Markov Decision Processes

Dynamic programming, value/policy iteration, and average-reward MDPs.


field tier

Markov Decision Processes. Dynamic programming, value/policy iteration, and average-reward MDPs.

Foundations and canonical references

The standard treatments of markov decision processes approach the subject from complementary angles. Puterman, Markov Decision Processes: Discrete Stochastic Dynamic Programming (1994) is the anchor reference for the subject and lays out the core definitions, theorems, and worked examples that practitioners return to. Bertsekas, Dynamic Programming and Optimal Control (2017) gives a parallel, more proof-oriented exposition of the same material and is widely used as a graduate text.

Open methodological questions for markov decision processes include sharpening the bridges between foundational theory and computational practice, extending classical results to broader or more structured settings, and integrating the techniques surveyed above with adjacent mathematical disciplines. The references listed in this page are the entry points that current work builds on.

Prerequisites

Sources

  • textbook · primary · 1994
    Markov Decision Processes: Discrete Stochastic Dynamic Programming
    puterman-1994
  • textbook · primary · 2017
    Dynamic Programming and Optimal Control
    bertsekas-2017

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