9.4:定理9.3的证明
由\(\bar{v}_\pi\)的定义,
\[\begin{aligned}
\nabla_\theta\bar{v}_\pi
&=\nabla_\theta\sum_{s\in\mathcal{S}}d_\pi(s)v_\pi(s)\\
&=\sum_{s\in\mathcal{S}}\nabla_\theta d_\pi(s)v_\pi(s)
+\sum_{s\in\mathcal{S}}d_\pi(s)\nabla_\theta v_\pi(s).
\end{aligned}\tag{9.20}\]
上式包含两项。先处理第二项。将式\((9.17)\)中\(\nabla_\theta v_\pi\)的表达式代入,可得
\[\begin{aligned}
\sum_{s\in\mathcal{S}}d_\pi(s)\nabla_\theta v_\pi(s)
&=(d_\pi^T\otimes I_m)\nabla_\theta v_\pi\\
&=(d_\pi^T\otimes I_m)[(I_n-\gamma P_\pi)^{-1}\otimes I_m]u\\
&=[d_\pi^T(I_n-\gamma P_\pi)^{-1}\otimes I_m]u.
\end{aligned}\tag{9.21}\]
注意
\[d_\pi^T(I_n-\gamma P_\pi)^{-1}=\frac{1}{1-\gamma}d_\pi^T,\]
这一点可通过在等式两边右乘\((I_n-\gamma P_\pi)\)验证。因此式\((9.21)\)变为
\[\sum_{s\in\mathcal{S}}d_\pi(s)\nabla_\theta v_\pi(s)
=\frac{1}{1-\gamma}\sum_{s\in\mathcal{S}}d_\pi(s)\sum_{a\in\mathcal{A}}\nabla_\theta\pi(a|s,\theta)q_\pi(s,a).\]
另一方面,式\((9.20)\)中的第一项包含\(\nabla_\theta d_\pi\)。但是由于第二项包含因子\(1/(1-\gamma)\),当\(\gamma\to1\)时第二项占主导,而第一项可以忽略。因此
\[\nabla_\theta\bar{v}_\pi
\approx \frac{1}{1-\gamma}\sum_{s\in\mathcal{S}}d_\pi(s)\sum_{a\in\mathcal{A}}\nabla_\theta\pi(a|s,\theta)q_\pi(s,a).\]
进一步,由\(\bar{r}_\pi=(1-\gamma)\bar{v}_\pi\)可得
\[\begin{aligned}
\nabla_\theta\bar{r}_\pi
&=(1-\gamma)\nabla_\theta\bar{v}_\pi\\
&\approx \sum_{s\in\mathcal{S}}d_\pi(s)\sum_{a\in\mathcal{A}}\nabla_\theta\pi(a|s,\theta)q_\pi(s,a)\\
&=\sum_{s\in\mathcal{S}}d_\pi(s)\sum_{a\in\mathcal{A}}\pi(a|s,\theta)\nabla_\theta\ln\pi(a|s,\theta)q_\pi(s,a)\\
&=\mathbb{E}[\nabla_\theta\ln\pi(A|S,\theta)q_\pi(S,A)].
\end{aligned}\]
上面的近似要求当\(\gamma\to1\)时,式\((9.20)\)中的第一项不会趋于无穷。更多讨论可参见文献[66, Section 4]。