement learning.
problem Finding latent structure in value functions for efficient reinforcement learning.
method Proposes a practical algorithm using two posterior distributions over state abstractions and abstract-state values.
result Substantial performance gains in multi-task settings where tasks share a common, low-dimensional representation.
In the quest for efficient and robust reinforcement learning methods, both model-free and model-based approaches offer advantages. In this paper we propose a new way of explicitly bridging both approaches via a shared low-dimensional learned encoding of the environment, meant to capture summarizing abstractions. We sho…
Tabular Q-Learning with learned state abstractions solves continuous control tasks.
problem Challenging reinforcement learning problems in continuous control.
method Learned state abstraction to transform continuous state-space into discrete.
result Tabular Q-Learning with learned abstractions achieves efficient learning in unseen tasks.
Abstract MDPs enable strategic exploration and fast reward transfer in complex environments.
problem Challenging to learn accurate MDPs for high-dimensional states.
method Learn an abstract MDP over low-dimensional coarse states, using an abstraction function.
result Achieves superhuman performance on Pitfall! and higher reward with fewer samples.
TOMA generates abstract graphs for RL, reducing memory and computation costs.
problem High memory and computation costs in graph generation for RL.
method Topological Map Abstraction (TOMA) for generating abstract graphs.
result TOMA reduces memory and computation costs compared to existing methods.
Deep neural network learns discrete state abstractions for efficient planning.
problem Efficient sequential decision making in large state spaces.
method Information bottleneck method for learning approximate bisimulations using deep neural encoders and action-conditioned HMM.
result Trained method efficiently plans for unseen goals in multi-goal reinforcement learning.
TASID learns policies in high-dimensional settings with abstract simulator knowledge.
problem RL in high-dimensional settings with limited observation knowledge.
method TASID algorithm for transfer RL from abstract simulator with bounded perturbations.
result Sample complexity polynomial in horizon, independent of number of states.
The paper proposes a principle for dynamically adjusting the granularity of reinforcement learning abstractions.
problem Lack of general principles for dynamically adjusting the granularity of reinforcement learning abstractions.
method The paper proposes a principle based on rate-distortion theory, formalized through a performance certificate decomposing value error into learning and abstraction error bounds.
result Soft state-action abstractions can achieve near-optimal performance under substantial lossy compression of state and action information.
Proposes method to learn state abstractions that generalize across environments.
problem Learning abstractions that generalize in block MDPs.
method Invariant causal prediction to learn model-irrelevant state abstractions (MISA).
result Proves high probability of outputting a state abstraction corresponding to causal feature set for return.
Paper trains models to resist string transformations.
problem Vulnerability of NLP models to adversarial string transformations.
method Combines search and abstraction techniques for robust training.
result Trained models resist combinations of user-defined transformations.
Mapper-GIN simplifies 3D point cloud classification with lightweight structure.
problem Robust 3D point cloud classification under corruption.
method Mapper algorithm for structural decomposition, GIN for graph classification.
result Mapper-GIN achieves competitive accuracy with minimal parameters.
The paper introduces a method to learn Markov state abstractions for reinforcement learning.
problem Learning Markov state representations in complex environments.
method The paper introduces a novel set of conditions and a training procedure combining inverse model estimation and temporal contrastive learning.
result The approach learns representations that capture the underlying structure of the domain and improve sample efficiency.
A new method shapes reinforcement learning environments by abstracting large state spaces.
problem Learning in large, noisy environments with sparse feedback.
method Environment shaping using state abstraction.
result Agent's policy in shaped environment preserves near-optimal behavior in original environment.
A planning approach learns skills from interactions, balancing exploration and exploitation.
problem Learning robust high-level skills in noisy environments with unknown pre-conditions.
method Formulates skills as high-level policies, learns plans via bandit problems, balances exploration and exploitation.
result A planner capable of learning robust high-level skills in high-dimensional state spaces.
STAR framework reduces OPE variance by distilling complex problems into discrete ARPs.
problem High variance and bias in off-policy evaluation methods.
method STAR framework that includes various OPE estimators and leverages state abstraction.
result Predictions from ARPs estimated from off-policy data are asymptotically correct.
Planning methods can solve temporally extended sequential decision making problems by composing simple behaviors. However, planning requires suitable abstractions for the states and transitions, which typically need to be designed by hand. In contrast, model-free reinforcement learning (RL) can acquire behaviors from l…
Generative models use latent abstractions to create images.
problem Understanding how generative models create high-dimensional data like images.
method Developed a theoretical framework using SDE and information theory.
result Diffusion models can be seen as a non-linear filter driven by latent abstractions.
SGM combines deep learning and planning for robust long-horizon tasks.
problem Combining deep learning and planning for robust long-horizon tasks.
method Sparse Graphical Memory (SGM) that stores states and feasible transitions in a sparse memory, aggregating states according to a two-way consistency objective.
result SGM significantly outperforms current state of the art methods on long horizon, sparse-reward visual navigation tasks.
This work defines a complexity measure for BAMDP planning and introduces state abstraction for more efficient approximate planning.
problem The computational intractability of exact BAMDP planning solutions.
method Define a complexity measure for BAMDP planning, introduce state abstraction, and develop an approximate planning algorithm.
result Introduces a computationally tractable approximate planning algorithm using state abstraction.
We present an algorithm, HOMER, for exploration and reinforcement learning in rich observation environments that are summarizable by an unknown latent state space. The algorithm interleaves representation learning to identify a new notion of kinematic state abstraction with strategic exploration to reach new states usi…
Neural networks are becoming increasingly prevalent in software, and it is therefore important to be able to verify their behavior. Because verifying the correctness of neural networks is extremely challenging, it is common to focus on the verification of other properties of these systems. One important property, in pa…
Abstraction of Markov Decision Processes is a useful tool for solving complex problems, as it can ignore unimportant aspects of an environment, simplifying the process of learning an optimal policy. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm for finding abstract MDPs in environments with continuous state spaces. It is b…
This paper presents a way of solving Markov Decision Processes that combines state abstraction and temporal abstraction. Specifically, we combine state aggregation with the options framework and demonstrate that they work well together and indeed it is only after one combines the two that the full benefit of each is re…
NHC learns scalable algorithmic solutions from diverse tasks.
problem Neural networks struggle to learn algorithmic strategies.
method Memory-augmented network with abstraction mechanism and evolutionary training.
result Reliable learning of robust and scalable algorithmic solutions.
SPEDER extracts state-action abstraction from dynamics for reinforcement learning.
problem Curse of dimensionality and limited applicability of spectral methods.
method Spectral Decomposition Representation (SPEDER) that extracts state-action abstraction from dynamics without policy dependence.
result Theoretical analysis establishes sample efficiency in online and offline settings.
Portfolio turnpikes state that, as the investment horizon increases, optimal portfolios for generic utilities converge to those of isoelastic utilities. This paper proves three kinds of turnpikes. In a general semimartingale setting, the abstract turnpike states that optimal final payoffs and portfolios converge under …
A new layer learns abstract relations from graph structure using finite-state automata.
problem Learning abstract relations from graph structure for program analysis.
method Relaxing the problem into learning finite-state automata policies on a graph-based POMDP and training these policies using implicit differentiation.
result GFSA layer finds shortcuts in grid-world graphs and reproduces simple static analyses on Python programs.
Paper proves neural networks can be approximated using interval bounds.
problem Verifying safety and robustness of neural networks.
method Introduces interval universal approximation (IUA) theorem for neural networks.
result Neural networks can be approximated using interval bounds for any continuous function and squashable activation functions.
Study generalizes Picard iteration for nonlinear PDEs, deriving bounds on error.
problem Generalize Picard iteration for nonlinear parabolic PDEs.
method Formulate Picard iteration as abstract state-transition model, derive generalization error bounds.
result Picard depth reduction reduces Picard truncation error without increasing estimation error.
A new framework for robustness analysis of deep neural networks using PAC-model learning.
problem Analyzing local robustness of deep neural networks.
method Black-box model learning with scenario optimisation to abstract DNN behaviour via an affine model with PAC guarantee.
result DeepPAC outperforms state-of-the-art statistical methods in practical robustness analysis.
Paper learns meaningful state and action representations from MDP trajectories.
problem Learning good state and action representations from MDP trajectories.
method Tensor decomposition, kernelization, importance sampling, low-Tucker-rank approximation.
result The learned state/action abstractions provide accurate approximations to latent block structures.
Although exploration in reinforcement learning is well understood from a theoretical point of view, provably correct methods remain impractical. In this paper we study the interplay between exploration and approximation, what we call approximate exploration. Our main goal is to further our theoretical understanding of …
New method learns temporal abstractions by defining interest functions.
problem Learning temporal abstractions with limited, variable durations.
method Introduced interest functions to define initiation sets, enabling gradient-based learning.
result Demonstrated effectiveness in discrete and continuous environments.
XIMP improves molecular property prediction by integrating multiple graph representations.
problem Graph neural networks struggle in data-scarce regimes and fail to surpass traditional methods.
method Cross-graph inter-message passing with multiple graph abstractions.
result XIMP outperforms state-of-the-art baselines across diverse molecular property tasks.
Resolving abstract anaphora is an important, but difficult task for text understanding. Yet, with recent advances in representation learning this task becomes a more tangible aim. A central property of abstract anaphora is that it establishes a relation between the anaphor embedded in the anaphoric sentence and its (ty…
Tasks like code generation and semantic parsing require mapping unstructured (or partially structured) inputs to well-formed, executable outputs. We introduce abstract syntax networks, a modeling framework for these problems. The outputs are represented as abstract syntax trees (ASTs) and constructed by a decoder with …
New framework identifies causal models with arbitrary interventions, improving realism.
problem Identify causal models with realistic interventions.
method Theoretical framework for identifying causal models with arbitrary interventions.
result Identify causal models with arbitrary interventions, up to a higher-level abstraction.
Automatic summarization of natural language is a current topic in computer science research and industry, studied for decades because of its usefulness across multiple domains. For example, summarization is necessary to create reviews such as this one. Research and applications have achieved some success in extractive …
We introduce a variational approach to learning and inference of temporally hierarchical structure and representation for sequential data. We propose the Variational Temporal Abstraction (VTA), a hierarchical recurrent state space model that can infer the latent temporal structure and thus perform the stochastic state …
We prove the rigidity of presymplectic actions of a compact semisimple Lie algebra on a presymplectic manifold of constant rank in the local and global case. The proof uses an abstract normal form theorem we had stated in a previous work, based on an iterative process of Nash-Moser type. In order to use correctly this …
COTA learns abstraction maps from data without complete SCM knowledge.
problem Learning causally consistent representations at different resolutions.
method Multi-marginal Optimal Transport (OT) with do-calculus constraints and interventional cost.
result COTA outperforms non-causal and independent formulations on synthetic and real-world problems.
Survey examines challenges and solutions in sim-to-real transfer for robotics.
problem Challenges in transferring robotic systems from simulation to real-world environments.
method Leveraging techniques like domain randomization, real-to-sim transfer, state and action abstractions, and sim-real co-training.
result Promising results in closing the reality gap across various robotic domains.
This paper solves the normalizability crisis in sequential inference by introducing bounded information geometry.
problem Structural failure in standard sequential inference architectures when dealing with extreme outliers.
method Non-parametric field actions and bounded information geometry to truncate infinite tails of spatial distributions.
result Empirical benchmarks across three domains show robust estimation without infinite-tailed distributional assumptions.
Robust reinforcement learning aims to produce policies that have strong guarantees even in the face of environments/transition models whose parameters have strong uncertainty. Existing work uses value-based methods and the usual primitive action setting. In this paper, we propose robust methods for learning temporally …
A disentangled representation encodes information about the salient factors of variation in the data independently. Although it is often argued that this representational format is useful in learning to solve many real-world down-stream tasks, there is little empirical evidence that supports this claim. In this paper, …