Vector Symbolic Policy Gradient
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Abstract (arXiv)
We answer this question with Vector-Symbolic Policy Gradient (VSPG), a discrete-action actor that represents each action by a unit-norm hypervector and scores it by similarity to the encoded state. Under the standard softmax policy-gradient surrogate, we prove that its update is exactly advantage-weighted hypervector bundling followed by normalization, and therefore supports standard advantage estimators. We further show that each trained action hypervector is a fixed-size compressed kernel memory, storing an advantage-weighted kernel expansion over visited states and transferring evidence according to the encoder-induced similarity. This provides a concrete mechanism that can support sample-efficient learning without increasing inference-time memory. Finally, for bipolar action memories, we prove that greedy action selection is stable under random bit flips, with failure probability decaying exponentially in the hypervector dimension. VSPG thus connects VSA action memories, log-linear policy gradients, and kernel policy search while providing a quantitative robustness guarantee.
Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 19 of its 50 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 19 Aug 2026.
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References · 19
- 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithmscited by 14,441
- 2021Emerging Properties in Self-Supervised Vision Transformerscited by 6,893
- 2013Playing Atari with Deep Reinforcement Learningcited by 3,211
- 2015High-Dimensional Continuous Control Using Generalized Advantage Estimationcited by 1,916
- 2021The Surprising Effectiveness of PPO in Cooperative, Multi-Agent Gamescited by 903
- 2023Minigrid & Miniworld: Modular & Customizable Reinforcement Learning Environments for Goal-Oriented Taskscited by 320
- 2020On the Global Convergence Rates of Softmax Policy Gradient Methodscited by 258
- 2021A Survey on Hyperdimensional Computing aka Vector Symbolic Architectures, Part I: Models and Data Transformationscited by 98
- 2018Blessing of dimensionality: mathematical foundations of the statistical physics of datacited by 55
- 2020A Theoretical Perspective on Hyperdimensional Computingcited by 43
- 2019EDEN: Enabling Energy-Efficient, High-Performance Deep Neural Network Inference Using Approximate DRAMcited by 24
- 2022Understanding Hyperdimensional Computing for Parallel Single-Pass Learningcited by 20
7 more
- 2024HyperSense: Hyperdimensional Intelligent Sensing for Energy-Efficient Sparse Data Processingcited by 7
- 2023BERRY: Bit Error Robustness for Energy-Efficient Reinforcement Learning-Based Autonomous Systemscited by 5
- 2024Enhancing Robustness in Deep Reinforcement Learning: A Lyapunov Exponent Approachcited by 4
- 2024HPVM-HDC: A Heterogeneous Programming System for Accelerating Hyperdimensional Computingcited by 4
- 2025LogHD: Robust Compression of Hyperdimensional Classifiers via Logarithmic Class-Axis Reductioncited by 2
- 2026Bridging the Gap Between Hyperdimensional Computing and Kernel Methods via the Nystr"om Methodcited by 2
- 2026ImageHD: Energy-Efficient On-Device Continual Learning of Visual Representations via Hyperdimensional Computingcited by 1
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