arXiv:2606.21173cs.LGcs.AI2026-06

用价值函数反推环境模型,让无模型强化学习隐含世界模型。

Inverting the Bellman Equation: From $Q$-Values to World Models

  • 从Q值、策略和奖励中逆推环境转移概率P,实现模型重建。
  • 在少数奖励函数训练下,模型在多个环境中准确捕捉动态行为。
  • 揭示了无模型与有模型强化学习的深层联系,适合研究者参考。

传统强化学习中,基于模型与无模型方法被视为两类独立范式:后者通常仅估计特定策略下的价值函数,而不学习环境转移核P。本文挑战这一二分法,证明在足够丰富的奖励函数(如目标条件强化学习)训练下,基于价值的智能体隐式编码了唯一且精确的世界模型。为实际提取该模型,我们提出P-learning,一种对Q-learning的逆向算法,通过采样智能体的Q值、策略与奖励来解码其内部环境模型。我们给出了在有限或连续状态空间下,适用于随机与确定性马尔可夫决策过程的充分条件,确保智能体能编码真实转移核P。即使假设不完全满足,实验表明在少量奖励函数训练后,智能体在Reacher、MountainCar及FourRooms的随机变体中仍能准确建模动态。令人意外的是,仅基于位置训练的Reacher智能体,其隐含模型生成的策略在分布外的速度型目标上表现接近最优,暗示智能体具备隐藏的泛化能力,并为理解基于模型、无模型及目标条件强化学习间的关系提供了新视角。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Model-based and model-free reinforcement learning are traditionally viewed as separate paradigms: instead of learning a model of the transition kernel $P$, model-free agents typically estimate value functions tied to a specific policy and reward. In this paper, we challenge this dichotomy by proving that value-based agents trained on a sufficiently rich set of reward functions, e.g. using goal-conditioned RL, implicitly encode a unique and accurate world model. To extract this model in practice, we introduce \textit{$P$-learning}, an inverse analogue to $Q$-learning that samples from an agent's $Q$-values, policies and rewards to decode its internal model of the environment. We then provide sufficient conditions on the type and number of goals for which agents encode the true kernel $P$, covering both stochastic and deterministic MDPs over finite or continuous state spaces. Even when our assumptions are violated, we empirically demonstrate that agents trained on a handful of reward functions encode accurate dynamics in $\texttt{Reacher}$, $\texttt{MountainCar}$ and stochastic variants of $\texttt{FourRooms}$. Surprisingly, we find that policies trained exclusively on a \texttt{Reacher} agent's implicit world model are quasi-optimal on out-of-distribution, velocity-based goals despite position-only training -- suggesting that agents contain hidden generalisation capabilities and providing a new lens into the connection between model-based, model-free, and goal-conditioned RL.

强化学习世界模型价值函数

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