Download or read book Markov Decision Processes and Stochastic Positional Games written by Dmitrii Lozovanu and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2024-02-13 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents recent findings and results concerning the solutions of especially finite state-space Markov decision problems and determining Nash equilibria for related stochastic games with average and total expected discounted reward payoffs. In addition, it focuses on a new class of stochastic games: stochastic positional games that extend and generalize the classic deterministic positional games. It presents new algorithmic results on the suitable implementation of quasi-monotonic programming techniques. Moreover, the book presents applications of positional games within a class of multi-objective discrete control problems and hierarchical control problems on networks. Given its scope, the book will benefit all researchers and graduate students who are interested in Markov theory, control theory, optimization and games.

Download or read book Algorithmic Decision Theory written by Jörg Rothe and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-10-13 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the conference proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Algorithmic Decision Theory , ADT 2017, held in Luxembourg, in October 2017.The 22 full papers presented together with 6 short papers, 4 keynote abstracts, and 6 Doctoral Consortium papers, were carefully selected from 45 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on preferences and multi-criteria decision aiding; decision making and voting; game theory and decision theory; and allocation and matching.

Download or read book Competitive Markov Decision Processes written by Jerzy Filar and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is intended as a text covering the central concepts and techniques of Competitive Markov Decision Processes. It is an attempt to present a rig orous treatment that combines two significant research topics: Stochastic Games and Markov Decision Processes, which have been studied exten sively, and at times quite independently, by mathematicians, operations researchers, engineers, and economists. Since Markov decision processes can be viewed as a special noncompeti tive case of stochastic games, we introduce the new terminology Competi tive Markov Decision Processes that emphasizes the importance of the link between these two topics and of the properties of the underlying Markov processes. The book is designed to be used either in a classroom or for self-study by a mathematically mature reader. In the Introduction (Chapter 1) we outline a number of advanced undergraduate and graduate courses for which this book could usefully serve as a text. A characteristic feature of competitive Markov decision processes - and one that inspired our long-standing interest - is that they can serve as an "orchestra" containing the "instruments" of much of modern applied (and at times even pure) mathematics. They constitute a topic where the instruments of linear algebra, applied probability, mathematical program ming, analysis, and even algebraic geometry can be "played" sometimes solo and sometimes in harmony to produce either beautifully simple or equally beautiful, but baroque, melodies, that is, theorems.

Download or read book Frontiers of Dynamic Games written by Leon A. Petrosyan and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-09-25 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is devoted to game theory and its applications to environmental problems, economics, and management. It collects contributions originating from the 12th International Conference on “Game Theory and Management” 2018 (GTM2018) held at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia, from 27 to 29 June 2018.

Download or read book Optimization of Stochastic Discrete Systems and Control on Complex Networks written by Dmitrii Lozovanu and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-11-27 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the latest findings on stochastic dynamic programming models and on solving optimal control problems in networks. It includes the authors’ new findings on determining the optimal solution of discrete optimal control problems in networks and on solving game variants of Markov decision problems in the context of computational networks. First, the book studies the finite state space of Markov processes and reviews the existing methods and algorithms for determining the main characteristics in Markov chains, before proposing new approaches based on dynamic programming and combinatorial methods. Chapter two is dedicated to infinite horizon stochastic discrete optimal control models and Markov decision problems with average and expected total discounted optimization criteria, while Chapter three develops a special game-theoretical approach to Markov decision processes and stochastic discrete optimal control problems. In closing, the book’s final chapter is devoted to finite horizon stochastic control problems and Markov decision processes. The algorithms developed represent a valuable contribution to the important field of computational network theory.

Download or read book Optimization Control and Applications in the Information Age written by Athanasios Migdalas and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-07-30 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent developments in theory, algorithms, and applications in optimization and control are discussed in this proceedings, based on selected talks from the ‘Optimization Control and Applications in the Information Age’ conference, organized in honor of Panos Pardalos’s 60th birthday. This volume contains numerous applications to optimal decision making in energy production and fuel management, data mining, logistics, supply chain management, market network analysis, risk analysis, and community network analysis. In addition, a short biography is included describing Dr. Pardalos’s path from a shepherd village on the high mountains of Thessaly to academic success. Due to the wide range of topics such as global optimization, combinatorial optimization, game theory, stochastics and programming contained in this publication, scientists, researchers, and students in optimization, operations research, analytics, mathematics and computer science will be interested in this volume.

Download or read book Operations Research Proceedings 2011 written by Diethard Klatte and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-06-07 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains a selection of refereed papers presented at the “International Conference on Operations Research (OR 2011)” which took place at the University of Zurich from August 30 to September 2, 2011. The conference was jointly organized by the German speaking OR societies from Austria (ÖGOR), Germany (GOR) and Switzerland (SVOR) under the patronage of SVOR. More than 840 scientists and students from over 50 countries attended OR 2011 and presented 620 papers in 16 parallel topical streams, as well as special award sessions. The conference was designed according to the understanding of Operations Research as an interdisciplinary science focusing on modeling complex socio-technical systems to gain insight into behavior under interventions by decision makers. Dealing with “organized complexity” lies in the core of OR and designing useful support systems to master the challenge of system management in complex environment is the ultimate goal of our professional societies. To this end, algorithmic techniques and system modeling are two fundamental competences which are also well-balanced in these proceedings.

Download or read book STACS 2007 written by Wolfgang Thomas and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-02-08 with total page 723 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 24th Annual Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science, STACS 2007, held in Aachen, Germany in February 2007. The 56 revised full papers presented together with 3 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from about 400 submissions. The papers address the whole range of theoretical computer science including algorithms and data structures, automata and formal languages, complexity theory, logic in computer science, semantics, specification, and verification of programs, rewriting and deduction, as well as current challenges like biological computing, quantum computing, and mobile and net computing.

Download or read book Selected Topics on Continuous time Controlled Markov Chains and Markov Games written by Tomás Prieto-Rumeau and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2012 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book concerns continuous-time controlled Markov chains, also known as continuous-time Markov decision processes. They form a class of stochastic control problems in which a single decision-maker wishes to optimize a given objective function. This book is also concerned with Markov games, where two decision-makers (or players) try to optimize their own objective function. Both decision-making processes appear in a large number of applications in economics, operations research, engineering, and computer science, among other areas.An extensive, self-contained, up-to-date analysis of basic optimality criteria (such as discounted and average reward), and advanced optimality criteria (e.g., bias, overtaking, sensitive discount, and Blackwell optimality) is presented. A particular emphasis is made on the application of the results herein: algorithmic and computational issues are discussed, and applications to population models and epidemic processes are shown.This book is addressed to students and researchers in the fields of stochastic control and stochastic games. Moreover, it could be of interest also to undergraduate and beginning graduate students because the reader is not supposed to have a high mathematical background: a working knowledge of calculus, linear algebra, probability, and continuous-time Markov chains should suffice to understand the contents of the book.

Download or read book Stochastic Games and Applications written by Abraham Neyman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is based on lectures given at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Stochastic Games and Applications," which took place at Stony Brook, NY, USA, July 1999. It gives the editors great pleasure to present it on the occasion of L.S. Shapley's eightieth birthday, and on the fiftieth "birthday" of his seminal paper "Stochastic Games," with which this volume opens. We wish to thank NATO for the grant that made the Institute and this volume possible, and the Center for Game Theory in Economics of the State University of New York at Stony Brook for hosting this event. We also wish to thank the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, for providing continuing financial support, without which this project would never have been completed. In particular, we are grateful to our editorial assistant Mike Borns, whose work has been indispensable. We also would like to acknowledge the support of the Ecole Poly tech nique, Paris, and the Israel Science Foundation. March 2003 Abraham Neyman and Sylvain Sorin ix STOCHASTIC GAMES L.S. SHAPLEY University of California at Los Angeles Los Angeles, USA 1. Introduction In a stochastic game the play proceeds by steps from position to position, according to transition probabilities controlled jointly by the two players.

Download or read book Markov Decision Processes in Artificial Intelligence written by Olivier Sigaud and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-03-04 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) are a mathematical framework for modeling sequential decision problems under uncertainty as well as reinforcement learning problems. Written by experts in the field, this book provides a global view of current research using MDPs in artificial intelligence. It starts with an introductory presentation of the fundamental aspects of MDPs (planning in MDPs, reinforcement learning, partially observable MDPs, Markov games and the use of non-classical criteria). It then presents more advanced research trends in the field and gives some concrete examples using illustrative real life applications.

Download or read book Stochastic Multiplayer Games written by Michael Ummels and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stochastic games provide a versatile model for reactive systems that are affected by random events. This dissertation advances the algorithmic theory of stochastic games to incorporate multiple players, whose objectives are not necessarily conflicting. The basis of this work is a comprehensive complexity-theoretic analysis of the standard game-theoretic solution concepts in the context of stochastic games over a finite state space. One main result is that the constrained existence of a Nash equilibrium becomes undecidable in this setting. This impossibility result is accompanied by several positive results, including efficient algorithms for natural special cases.

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 Reducible Markov Decision Processes and Stochastic Games written by Jie Ning and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Markov decision processes (MDPs) provide a powerful framework for analyzing dynamic decision making. However, their applications are significantly hindered by the difficulty of obtaining solutions. In this paper, we introduce reducible MDPs whose exact solution can be obtained by solving a simpler MDP, termed the coordinate MDP. The value function and an optimal policy of a reducible MDP are linear functions of those of the coordinate MDP. The coordinate MDP does not involve the multi-dimensional endogenous state. Thus, we achieve dimension reduction on the reducible MDP by solving the coordinate MDP.Extending the MDP framework to multiple players, we introduce reducible stochastic games. We show that these games reduce to simpler coordinate games that do not involve the multi-dimensional endogenous state. We specify sufficient conditions for the existence of a pure-strategy Markov perfect equilibrium in reducible stochastic games and derive closed-form expressions for the players' equilibrium values.The reducible framework encompasses a variety of linear and nonlinear models and offers substantial simplification in analysis and computation. We provide guidelines for formulating problems as reducible models and illustrate ways to transform a model into the reducible framework. We demonstrate the applicability and modeling flexibility of reducible models in a wide range of contexts including capacity and inventory management and duopoly competition.

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 Automata Languages and Programming written by Michele Bugliesi and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-06-30 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The two-volume set LNCS 4051 and LNCS 4052 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 33rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming, ICALP 2006, held in Venice, Italy, July 2006. In all, these volumes present more 100 papers and lectures. Volume II (4052) presents 2 invited papers and 2 additional conference tracks with 24 papers each, focusing on algorithms, automata, complexity and games as well as on security and cryptography foundation.

Download or read book Constrained Markov Decision Processes written by Eitan Altman and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1999-03-30 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a unified approach for the study of constrained Markov decision processes with a finite state space and unbounded costs. Unlike the single controller case considered in many other books, the author considers a single controller with several objectives, such as minimizing delays and loss, probabilities, and maximization of throughputs. It is desirable to design a controller that minimizes one cost objective, subject to inequality constraints on other cost objectives. This framework describes dynamic decision problems arising frequently in many engineering fields. A thorough overview of these applications is presented in the introduction. The book is then divided into three sections that build upon each other. The first part explains the theory for the finite state space. The author characterizes the set of achievable expected occupation measures as well as performance vectors, and identifies simple classes of policies among which optimal policies exist. This allows the reduction of the original dynamic into a linear program. A Lagranian approach is then used to derive the dual linear program using dynamic programming techniques. In the second part, these results are extended to the infinite state space and action spaces. The author provides two frameworks: the case where costs are bounded below and the contracting framework. The third part builds upon the results of the first two parts and examines asymptotical results of the convergence of both the value and the policies in the time horizon and in the discount factor. Finally, several state truncation algorithms that enable the approximation of the solution of the original control problem via finite linear programs are given.