解析双值Q学习的谱特性,揭示其收敛机制与更新原理。
Spectral Analysis of Dueling Q-Learning

- 通过谱分析建立确定性双值Q学习的线性系统模型。
- 给出非正则化常步长版本的有限时间期望误差界。
- 阐明价值与优势分量在更新中的不同作用机制。
Q-learning 是强化学习中解决折扣马尔可夫决策过程的经典算法,当转移核未知时依然有效。深度Q网络(DQN)通过深度神经网络近似Q函数,使Q-learning适用于高维实际问题。双值Q学习将Q函数分解为价值函数和优势函数,并联合学习二者,提升了学习效率。然而,对双值Q学习的理论理解仍不充分。近期工作已开始对表格型双值Q学习进行分析,但现有保证多集中于正则化形式,对纯表格更新机制的理解尚不完整。本文通过引入中心化表格分解的直接解释,建立了无正则化、无投影的常步长递归的收敛性保证。特别地,我们推导出确定性双值Q学习的精确切换线性系统表示,并给出了采样随机版本的有限时间期望误差界。分析揭示了价值与优势更新分别对动作共有的(价值函数)和动作差异的(优势函数)成分施加不同增益的作用机制。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Q-learning is a fundamental algorithm in reinforcement learning (RL) for solving discounted Markov decision processes (MDPs) when the transition kernel is unknown. The deep Q-network (DQN) extends Q-learning by using a deep neural network for Q-function approximation, which makes Q-learning applicable to more practical high-dimensional problems. Dueling Q-learning decomposes the Q-function into a value function and an advantage function and learns the two components jointly, which can improve learning efficiency. However, the theoretical understanding of dueling Q-learning is still limited. Recent work has initiated an analysis of tabular dueling Q-learning, but existing guarantees focus on a regularized formulation and leave the pure tabular update less completely understood. This paper strengthens that line of analysis by adding a direct interpretation of the centered tabular decomposition and by establishing convergence guarantees for the unregularized, unprojected constant step-size recursion. In particular, we derive an exact switching linear system representation for deterministic dueling Q-learning and a finite-time error bound in expectation for the sampled stochastic version. The analysis clarifies how the value and advantage updates act as different gains on the action-common (value function) and action-differential (advantage function) components of the Q-function.
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