Search Results

Documents authored by Oualhadj, Youssouf


Document
Arena-Independent Finite-Memory Determinacy in Stochastic Games

Authors: Patricia Bouyer, Youssouf Oualhadj, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 203, 32nd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2021)


Abstract
We study stochastic zero-sum games on graphs, which are prevalent tools to model decision-making in presence of an antagonistic opponent in a random environment. In this setting, an important question is the one of strategy complexity: what kinds of strategies are sufficient or required to play optimally (e.g., randomization or memory requirements)? Our contributions further the understanding of arena-independent finite-memory (AIFM) determinacy, i.e., the study of objectives for which memory is needed, but in a way that only depends on limited parameters of the game graphs. First, we show that objectives for which pure AIFM strategies suffice to play optimally also admit pure AIFM subgame perfect strategies. Second, we show that we can reduce the study of objectives for which pure AIFM strategies suffice in two-player stochastic games to the easier study of one-player stochastic games (i.e., Markov decision processes). Third, we characterize the sufficiency of AIFM strategies through two intuitive properties of objectives. This work extends a line of research started on deterministic games in [Bouyer et al., 2020] to stochastic ones.

Cite as

Patricia Bouyer, Youssouf Oualhadj, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove. Arena-Independent Finite-Memory Determinacy in Stochastic Games. In 32nd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 203, pp. 26:1-26:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{bouyer_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2021.26,
  author =	{Bouyer, Patricia and Oualhadj, Youssouf and Randour, Mickael and Vandenhove, Pierre},
  title =	{{Arena-Independent Finite-Memory Determinacy in Stochastic Games}},
  booktitle =	{32nd International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2021)},
  pages =	{26:1--26:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-203-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{203},
  editor =	{Haddad, Serge and Varacca, Daniele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2021.26},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-144037},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2021.26},
  annote =	{Keywords: two-player games on graphs, stochastic games, Markov decision processes, finite-memory determinacy, optimal strategies}
}
Document
Games Where You Can Play Optimally with Arena-Independent Finite Memory

Authors: Patricia Bouyer, Stéphane Le Roux, Youssouf Oualhadj, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 171, 31st International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2020)


Abstract
For decades, two-player (antagonistic) games on graphs have been a framework of choice for many important problems in theoretical computer science. A notorious one is controller synthesis, which can be rephrased through the game-theoretic metaphor as the quest for a winning strategy of the system in a game against its antagonistic environment. Depending on the specification, optimal strategies might be simple or quite complex, for example having to use (possibly infinite) memory. Hence, research strives to understand which settings allow for simple strategies. In 2005, Gimbert and Zielonka [Hugo Gimbert and Wieslaw Zielonka, 2005] provided a complete characterization of preference relations (a formal framework to model specifications and game objectives) that admit memoryless optimal strategies for both players. In the last fifteen years however, practical applications have driven the community toward games with complex or multiple objectives, where memory - finite or infinite - is almost always required. Despite much effort, the exact frontiers of the class of preference relations that admit finite-memory optimal strategies still elude us. In this work, we establish a complete characterization of preference relations that admit optimal strategies using arena-independent finite memory, generalizing the work of Gimbert and Zielonka to the finite-memory case. We also prove an equivalent to their celebrated corollary of great practical interest: if both players have optimal (arena-independent-)finite-memory strategies in all one-player games, then it is also the case in all two-player games. Finally, we pinpoint the boundaries of our results with regard to the literature: our work completely covers the case of arena-independent memory (e.g., multiple parity objectives, lower- and upper-bounded energy objectives), and paves the way to the arena-dependent case (e.g., multiple lower-bounded energy objectives).

Cite as

Patricia Bouyer, Stéphane Le Roux, Youssouf Oualhadj, Mickael Randour, and Pierre Vandenhove. Games Where You Can Play Optimally with Arena-Independent Finite Memory. In 31st International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 171, pp. 24:1-24:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{bouyer_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2020.24,
  author =	{Bouyer, Patricia and Le Roux, St\'{e}phane and Oualhadj, Youssouf and Randour, Mickael and Vandenhove, Pierre},
  title =	{{Games Where You Can Play Optimally with Arena-Independent Finite Memory}},
  booktitle =	{31st International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2020)},
  pages =	{24:1--24:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-160-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{171},
  editor =	{Konnov, Igor and Kov\'{a}cs, Laura},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2020.24},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-128360},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2020.24},
  annote =	{Keywords: two-player games on graphs, finite-memory determinacy, optimal strategies}
}
Document
Life Is Random, Time Is Not: Markov Decision Processes with Window Objectives

Authors: Thomas Brihaye, Florent Delgrange, Youssouf Oualhadj, and Mickael Randour

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 140, 30th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2019)


Abstract
The window mechanism was introduced by Chatterjee et al. [Krishnendu Chatterjee et al., 2015] to strengthen classical game objectives with time bounds. It permits to synthesize system controllers that exhibit acceptable behaviors within a configurable time frame, all along their infinite execution, in contrast to the traditional objectives that only require correctness of behaviors in the limit. The window concept has proved its interest in a variety of two-player zero-sum games, thanks to the ability to reason about such time bounds in system specifications, but also the increased tractability that it usually yields. In this work, we extend the window framework to stochastic environments by considering the fundamental threshold probability problem in Markov decision processes for window objectives. That is, given such an objective, we want to synthesize strategies that guarantee satisfying runs with a given probability. We solve this problem for the usual variants of window objectives, where either the time frame is set as a parameter, or we ask if such a time frame exists. We develop a generic approach for window-based objectives and instantiate it for the classical mean-payoff and parity objectives, already considered in games. Our work paves the way to a wide use of the window mechanism in stochastic models.

Cite as

Thomas Brihaye, Florent Delgrange, Youssouf Oualhadj, and Mickael Randour. Life Is Random, Time Is Not: Markov Decision Processes with Window Objectives. In 30th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2019). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 140, pp. 8:1-8:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2019)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{brihaye_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2019.8,
  author =	{Brihaye, Thomas and Delgrange, Florent and Oualhadj, Youssouf and Randour, Mickael},
  title =	{{Life Is Random, Time Is Not: Markov Decision Processes with Window Objectives}},
  booktitle =	{30th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2019)},
  pages =	{8:1--8:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-121-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2019},
  volume =	{140},
  editor =	{Fokkink, Wan and van Glabbeek, Rob},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2019.8},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-109103},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2019.8},
  annote =	{Keywords: Markov decision processes, window mean-payoff, window parity}
}
Document
The Complexity of Rational Synthesis for Concurrent Games

Authors: Rodica Condurache, Youssouf Oualhadj, and Nicolas Troquard

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 118, 29th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2018)


Abstract
In this paper, we investigate the rational synthesis problem for concurrent game structures for a variety of objectives ranging from reachability to Muller condition. We propose a new algorithm that establishes the decidability of the non cooperative rational synthesis problem that relies solely on game theoretic techniques as opposed to previous approaches that are logic based. Given an instance of the rational synthesis problem, we construct a zero-sum turn-based game that can be adapted to each one of the class of objectives. We obtain new complexity results. In particular, we show that in the cases of reachability, safety, Büchi, and co-Büchi objectives the problem is in PSpace, providing a tight upper-bound to the PSpace-hardness already established for turn-based games. In the case of Muller objective the problem is in ExpTime. We also obtain positive results when we assume a fixed number of agents, in which case the problem falls into PTime for reachability, safety, Büchi, and co-Büchi objectives.

Cite as

Rodica Condurache, Youssouf Oualhadj, and Nicolas Troquard. The Complexity of Rational Synthesis for Concurrent Games. In 29th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 118, pp. 38:1-38:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{condurache_et_al:LIPIcs.CONCUR.2018.38,
  author =	{Condurache, Rodica and Oualhadj, Youssouf and Troquard, Nicolas},
  title =	{{The Complexity of Rational Synthesis for Concurrent Games}},
  booktitle =	{29th International Conference on Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2018)},
  pages =	{38:1--38:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-087-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{118},
  editor =	{Schewe, Sven and Zhang, Lijun},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2018.38},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-95766},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CONCUR.2018.38},
  annote =	{Keywords: Synthesis, concurrent games, Nash equilibria}
}
Questions / Remarks / Feedback
X

Feedback for Dagstuhl Publishing


Thanks for your feedback!

Feedback submitted

Could not send message

Please try again later or send an E-mail