Download or read book Discrete Time Markov Control Processes written by Onesimo Hernandez-Lerma and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the first part of a planned two-volume series devoted to a systematic exposition of some recent developments in the theory of discrete-time Markov control processes (MCPs). Interest is mainly confined to MCPs with Borel state and control (or action) spaces, and possibly unbounded costs and noncompact control constraint sets. MCPs are a class of stochastic control problems, also known as Markov decision processes, controlled Markov processes, or stochastic dynamic pro grams; sometimes, particularly when the state space is a countable set, they are also called Markov decision (or controlled Markov) chains. Regardless of the name used, MCPs appear in many fields, for example, engineering, economics, operations research, statistics, renewable and nonrenewable re source management, (control of) epidemics, etc. However, most of the lit erature (say, at least 90%) is concentrated on MCPs for which (a) the state space is a countable set, and/or (b) the costs-per-stage are bounded, and/or (c) the control constraint sets are compact. But curiously enough, the most widely used control model in engineering and economics--namely the LQ (Linear system/Quadratic cost) model-satisfies none of these conditions. Moreover, when dealing with "partially observable" systems) a standard approach is to transform them into equivalent "completely observable" sys tems in a larger state space (in fact, a space of probability measures), which is uncountable even if the original state process is finite-valued.

Download or read book Further Topics on Discrete Time Markov Control Processes written by Onesimo Hernandez-Lerma and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Devoted to a systematic exposition of some recent developments in the theory of discrete-time Markov control processes, the text is mainly confined to MCPs with Borel state and control spaces. Although the book follows on from the author's earlier work, an important feature of this volume is that it is self-contained and can thus be read independently of the first. The control model studied is sufficiently general to include virtually all the usual discrete-time stochastic control models that appear in applications to engineering, economics, mathematical population processes, operations research, and management science.

Download or read book Adaptive Markov Control Processes written by Onesimo Hernandez-Lerma and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is concerned with a class of discrete-time stochastic control processes known as controlled Markov processes (CMP's), also known as Markov decision processes or Markov dynamic programs. Starting in the mid-1950swith Richard Bellman, many contributions to CMP's have been made, and applications to engineering, statistics and operations research, among other areas, have also been developed. The purpose of this book is to present some recent developments on the theory of adaptive CMP's, i. e. , CMP's that depend on unknown parameters. Thus at each decision time, the controller or decision-maker must estimate the true parameter values, and then adapt the control actions to the estimated values. We do not intend to describe all aspects of stochastic adaptive control; rather, the selection of material reflects our own research interests. The prerequisite for this book is a knowledgeof real analysis and prob ability theory at the level of, say, Ash (1972) or Royden (1968), but no previous knowledge of control or decision processes is required. The pre sentation, on the other hand, is meant to beself-contained,in the sensethat whenever a result from analysisor probability is used, it is usually stated in full and references are supplied for further discussion, if necessary. Several appendices are provided for this purpose. The material is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 contains the basic definitions about the stochastic control problems we are interested in; a brief description of some applications is also provided.

Download or read book Discrete Time Markov Chains written by George Yin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2005 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on discrete-time-scale Markov chains, the contents of this book are an outgrowth of some of the authors' recent research. The motivation stems from existing and emerging applications in optimization and control of complex hybrid Markovian systems in manufacturing, wireless communication, and financial engineering. Much effort in this book is devoted to designing system models arising from these applications, analyzing them via analytic and probabilistic techniques, and developing feasible computational algorithms so as to reduce the inherent complexity. This book presents results including asymptotic expansions of probability vectors, structural properties of occupation measures, exponential bounds, aggregation and decomposition and associated limit processes, and interface of discrete-time and continuous-time systems. One of the salient features is that it contains a diverse range of applications on filtering, estimation, control, optimization, and Markov decision processes, and financial engineering. This book will be an important reference for researchers in the areas of applied probability, control theory, operations research, as well as for practitioners who use optimization techniques. Part of the book can also be used in a graduate course of applied probability, stochastic processes, and applications.

Download or read book Discrete Time Markov Jump Linear Systems written by O.L.V. Costa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-03-30 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This will be the most up-to-date book in the area (the closest competition was published in 1990) This book takes a new slant and is in discrete rather than continuous time

Download or read book Markov Decision Processes written by Martin L. Puterman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-08-28 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Wiley-Interscience Paperback Series consists of selected books that have been made more accessible to consumers in an effort to increase global appeal and general circulation. With these new unabridged softcover volumes, Wiley hopes to extend the lives of these works by making them available to future generations of statisticians, mathematicians, and scientists. "This text is unique in bringing together so many results hitherto found only in part in other texts and papers. . . . The text is fairly self-contained, inclusive of some basic mathematical results needed, and provides a rich diet of examples, applications, and exercises. The bibliographical material at the end of each chapter is excellent, not only from a historical perspective, but because it is valuable for researchers in acquiring a good perspective of the MDP research potential." —Zentralblatt fur Mathematik ". . . it is of great value to advanced-level students, researchers, and professional practitioners of this field to have now a complete volume (with more than 600 pages) devoted to this topic. . . . Markov Decision Processes: Discrete Stochastic Dynamic Programming represents an up-to-date, unified, and rigorous treatment of theoretical and computational aspects of discrete-time Markov decision processes." —Journal of the American Statistical Association

Download or read book Discrete Time Markov Chains written by G. George Yin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2005-10-04 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on two-time-scale Markov chains in discrete time. Our motivation stems from existing and emerging applications in optimization and control of complex systems in manufacturing, wireless communication, and ?nancial engineering. Much of our e?ort in this book is devoted to designing system models arising from various applications, analyzing them via analytic and probabilistic techniques, and developing feasible compu- tionalschemes. Ourmainconcernistoreducetheinherentsystemcompl- ity. Although each of the applications has its own distinct characteristics, all of them are closely related through the modeling of uncertainty due to jump or switching random processes. Oneofthesalientfeaturesofthisbookistheuseofmulti-timescalesin Markovprocessesandtheirapplications. Intuitively,notallpartsorcom- nents of a large-scale system evolve at the same rate. Some of them change rapidly and others vary slowly. The di?erent rates of variations allow us to reduce complexity via decomposition and aggregation. It would be ideal if we could divide a large system into its smallest irreducible subsystems completely separable from one another and treat each subsystem indep- dently. However, this is often infeasible in reality due to various physical constraints and other considerations. Thus, we have to deal with situations in which the systems are only nearly decomposable in the sense that there are weak links among the irreducible subsystems, which dictate the oc- sional regime changes of the system. An e?ective way to treat such near decomposability is time-scale separation. That is, we set up the systems as if there were two time scales, fast vs. slow. xii Preface Followingthetime-scaleseparation,weusesingularperturbationmeth- ology to treat the underlying systems.

Download or read book Handbook of Markov Decision Processes written by Eugene A. Feinberg and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eugene A. Feinberg Adam Shwartz This volume deals with the theory of Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) and their applications. Each chapter was written by a leading expert in the re spective area. The papers cover major research areas and methodologies, and discuss open questions and future research directions. The papers can be read independently, with the basic notation and concepts ofSection 1.2. Most chap ters should be accessible by graduate or advanced undergraduate students in fields of operations research, electrical engineering, and computer science. 1.1 AN OVERVIEW OF MARKOV DECISION PROCESSES The theory of Markov Decision Processes-also known under several other names including sequential stochastic optimization, discrete-time stochastic control, and stochastic dynamic programming-studiessequential optimization ofdiscrete time stochastic systems. The basic object is a discrete-time stochas tic system whose transition mechanism can be controlled over time. Each control policy defines the stochastic process and values of objective functions associated with this process. The goal is to select a "good" control policy. In real life, decisions that humans and computers make on all levels usually have two types ofimpacts: (i) they cost orsavetime, money, or other resources, or they bring revenues, as well as (ii) they have an impact on the future, by influencing the dynamics. In many situations, decisions with the largest immediate profit may not be good in view offuture events. MDPs model this paradigm and provide results on the structure and existence of good policies and on methods for their calculation.

Download or read book Controlled Markov Processes written by Evgeniĭ Borisovich Dynkin and published by Springer. This book was released on 1979 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is devoted to the systematic exposition of the contemporary theory of controlled Markov processes with discrete time parameter or in another termi nology multistage Markovian decision processes. We discuss the applications of this theory to various concrete problems. Particular attention is paid to mathe matical models of economic planning, taking account of stochastic factors. The authors strove to construct the exposition in such a way that a reader interested in the applications can get through the book with a minimal mathe matical apparatus. On the other hand, a mathematician will find, in the appropriate chapters, a rigorous theory of general control models, based on advanced measure theory, analytic set theory, measurable selection theorems, and so forth. We have abstained from the manner of presentation of many mathematical monographs, in which one presents immediately the most general situation and only then discusses simpler special cases and examples. Wishing to separate out difficulties, we introduce new concepts and ideas in the simplest setting, where they already begin to work. Thus, before considering control problems on an infinite time interval, we investigate in detail the case of the finite interval. Here we first study in detail models with finite state and action spaces-a case not requiring a departure from the realm of elementary mathematics, and at the same time illustrating the most important principles of the theory.

Download or read book Markov Decision Processes with Applications to Finance written by Nicole Bäuerle and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-06-06 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The theory of Markov decision processes focuses on controlled Markov chains in discrete time. The authors establish the theory for general state and action spaces and at the same time show its application by means of numerous examples, mostly taken from the fields of finance and operations research. By using a structural approach many technicalities (concerning measure theory) are avoided. They cover problems with finite and infinite horizons, as well as partially observable Markov decision processes, piecewise deterministic Markov decision processes and stopping problems. The book presents Markov decision processes in action and includes various state-of-the-art applications with a particular view towards finance. It is useful for upper-level undergraduates, Master's students and researchers in both applied probability and finance, and provides exercises (without solutions).

Download or read book Markov Processes for Stochastic Modeling written by Oliver Ibe and published by Newnes. This book was released on 2013-05-22 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Markov processes are processes that have limited memory. In particular, their dependence on the past is only through the previous state. They are used to model the behavior of many systems including communications systems, transportation networks, image segmentation and analysis, biological systems and DNA sequence analysis, random atomic motion and diffusion in physics, social mobility, population studies, epidemiology, animal and insect migration, queueing systems, resource management, dams, financial engineering, actuarial science, and decision systems. Covering a wide range of areas of application of Markov processes, this second edition is revised to highlight the most important aspects as well as the most recent trends and applications of Markov processes. The author spent over 16 years in the industry before returning to academia, and he has applied many of the principles covered in this book in multiple research projects. Therefore, this is an applications-oriented book that also includes enough theory to provide a solid ground in the subject for the reader. Presents both the theory and applications of the different aspects of Markov processes Includes numerous solved examples as well as detailed diagrams that make it easier to understand the principle being presented Discusses different applications of hidden Markov models, such as DNA sequence analysis and speech analysis.

Download or read book Continuous Time Markov Decision Processes written by Xianping Guo and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-09-18 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Continuous-time Markov decision processes (MDPs), also known as controlled Markov chains, are used for modeling decision-making problems that arise in operations research (for instance, inventory, manufacturing, and queueing systems), computer science, communications engineering, control of populations (such as fisheries and epidemics), and management science, among many other fields. This volume provides a unified, systematic, self-contained presentation of recent developments on the theory and applications of continuous-time MDPs. The MDPs in this volume include most of the cases that arise in applications, because they allow unbounded transition and reward/cost rates. Much of the material appears for the first time in book form.

Download or read book Continuous Average Control of Piecewise Deterministic Markov Processes written by Oswaldo Luiz do Valle Costa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-12 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The intent of this book is to present recent results in the control theory for the long run average continuous control problem of piecewise deterministic Markov processes (PDMPs). The book focuses mainly on the long run average cost criteria and extends to the PDMPs some well-known techniques related to discrete-time and continuous-time Markov decision processes, including the so-called ``average inequality approach'', ``vanishing discount technique'' and ``policy iteration algorithm''. We believe that what is unique about our approach is that, by using the special features of the PDMPs, we trace a parallel with the general theory for discrete-time Markov Decision Processes rather than the continuous-time case. The two main reasons for doing that is to use the powerful tools developed in the discrete-time framework and to avoid working with the infinitesimal generator associated to a PDMP, which in most cases has its domain of definition difficult to be characterized. Although the book is mainly intended to be a theoretically oriented text, it also contains some motivational examples. The book is targeted primarily for advanced students and practitioners of control theory. The book will be a valuable source for experts in the field of Markov decision processes. Moreover, the book should be suitable for certain advanced courses or seminars. As background, one needs an acquaintance with the theory of Markov decision processes and some knowledge of stochastic processes and modern analysis.

Download or read book Markov Decision Processes with Their Applications written by Qiying Hu and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-09-14 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Put together by two top researchers in the Far East, this text examines Markov Decision Processes - also called stochastic dynamic programming - and their applications in the optimal control of discrete event systems, optimal replacement, and optimal allocations in sequential online auctions. This dynamic new book offers fresh applications of MDPs in areas such as the control of discrete event systems and the optimal allocations in sequential online auctions.

Download or read book Markov Processes and Controlled Markov Chains written by Zhenting Hou and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-12-01 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The general theory of stochastic processes and the more specialized theory of Markov processes evolved enormously in the second half of the last century. In parallel, the theory of controlled Markov chains (or Markov decision processes) was being pioneered by control engineers and operations researchers. Researchers in Markov processes and controlled Markov chains have been, for a long time, aware of the synergies between these two subject areas. However, this may be the first volume dedicated to highlighting these synergies and, almost certainly, it is the first volume that emphasizes the contributions of the vibrant and growing Chinese school of probability. The chapters that appear in this book reflect both the maturity and the vitality of modern day Markov processes and controlled Markov chains. They also will provide an opportunity to trace the connections that have emerged between the work done by members of the Chinese school of probability and the work done by the European, US, Central and South American and Asian scholars.

Download or read book Examples in Markov Decision Processes written by A. B. Piunovskiy and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2013 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This invaluable book provides approximately eighty examples illustrating the theory of controlled discrete-time Markov processes. Except for applications of the theory to real-life problems like stock exchange, queues, gambling, optimal search etc, the main attention is paid to counter-intuitive, unexpected properties of optimization problems. Such examples illustrate the importance of conditions imposed in the theorems on Markov Decision Processes. Many of the examples are based upon examples published earlier in journal articles or textbooks while several other examples are new. The aim was to collect them together in one reference book which should be considered as a complement to existing monographs on Markov decision processes. The book is self-contained and unified in presentation. The main theoretical statements and constructions are provided, and particular examples can be read independently of others. Examples in Markov Decision Processes is an essential source of reference for mathematicians and all those who apply the optimal control theory to practical purposes. When studying or using mathematical methods, the researcher must understand what can happen if some of the conditions imposed in rigorous theorems are not satisfied. Many examples confirming the importance of such conditions were published in different journal articles which are often difficult to find. This book brings together examples based upon such sources, along with several new ones. In addition, it indicates the areas where Markov decision processes can be used. Active researchers can refer to this book on applicability of mathematical methods and theorems. It is also suitable reading for graduate and research students where they will better understand the theory.

Download or read book Continuous Time Markov Decision Processes written by Alexey Piunovskiy and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-09 with total page 605 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a systematic and rigorous treatment of continuous-time Markov decision processes, covering both theory and possible applications to queueing systems, epidemiology, finance, and other fields. Unlike most books on the subject, much attention is paid to problems with functional constraints and the realizability of strategies. Three major methods of investigations are presented, based on dynamic programming, linear programming, and reduction to discrete-time problems. Although the main focus is on models with total (discounted or undiscounted) cost criteria, models with average cost criteria and with impulsive controls are also discussed in depth. The book is self-contained. A separate chapter is devoted to Markov pure jump processes and the appendices collect the requisite background on real analysis and applied probability. All the statements in the main text are proved in detail. Researchers and graduate students in applied probability, operational research, statistics and engineering will find this monograph interesting, useful and valuable.