Methods › Reinforcement Learning › Value Function Estimation › N-step Returns
N-step Returns
archive 2025-07-28 Description, source and code snippet are the archive's method entry.
n-step Returns are used for value function estimation in reinforcement learning. Specifically, for n steps we can write the complete return as:
Rₜ⁽ⁿ⁾ = rₜ₊₁ + γrₜ₊₂ + ⋯+ γⁿ⁻¹ₜ₊ₙ + γⁿVₜ(sₜ₊ₙ)
We can then write an n-step backup, in the style of TD learning, as:
ΔVᵣ(sₜ) = α[Rₜ⁽ⁿ⁾ - Vₜ(sₜ)]
Multi-step returns often lead to faster learning with suitably tuned n.
Image Credit: Sutton and Barto, Reinforcement Learning
Papers archive 2025-07-28
29 shown of 29, newest first. Repository counts are the archive's code-links table. A Syntology line states what Syntology ran from that paper's harvested code; it is per sample and not a correctness claim.
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Shapley Machine: A Game-Theoretic Framework for N-Agent Ad Hoc Teamwork 12 Jun 2025 · 1 repository · arXiv:2506.11285Syntology ran 3 of 3 samples · 0 unverified
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Chunking the Critic: A Transformer-based Soft Actor-Critic with N-Step Returns 5 Mar 2025 · 0 repositories · arXiv:2503.03660
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Beyond The Rainbow: High Performance Deep Reinforcement Learning on a Desktop PC 6 Nov 2024 · 3 repositories · arXiv:2411.03820Syntology ran 13 of 25 samples · 12 unverified · 21 pointer-only (licence)
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Learning in complex action spaces without policy gradients 8 Oct 2024 · 0 repositories · arXiv:2410.06317
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Mitigating Estimation Errors by Twin TD-Regularized Actor and Critic for Deep Reinforcement Learning 7 Nov 2023 · 0 repositories · arXiv:2311.03711
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SDGym: Low-Code Reinforcement Learning Environments using System Dynamics Models 19 Oct 2023 · 1 repository · arXiv:2310.12494
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A Long N-step Surrogate Stage Reward for Deep Reinforcement Learning 21 Sep 2023 · 0 repositories
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Reducing Variance in Temporal-Difference Value Estimation via Ensemble of Deep Networks 16 Sep 2022 · 1 repository · arXiv:2209.07670
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DNA: Proximal Policy Optimization with a Dual Network Architecture 20 Jun 2022 · 1 repository · arXiv:2206.10027
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Gamma and Vega Hedging Using Deep Distributional Reinforcement Learning 10 May 2022 · 1 repository · arXiv:2205.05614
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Revisiting Gaussian mixture critics in off-policy reinforcement learning: a sample-based approach 21 Apr 2022 · 1 repository · arXiv:2204.10256
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Deep Reinforcement Learning at the Edge of the Statistical Precipice 30 Aug 2021 · 3 repositories · arXiv:2108.13264Syntology ran 5 of 5 samples · 0 unverified
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A coevolutionary approach to deep multi-agent reinforcement learning 12 Apr 2021 · 1 repository · arXiv:2104.05610
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Adaptive N-step Bootstrapping with Off-policy Data 1 Jan 2021 · 0 repositories
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Weighted Bellman Backups for Improved Signal-to-Noise in Q-Updates 1 Jan 2021 · 0 repositories
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Tonic: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Library for Fast Prototyping and Benchmarking 15 Nov 2020 · 1 repository · arXiv:2011.07537Syntology ran 3 of 4 samples · 1 unverified
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A New Approach for Tactical Decision Making in Lane Changing: Sample Efficient Deep Q Learning with a Safety Feedback Reward 24 Sep 2020 · 0 repositories · arXiv:2009.11905
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Munchausen Reinforcement Learning 28 Jul 2020 · 6 repositories · arXiv:2007.14430Syntology ran 12 of 22 samples · 10 unverified
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Revisiting Fundamentals of Experience Replay 13 Jul 2020 · 2 repositories · arXiv:2007.06700Syntology ran 0 of 1 samples · 1 unverified · 1 pointer-only (licence)
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SUNRISE: A Simple Unified Framework for Ensemble Learning in Deep Reinforcement Learning 9 Jul 2020 · 1 repository · arXiv:2007.04938
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Distributed Uplink Beamforming in Cell-Free Networks Using Deep Reinforcement Learning 26 Jun 2020 · 0 repositories · arXiv:2006.15138
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Sample-based Distributional Policy Gradient 8 Jan 2020 · 0 repositories · arXiv:2001.02652
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Generative Adversarial Imagination for Sample Efficient Deep Reinforcement Learning 30 Apr 2019 · 0 repositories · arXiv:1904.13255
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TF-Replicator: Distributed Machine Learning for Researchers 1 Feb 2019 · 1 repository · arXiv:1902.00465Syntology ran 2 of 3 samples · 1 unverified
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Macro action selection with deep reinforcement learning in StarCraft 2 Dec 2018 · 1 repository · arXiv:1812.00336
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Distributed Distributional Deterministic Policy Gradients 23 Apr 2018 · 5 repositories · arXiv:1804.08617
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Distributed Prioritized Experience Replay 2 Mar 2018 · 15 repositories · arXiv:1803.00933Syntology ran 0 of 15 samples · 15 unverified
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Rainbow: Combining Improvements in Deep Reinforcement Learning 6 Oct 2017 · 34 repositories · arXiv:1710.02298Syntology ran 2 of 6 samples · 4 unverified · 1 pointer-only (licence)
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Learning to Mix n-Step Returns: Generalizing lambda-Returns for Deep Reinforcement Learning 21 May 2017 · 0 repositories · arXiv:1705.07445
Tasks archive 2025-07-28
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