$O(1/k)$ Finite-Time Bound for Non-Linear Two-Time-Scale Stochastic Approximation

Two-time-scale stochastic approximation is an algorithm with coupled iterations which has found broad applications in reinforcement learning, optimization and game control. While several prior works have obtained a mean square error bound of $O(1/k)$ for linear two-time-scale iterations, the best known bound in the non-linear contractive setting has been $O(1/k^{2/3})$. In this work, we obtain an improved bound of $O(1/k)$ for non-linear two-time-scale stochastic approximation. Our result applies to algorithms such as gradient descent-ascent and two-time-scale Lagrangian optimization. The key step in our analysis involves rewriting the original iteration in terms of an averaged noise sequence which decays sufficiently fast. Additionally, we use an induction-based approach to show that the iterates are bounded in expectation.

@article{chandak2025_2504.19375,
  title={ $O(1/k)$ Finite-Time Bound for Non-Linear Two-Time-Scale Stochastic Approximation },
  author={ Siddharth Chandak },
  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.19375},
  year={ 2025 }
}