# Neural Network Approximation for Pessimistic Offline Reinforcement Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.11863 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.11863/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Offline RL algorithms, one of 13 directions in Offline RL and imitation learning from data.
- Builds on 47 of its 86 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 19 Dec 2023.

## Placed in

- Offline RL and imitation learning from data / [Offline RL algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/offlinerl/offline-rl-algorithms/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 47)

- [Offline Reinforcement Learning: Tutorial, Review, and Perspectives on Open Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.01643/) (2020)
- [Conservative Q-Learning for Offline Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.04779/) (2020)
- [D4RL: Datasets for Deep Data-Driven Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.07219/) (2020)
- [Offline Reinforcement Learning with Implicit Q-Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.06169/) (2021)
- [Stabilizing Off-Policy Q-Learning via Bootstrapping Error Reduction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.00949/) (2019)
- [Nonparametric regression using deep neural networks with ReLU activation function](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.06633/) (2017)
- [On the Number of Linear Regions of Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1402.1869/) (2014)
- [Is Pessimism Provably Efficient for Offline RL?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.15085/) (2020)
- [The Intrinsic Dimension of Images and Its Impact on Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.08894/) (2021)
- [Nearly-tight VC-dimension and pseudodimension bounds for piecewise linear neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.02930/) (2017)
- [Information-Theoretic Considerations in Batch Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.00360/) (2019)
- [Bridging Offline Reinforcement Learning and Imitation Learning: A Tale of Pessimism](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.12021/) (2021)
- [Bellman-consistent Pessimism for Offline Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.06926/) (2021)
- [A Theoretical Analysis of Deep Q-Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.00137/) (2019)
- [Keep Doing What Worked: Behavioral Modelling Priors for Offline Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.08396/) (2020)
- [Sensitivity and Generalization in Neural Networks: an Empirical Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.08760/) (2018)
- [Optimal approximation of continuous functions by very deep ReLU networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.03620/) (2018)
- [Deep Network Approximation for Smooth Functions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.03040/) (2020)
- [Pessimistic Model-based Offline Reinforcement Learning under Partial Coverage](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.06226/) (2021)
- [Adaptivity of deep ReLU network for learning in Besov and mixed smooth Besov spaces: optimal rate and curse of dimensionality](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.08033/) (2018)
- [Neural Policy Gradient Methods: Global Optimality and Rates of Convergence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.01150/) (2019)
- [Minimax Weight and Q-Function Learning for Off-Policy Evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.12809/) (2019)
- [Safe Policy Improvement with Baseline Bootstrapping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.06924/) (2017)
- [What are the Statistical Limits of Offline RL with Linear Function Approximation?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11895/) (2020)
- [Offline Reinforcement Learning with Realizability and Single-policy Concentrability](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.04634/) (2022)
- [Deep Network Approximation Characterized by Number of Neurons](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.05497/) (2019)
- [Variational Policy Gradient Method for Reinforcement Learning with General Utilities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.02151/) (2020)
- [Batch Value-function Approximation with Only Realizability](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.04990/) (2020)
- [Finite-Sample Analysis for SARSA with Linear Function Approximation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.02234/) (2019)
- [Efficiently Breaking the Curse of Horizon in Off-Policy Evaluation with Double Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.05850/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [PINS: Proximal Iterations with Sparse Newton and Sinkhorn for Optimal Transport](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.03749/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Deep reinforcement learning (RL) has shown remarkable success in specific offline decision-making scenarios, yet its theoretical guarantees are still under development. Existing works on offline RL theory primarily emphasize a few trivial settings, such as linear MDP or general function approximation with strong assumptions and independent data, which lack guidance for practical use. The coupling of deep learning and Bellman residuals makes this problem challenging, in addition to the difficulty of data dependence. In this paper, we establish a non-asymptotic estimation error of pessimistic offline RL using general neural network approximation with C-mixing data regarding the structure of networks, the dimension of datasets, and the concentrability of data coverage, under mild assumptions. Our result shows that the estimation error consists of two parts: the first converges to zero at a desired rate on the sample size with partially controllable concentrability, and the second becomes negligible if the residual constraint is tight. This result demonstrates the explicit efficiency of deep adversarial offline RL frameworks. We utilize the empirical process tool for C-mixing sequences and the neural network approximation theory for the H"older class to achieve this. We also develop methods to bound the Bellman estimation error caused by function approximation with empirical Bellman constraint perturbations. Additionally, we present a result that lessens the curse of dimensionality using data with low intrinsic dimensionality and function classes with low complexity. Our estimation provides valuable insights into the development of deep offline RL and guidance for algorithm model design.