On the Optimal Deterministic Policy Learning in Chance-Constrained Markov Decision Processes

Constrained Markov Decision Processes (CMDPs) are widely used for online decision-making under constraints. However, their applicability is often limited by the reliance on expectation-based linear constraints. Chance-Constrained MDPs (CCMDPs) address this by incorporating nonlinear, probabilistic constraints, yet are often intractable and approximated via CVaR-based reformulations. In this letter, we propose a tractable framework for CCMDPs to exactly solve the best deterministic policies based on a three-stage, model-based constraint learning algorithm. Theoretically, we establish a polynomial sample complexity guarantee for feasible policy optimization using a novel distributional concentration analysis. A case study on a thermostatically controlled load demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach.

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Publication Details

Journal
IEEE Control Systems Letters
Published
2025-01-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1109/lcsys.2025.3610666
Primary Topic
Bayesian Modeling and Causal Inference
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

On the Optimal Deterministic Policy Learning in Chance-Constrained Markov Decision Processes

Chenye Wu, Chenbei Lu, Hongyu Yi
IEEE Control Systems Letters
Bayesian Modeling and Causal Inference
article

On the Optimal Deterministic Policy Learning in Chance-Constrained Markov Decision Processes

Chenye Wu, Chenbei Lu, Hongyu Yi
article en

Abstract

Constrained Markov Decision Processes (CMDPs) are widely used for online decision-making under constraints. However, their applicability is often limited by the reliance on expectation-based linear constraints. Chance-Constrained MDPs (CCMDPs) address this by incorporating nonlinear, probabilistic constraints, yet are often intractable and approximated via CVaR-based reformulations. In this letter, we propose a tractable framework for CCMDPs to exactly solve the best deterministic policies based on a three-stage, model-based constraint learning algorithm. Theoretically, we establish a polynomial sample complexity guarantee for feasible policy optimization using a novel distributional concentration analysis. A case study on a thermostatically controlled load demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach.

IEEE Control Systems Letters
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CN), Tsinghua University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 87%
Bayesian Modeling and Causal Inference
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