Welcome to the Jungle: A Conceptual Comparison of Reinforcement Learning Algorithms

Kenneth Schröder, Alexander Kastius, Rainer Schlosser

2023

Abstract

Reinforcement Learning (RL) has continuously risen in popularity in recent years. Consequently, multiple RL algorithms and extensions have been developed for various use cases. This makes RL applicable to a wide range of problems today. When searching for suitable RL algorithms to specific problems, the options are overwhelming. Identifying the advantages and disadvantages of methods is difficult, as sources use conflicting terminology, imply improvements to alternative algorithms without mathematical or empirical proof, or provide incomplete information. As a result, there is the chance for engineers and researchers to miss alternatives or perfect-fit algorithms for their specific problems. In this paper, we identify and explain essential RL properties. Our discussion of different RL concepts allows to select, optimize, and compare RL algorithms and their extensions, as well as reason about their performance.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Schröder K., Kastius A. and Schlosser R. (2023). Welcome to the Jungle: A Conceptual Comparison of Reinforcement Learning Algorithms. In Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Operations Research and Enterprise Systems - Volume 1: ICORES, ISBN 978-989-758-627-9, pages 143-150. DOI: 10.5220/0011626700003396

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icores23,
author={Kenneth Schröder and Alexander Kastius and Rainer Schlosser},
title={Welcome to the Jungle: A Conceptual Comparison of Reinforcement Learning Algorithms},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Operations Research and Enterprise Systems - Volume 1: ICORES,},
year={2023},
pages={143-150},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0011626700003396},
isbn={978-989-758-627-9},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Operations Research and Enterprise Systems - Volume 1: ICORES,
TI - Welcome to the Jungle: A Conceptual Comparison of Reinforcement Learning Algorithms
SN - 978-989-758-627-9
AU - Schröder K.
AU - Kastius A.
AU - Schlosser R.
PY - 2023
SP - 143
EP - 150
DO - 10.5220/0011626700003396