arXiv:2603.08518cs.LGstat.ML2026-03被引 2

解决多目标强化学习中非线性加权的梯度偏差问题,实现最优样本效率。

Breaking the Bias Barrier in Concave Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning

  • 提出基于多级蒙特卡洛的自然策略梯度算法,控制非线性加权梯度偏差。
  • 证明新方法达到最优的采样复杂度 $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(ε^{-2})$,优于原有方法的 $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(ε^{-4})$。
  • 当加权函数二阶光滑时,无需复杂估计器即可达最优,适合高阶平滑场景使用。

标准强化学习优化单一奖励信号,但许多应用需在多个目标上优化非线性效用函数 $f(J_1^π,…,J_M^π)$,其中 $J_m^π$ 表示不同奖励函数的期望折扣回报。常用方法为凹函数标量化,可捕捉公平性与风险敏感等权衡。然而,非线性标化导致策略梯度方法的根本挑战:梯度依赖于 $\partial f(J^π)$,而实践中仅能获得经验回报估计 $\hat J$。由于 $f$ 非线性,直接代入产生偏差($\mathbb{E}[\partial f(\hat J)] ≠ \partial f(\mathbb{E}[\hat J])$),造成持续梯度偏差,降低样本效率。本文识别并克服该偏差障碍。我们证明现有策略梯度方法因该偏差存在固有 $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(ε^{-4})$ 采样复杂度。为此,我们设计一种配备多级蒙特卡洛(MLMC)估计器的自然策略梯度(NPG)算法,在控制标化梯度偏差的同时保持低采样成本。理论证明该方法在计算 $ε$-最优策略时达到最优 $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(ε^{-2})$ 复杂度。此外,当标化函数二阶光滑时,一阶偏差自动抵消,原生 NPG 即可达到相同最优率而无需 MLMC。本工作首次为凹标化多目标强化学习提供策略梯度方法下的最优采样复杂度保证。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

While standard reinforcement learning optimizes a single reward signal, many applications require optimizing a nonlinear utility $f(J_1^π,\dots,J_M^π)$ over multiple objectives, where each $J_m^π$ denotes the expected discounted return of a distinct reward function. A common approach is concave scalarization, which captures important trade-offs such as fairness and risk sensitivity. However, nonlinear scalarization introduces a fundamental challenge for policy gradient methods: the gradient depends on $\partial f(J^π)$, while in practice only empirical return estimates $\hat J$ are available. Because $f$ is nonlinear, the plug-in estimator is biased ($\mathbb{E}[\partial f(\hat J)] \neq \partial f(\mathbb{E}[\hat J])$), leading to persistent gradient bias that degrades sample complexity. In this work we identify and overcome this bias barrier in concave-scalarized multi-objective reinforcement learning. We show that existing policy-gradient methods suffer an intrinsic $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(ε^{-4})$ sample complexity due to this bias. To address this issue, we develop a Natural Policy Gradient (NPG) algorithm equipped with a multi-level Monte Carlo (MLMC) estimator that controls the bias of the scalarization gradient while maintaining low sampling cost. We prove that this approach achieves the optimal $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(ε^{-2})$ sample complexity for computing an $ε$-optimal policy. Furthermore, we show that when the scalarization function is second-order smooth, the first-order bias cancels automatically, allowing vanilla NPG to achieve the same $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(ε^{-2})$ rate without MLMC. Our results provide the first optimal sample complexity guarantees for concave multi-objective reinforcement learning under policy-gradient methods.

强化学习多目标策略梯度采样效率

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