Local search improves GFlowNets' ability to generate high-reward samples.
problem GFlowNets struggle with over-exploration in high-reward space.
method Local search focusing on high-reward samples via backtracking and reconstruction.
result Significant performance improvement in biochemical tasks.
In many environments only a tiny subset of all states yield high reward. In these cases, few of the interactions with the environment provide a relevant learning signal. Hence, we may want to preferentially train on those high-reward states and the probable trajectories leading to them. To this end, we advocate for the…
New algorithm finds high-reward combinatorial sets with fewest pulls.
problem Finding high-reward combinatorial sets with unknown individual arm rewards.
method Successive acceptance and elimination based on combinatorial structure.
result Algorithm requires minimal combinatorial oracle calls, making it practical for large problems.
DTS improves inference-time alignment of diffusion models with less compute.
problem Inference-time alignment of diffusion models suffers from inaccurate value estimation and inefficient reuse of past computations.
method Diffusion Tree Sampling (DTS) uses a tree-based approach to propagate terminal rewards and iteratively refine value estimates.
result DTS produces asymptotically exact samples and matches the FID of best-performing baselines with up to 10x less compute.
ACE improves GFlowNet exploration efficiency by balancing complementary search strategies.
problem Efficient exploration of diverse high-probability regions in GFlowNets.
method Adaptive Complementary Exploration (ACE) trains a separate GFlowNet to search underexplored regions.
result Significantly improves approximation accuracy and diverse state discovery.
We present Memory Augmented Policy Optimization (MAPO), a simple and novel way to leverage a memory buffer of promising trajectories to reduce the variance of policy gradient estimate. MAPO is applicable to deterministic environments with discrete actions, such as structured prediction and combinatorial optimization ta…
SA-GFN corrects biases in GFlowNets due to graph symmetries.
problem Systematic biases in state transition probability computations.
method Incorporates symmetry corrections into the learning process through reward scaling.
result Eliminates need for explicit state transition computations.
We address the problem of regret minimization in logistic contextual bandits, where a learner decides among sequential actions or arms given their respective contexts to maximize binary rewards. Using a fast inference procedure with Polya-Gamma distributed augmentation variables, we propose an improved version of Thomp…
Adaptive teacher improves sample efficiency and mode coverage in sampling tasks.
problem Efficient exploration and mode coverage in sampling tasks with amortized inference.
method An adaptive training distribution (teacher) guides the training of the primary sampler (student).
result Improves sample efficiency and mode coverage across various tasks.
Improves generative models by optimizing rewards and sample editing.
problem Efficiently generating high-reward samples with structural constraints.
method Introduces MDM-VGB, a discrete diffusion sampler that augments unmasking generation with reward-guided remasking.
result MDM-VGB achieves quadratic complexity and robustness to noise, outperforming heuristics like best-of-N. Boosted GFlowNets improve exploration by sequentially training GFlowNets with residual rewards.
problem GFlowNets struggle to evenly explore reward landscapes, leading to poor coverage of high-reward areas.
method Sequential training of an ensemble of GFlowNets, each optimizing a residual reward.
result Boosted GFlowNets achieve better exploration and sample diversity on multimodal benchmarks and peptide design tasks.
This work improves online fine-tuning of diffusion models for specific properties.
problem Efficiently fine-tuning diffusion models to maximize specific properties.
method A novel reinforcement learning procedure that efficiently explores feasible samples.
result The method provides a regret guarantee and empirical validation across multiple domains.
Diffusion LLMs can efficiently generate harmful prompts for adversarial testing.
problem Generating harmful prompts for adversarial testing is resource-intensive and costly.
method Transformed adversarial prompt optimization into an efficient inference task using pretrained Diffusion LLMs.
result Only a few conditional samples are required to generate harmful prompts with high reward.
Improved Thompson Sampling reduces regret in contextual bandits and reinforcement learning.
problem Thompson Sampling's exploration is insufficient in some contexts.
method Developed Feel-Good Thompson Sampling to address exploration issues.
result Feel-Good Thompson Sampling reduces regret compared to standard Thompson Sampling.
Demon aligns diffusion models without retraining or backpropagation.
problem Aligning diffusion models with user preferences.
method Stochastic optimization to control noise distribution.
result Significantly improves aesthetics scores for text-to-image generation.
This paper improves sample efficiency for off-policy evaluation with preference data.
problem Improving sample efficiency for off-policy evaluation with preference data.
method Using a deep neural network to learn the value function and leveraging manifold structure.
result Established a provably efficient guarantee for off-policy evaluation with RLHF.
Align-RUDDER improves reinforcement learning with few demonstrations by redistributing rewards.
problem Learning complex tasks with sparse and delayed rewards using few demonstrations.
method Align-RUDDER uses a profile model for reward redistribution based on multiple sequence alignment of demonstrations.
result Align-RUDDER outperforms competitors on complex tasks with few demonstrations.
OP-GFNs sample candidates in order-preserving proportion to a learned reward function.
problem Sampling diverse candidates with varying rewards in multi-objective optimization.
method Order-Preserving GFlowNets (OP-GFNs) use a learned reward function consistent with a provided order on candidates.
result Training OP-GFNs sparsifies the reward landscape, focusing on higher-ranked candidates.
Improves text-to-image diffusion models using GFlowNets.
problem Aligning diffusion models with text descriptions.
method Post-training diffusion models with GFlowNets to generate high-reward images.
result Effective alignment of large-scale text-to-image diffusion models with reward information.
New method optimizes diffusion models without fine-tuning, integrating soft value functions.
problem Optimizing natural design spaces of images, molecules, DNA, RNA, and protein sequences.
method Iterative sampling method integrating soft value functions into diffusion model inference.
result Directly utilizes non-differentiable features/reward feedback, applies to discrete diffusion models.
In this paper, we propose an information-theoretic exploration strategy for stochastic, discrete multi-armed bandits that achieves optimal regret. Our strategy is based on the value of information criterion. This criterion measures the trade-off between policy information and obtainable rewards. High amounts of policy …
Study shows challenges in reinforcement learning math problems, proposing enhancements and a hardness measure.
problem Challenges in reinforcement learning finding rare high-reward instances.
method Combining combinatorial group theory, algorithmic enhancements, and topological hardness measure.
result Resolved mathematical questions and proposed enhancements for reinforcement learning.
The problem of multi-armed bandits (MAB) asks to make sequential decisions while balancing between exploitation and exploration, and have been successfully applied to a wide range of practical scenarios. Various algorithms have been designed to achieve a high reward in a long term. However, its short-term performance m…
Curriculum learning has been successfully used in reinforcement learning to accelerate the learning process, through knowledge transfer between tasks of increasing complexity. Critical tasks, in which suboptimal exploratory actions must be minimized, can benefit from curriculum learning, and its ability to shape explor…
New meta-learning approach for bandit policies that achieve high average reward.
problem Designing bandit policies that balance between worst-case and Bayesian assumptions.
method Differentiable parameterized policies optimized using policy gradients.
result Proposed algorithm achieves low regret and is practical for various bandit problems.
New method tackles safe reinforcement learning from offline data.
problem Learn optimal policies from fixed data while adhering to safety constraints.
method Combines offline RL with online optimization to minimize cumulative cost.
result Proves approximate optimality of the approach under certain conditions.
Exploration strategy design is one of the challenging problems in reinforcement learning~(RL), especially when the environment contains a large state space or sparse rewards. During exploration, the agent tries to discover novel areas or high reward~(quality) areas. In most existing methods, the novelty and quality in …
Proper balance between exploitation and exploration is what makes good decisions, which achieve high rewards like payoff or evolutionary fitness. The Infomax principle postulates that maximization of information directs the function of diverse systems, from living systems to artificial neural networks. While specific a…
Learning reward functions from data is a promising path towards achieving scalable Reinforcement Learning (RL) for robotics. However, a major challenge in training agents from learned reward models is that the agent can learn to exploit errors in the reward model to achieve high reward behaviors that do not correspond …
In reinforcement learning the Q-values summarize the expected future rewards that the agent will attain. However, they cannot capture the epistemic uncertainty about those rewards. In this work we derive a new Bellman operator with associated fixed point we call the `knowledge values'. These K-values compress both the …
Distributed learning adapts to diverse devices, improving performance.
problem Training neural networks on devices with varying capabilities and resources.
method Each device trains a customized neural network, sharing parameters with others.
result Achieves higher rewards on more powerful devices without sacrificing weaker ones.
We consider the problem of evaluating the quality of startup companies. This can be quite challenging due to the rarity of successful startup companies and the complexity of factors which impact such success. In this work we collect data on tens of thousands of startup companies, their performance, the backgrounds of t…
In stochastic multi-armed bandits, the reward distribution of each arm is assumed to be stationary. This assumption is often violated in practice (e.g., in recommendation systems), where the reward of an arm may change whenever is selected, i.e., rested bandit setting. In this paper, we consider the non-parametric rott…
A new algorithm for resource-aware multi-armed bandits minimizes regret.
problem Optimizing resource usage in a multi-armed bandit problem with censored observations.
method UCB-inspired online learning algorithm with theoretical regret analysis.
result The proposed algorithm outperforms standard multi-armed bandit algorithms in simulations.
Equivariant neural networks improve performance and generalization in lattice field theory tasks.
problem Improving neural network performance and generalization in lattice field theory.
method Investigation of translationally equivariant neural networks in a two-dimensional scalar field model.
result Equivariant neural networks significantly outperform non-equivariant ones in various tasks, including physical parameters and lattice sizes.
Improves inference-time alignment for diffusion models without updating weights.
problem Aligning diffusion models without updating weights for high-reward outputs.
method Trust-Region Iterative Twisted Sequential Monte Carlo (TRI-TSMC) for variance reduction and efficiency.
result Improves primary alignment objectives on text generation tasks.
Meta-learning curiosity algorithms improves exploration across various tasks.
problem Generating curious behavior in reinforcement learning.
method Meta-learning approach to adapt reward signals dynamically.
result Two novel curiosity algorithms outperform human-designed ones.
New method prevents RLHF alignment collapse by accounting for policy's influence on reward model updates.
problem Iterative RLHF leads to alignment collapse where policies exploit RM's blind spots.
method Foresighted policy optimization (FPO) restores missing steering term via regularization.
result FPO prevents alignment collapse on LLM alignment pipelines using Llama-3.2-1B.
Study designs logging policies to minimize off-policy evaluation error.
problem Minimizing OPE error with logging policies for target policies.
method Characterizes reward-coverage tradeoff, proposes a unifying framework, derives optimal policies.
result Provides actionable guidance for firms choosing recommendation systems.
QuantaAlpha uses evolutionary algorithms to mine financial alpha robustly across market distributions.
problem Challenges in alpha mining due to market noise and regime shifts.
method Evolutionary framework treating each mining run as a trajectory, mutation, crossover, targeted revision, and reuse of effective patterns.
result Consistent gains over strong baselines and prior systems, achieving high IC and ARR.
In retail, there are predictable yet dramatic time-dependent patterns in customer behavior, such as periodic changes in the number of visitors, or increases in customers just before major holidays. The current paradigm of multi-armed bandit analysis does not take these known patterns into account. This means that for a…
How effective are the most common trading models? The answer may help investors realize upsides to using each model, act as a segue for investors into more complex financial analysis and machine learning, and to increase financial literacy amongst students. Creating original versions of popular models, like linear regr…
New algorithms optimize decision-making under uncertainty with graph information.
problem Optimizing decisions in large, uncertain environments with graph-based similarities.
method Graph-based UcB and ζ-UcB algorithms for maximizing and satisficing.
result Proves algorithms are near-optimal and benefits from graph side information.
The paper proposes a machine learning framework for detecting DeFi fraud across multiple blockchain chains.
problem Early detection of financial crimes in decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems.
method Extracting features from different blockchain chains, employing XGBoost and Neural Network for fraud detection.
result Introduction of novel DeFi-related features significantly improves fraud detection accuracy.
The paper analyzes RLVR's training dynamics, proving convergence depends on aligning update direction with Gradient Gap.
problem Understanding why RLVR works and its limitations.
method Analysis of RLVR's training process at trajectory and token levels, introducing Gradient Gap.
result Convergence depends on aligning update direction with Gradient Gap, with a sharp step-size threshold.
We study a general problem of allocating limited resources to heterogeneous customers over time under model uncertainty. Each type of customer can be serviced using different actions, each of which stochastically consumes some combination of resources, and returns different rewards for the resources consumed. We consid…
ePF improves PF for ITS by balancing exploration and exploitation, outperforming baselines.
problem Premature exploitation in PF leads to suboptimal solutions under constrained budgets.
method Integrates Entropic Annealing and Look-ahead Modulation to preserve diversity and evaluate potential.
result Significant improvement in task reward (up to 50% relative) on math benchmarks.
Proposes a new RL method to fine-tune flow-based models with arbitrary rewards.
problem Challenges in fine-tuning continuous flow-based generative models with arbitrary reward functions.
method Online Reward-Weighted Conditional Flow Matching with Wasserstein-2 Regularization (ORW-CFM-W2)
result Achieves optimal policy convergence with controllable trade-offs between reward maximization and diversity preservation.