Cooperative MARL

MARL: Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

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Overview

Cooperative MARL studies how multiple learning agents can achieve shared goals when each sees only part of the environment and may act independently. Common approaches include centralized training with decentralized execution, value factorization such as QMIX, actor-critic methods such as MAPPO, and graph-based communication or hierarchical control. Researchers evaluate coordination on benchmarks such as StarCraft Multi-Agent Challenge, Multi-Particle Environment, and Overcooked, as well as in robotics, traffic control, and resource allocation. A central challenge is making coordination scalable and robust to unfamiliar teammates, changing team sizes, communication failures, and tasks where high team reward may not reflect genuine cooperation.

Latest papers

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247 papers32 papers in the last four weeks, up 10% on the four weeks before. 0.2% of all new papers.

  1. The Price of Paranoia: Robust Risk-Sensitive Cooperation in Non-Stationary Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Apr 17, 2026Deep Kumar Ganguly, Chandradithya S Jonnalagadda, Pratham Chintamani +1Multi-Agent Reinforcement LearningMulti-Agent Coordination

    Technical University of Munich (TU Munich) · Brown University · Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati (IIT Tirupati)

  2. SAT: Sequential Agent Tuning for Coordinator Free Plug and Play Multi-LLM Training with Monotonic Improvement Guarantees

    Apr 17, 2026Yi Xie, Yangyang Xu, Yi Fan +1LLM Agent TrainingDecentralized MARL

    Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona, USA · Department of Mathematical Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, New York, USA · Amazon Web Services New York, USA

  3. Bridging MARL to SARL: An Order-Independent Multi-Agent Transformer via Latent Consensus

    Apr 15, 2026Zijian Zhao, Jing Gao, Sen LiCooperative MARLMulti-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    1The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology · 2The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · 3The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)

  4. SCORP: Scene-Consistent Multi-agent Diffusion Planning with Stable Online Reinforcement Post-Training for Cooperative Driving

    Apr 13, 2026Haojie Bai, Aimin Li, Ruoyu Yao +5Autonomous Driving PlanningAutonomous Driving

    the School of Information Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518071, China · the Middle East Technology University (METU), Ankara, 06800, Turkiye · the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Thrust, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511453, China +1

  5. MADQRL: Distributed Quantum Reinforcement Learning Framework for Multi-Agent Environments

    Apr 13, 2026Abhishek Sawaika, Samuel Yen-Chi Chen, Udaya Parampalli +1Quantum RLDistributed RL

    Quantum Cloud Computing and Distributed Systems Lab (qCLOUDS), School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne, Australia · Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA

  6. C2^2T: Captioning-Structure and LLM-Aligned Common-Sense Reward Learning for Traffic--Vehicle Coordination

    Apr 10, 2026Yuyang Chen, Kaiyan Zhao, Yiming Wang +3Traffic Signal ControlMulti-Agent Coordination

    The State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City, University of Macau · Wuhan University · Computer and Information Science, University of Macau +1

  7. Multi-Agent Decision-Focused Learning via Value-Aware Sequential Communication

    Apr 10, 2026Benjamin Amoh, Geoffrey Parker, Wesley MarreroMulti-Agent CoordinationMulti-Agent Communication

    Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College

  8. Wireless Communication Enhanced Value Decomposition for Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Apr 9, 2026Diyi Hu, Bhaskar KrishnamachariMulti-Agent Reinforcement LearningCooperative MARL

    University of Southern California

  9. Value-Guidance MeanFlow for Offline Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Apr 9, 2026Teng Pang, Zhiqiang Dong, Yan Zhang +3Offline MARLCooperative MARL

    School of Software, Shandong University, Jinan, China · Luke EI, Jinan, China

  10. KD-MARL: Resource-Aware Knowledge Distillation in Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Apr 8, 2026Monirul Islam Pavel, Siyi Hu, Muhammad Anwar Masum +3Policy DistillationKnowledge Distillation

    School of Computer Science and Information Technology, Adelaide University, Australia · School of Electrical Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Curtin University, Australia · Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

  11. Breakthrough the Suboptimal Stable Point in Value-Factorization-Based Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Apr 7, 2026Lesong Tao, Yifei Wang, Haodong Jing +4Multi-Agent Reinforcement LearningCooperative MARL

    State Key Laboratory of Human-Machine Hybrid Augmented Intelligence, Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Xi’an Jiaotong University · Zhongguancun Academy

  12. Communication Gain and Delay Cost Under Cross-Timestep Delays in Cooperative Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Apr 4, 2026Zihong Gao, Hongjian Liang, Lei Hao +1Partially Observable Markov Decision ProcessesMulti-Agent Communication

    The State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering School of Automation Science and Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University

  13. Marginal-Contribution Policy Gradients under Filtered Feedback for Multi-Agent LLMs

    Apr 3, 2026Elai Ben-Gal, Stela TongMulti-Agent LLM SystemsMulti-Agent System Optimization

    Department of Mathematics Stanford University · Graduate School of Business Stanford University

  14. LangMARL: Natural Language Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Apr 1, 2026Huaiyuan Yao, Longchao Da, Xiaoou Liu +3RL for LLM AgentsMulti-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Arizona State University · Cisco Research · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  15. GRASP: Gradient Realignment via Active Shared Perception for Multi-Agent Collaborative Optimization

    Apr 1, 2026Sihan Zhou, Tiantian He, Yifan Lu +2Cooperative MARLNon-Stationary RL

    College of Computer Science and Technology, and Key Laboratory of Social Computing and Cognitive Intelligence (Ministry of Education), Dalian University of Technology, China · Center for Frontier AI Research, Institute of High Performance Computing, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore · School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

  16. Agent Q-Mix: Selecting the Right Action for LLM Multi-Agent Systems through Reinforcement Learning

    Apr 1, 2026Eric Hanchen Jiang, Levina Li, Rui Sun +9Multi-Agent Communication TopologyMulti-Agent Reasoning

    University of California Los Angeles · University of Washington · Northwestern University

  17. Diffusion-Guided Cooperative Policy Learning for Target Tracking Based on Underwater Mobile Agent Networks

    Mar 31, 2026Jiaao Ma, Chuan Lin, Guangjie Han +3Cooperative MARLMulti-Robot Coordination

    Software College, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China · Key Laboratory of Maritime Intelligent Network Information Technology, Ministry of Education, Hohai University · College of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210013, China +1

  18. Robust Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Small UAS Separation Assurance under GPS Degradation and Spoofing

    Mar 30, 2026Alex Zongo, Filippos Fotiadis, Ufuk Topcu +1Robust RLCollision Avoidance

    A. Zongo and P. Wei are with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA. · F. Fotiadis and U. Topcu are with the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering & Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.

  19. Cooperative Deep Reinforcement Learning for Fair RIS Allocation

    Mar 26, 2026Martin Mark Zan, Stefan SchwarzWireless Resource AllocationFair Resource Allocation

    Institute of Telecommunications, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria

  20. COIN: Collaborative Interaction-Aware Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Self-Driving Systems

    Mar 26, 2026Yifeng Zhang, Jieming Chen, Tingguang Zhou +4Centralized Training with Decentralized ExecutionMulti-Agent Coordination

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd, 119077, Singapore · Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 100872, China · School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

  21. Large Language Model Guided Incentive Aware Reward Design for Cooperative Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Mar 25, 2026Dogan Urgun, Gokhan GungorReward Design for RLCooperative MARL

    Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Karabuk University, 78050 Karabuk, Türkiye · Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Karabuk University, 78050 Karabuk, Türkiye

  22. Dual-Gated Epistemic Time-Dilation: Autonomous Compute Modulation in Asynchronous MARL

    Mar 24, 2026Igor JankowskiSemi-Markov Decision ProcessReinforcement Learning

  23. Learning Multi-Agent Local Collision-Avoidance for Collaborative Carrying tasks with Coupled Quadrupedal Robots

    Mar 24, 2026Francesca Bray, Simone Tolomei, Andrei Cramariuc +2Multi-Robot Cargo TransportationMulti-Robot Systems

    Robotic Systems Lab, ETH Zurich. · Centro di Ricerca “Enrico Piaggio”, and Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Universit`a di Pisa, Pisa, Italy.

  24. CAMA: Exploring Collusive Adversarial Attacks in c-MARL

    Mar 20, 2026Men Niu, Xinxin Fan, Quanliang Jing +2Adversarial AttacksAdversarial MARL

    Institute of Computing Technology, CAS · UCAS · Beihang University

  25. Dynamic Mask Enhanced Intelligent Multi-UAV Deployment for Urban Vehicular Networks

    Mar 19, 2026Gaoxiang Cao, Wenke Yuan, Yunpeng Hou +3Cooperative MARLV2X Communication

    Department of Automation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China · Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China

  26. In Trust We Survive: Emergent Trust Learning

    Mar 18, 2026Qianpu Chen, Giulio Barbero, Mike Preuss +1Multi-Agent CoordinationMulti-Agent Systems

    LIACS, Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands

  27. Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Counteracts Delayed CSI in Multi-Satellite Systems

    Mar 17, 2026Marios Aristodemou, Yasaman Omid, Sangarapillai Lambotharan +2Wireless CommunicationsProximal Policy Optimization

    Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, U.K. · Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, U.K. · Institute for Digital Technologies, Loughborough University (London Campus), London, U.K. +1

  28. Communication-Aware Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Decentralized Cooperative UAV Deployment

    Mar 17, 2026Enguang Fan, Yifan Chen, Zihan Shan +3Cooperative MARLDecentralized MARL

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign · Boeing Research and Technology

  29. Interference-Aware K-Step Reachable Communication in Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Mar 16, 2026Ziyu Cheng, Jinsheng Ren, Zhouxian Jiang +4Multi-Agent CommunicationCooperative MARL

    School of Software, Beihang University · School of Artificial Intelligence, Beihang University

  30. JCAS-MARL: Joint Communication and Sensing UAV Networks via Resource-Constrained Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Mar 13, 2026Islam Guven, Mehmet ParlakIntegrated Sensing and CommunicationWireless Resource Allocation

    ICTEAM, Université catholique de Louvain Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium