Sample Complexity of Policy Gradient for Log-Growth Control
We study the sample complexity of policy gradient for log-growth control -- the problem of learning, from observed state transitions, a feedback gain that optimally stabilizes a scalar linear system driven through a multiplicative-noise actuation channel. The objective $J(K) = \mathbb{E}[\log|1+BK|]$ is the top Lyapunov exponent of the closed loop. This problem carries a structural difficulty we call the cusp obstruction: the optimal gain $K^*$ always places the noise singularity $b_{\rm sing}(K) = -1/K$ in the interior of the support. At this singular optimum the policy gradient exists only as a Cauchy principal value, not as a Lebesgue integral, and the natural single-sample gradient es...
| Authors | Qiuhua Pan, Yukai Shen, Liwei Zhang et al. |
|---|---|
| Primary category | eess.SY |
| Published | 26 May 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 26 May 2026 |
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