diff --git a/_posts/2025-10-11-max-ent-rl.md b/_posts/2025-10-11-max-ent-rl.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6a6567 --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2025-10-11-max-ent-rl.md @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +--- +layout: distill +title: Why the Exponential? From Max‑Entropy RL to the Boltzmann Distribution +description: This blog post explores why the exponential function appears ubiquitously across modern RL, energy-based modeling, and statistical mechanics. We examine the connection between max-entropy reinforcement learning and the Boltzmann distribution, uncovering the fundamental principles that make the exponential form inevitable and explaining what "temperature" actually does in these frameworks. +tags: reinforcement-learning information-theory boltzmann-distribution +giscus_comments: true +date: 2025-10-11 +featured: true +redirect: https://qihang-zhang.com/Learning-Sys-Blog/2025/10/06/max-ent-rl-and-boltzmann-distribution.html + +authors: + - name: Qihang Zhang + url: "https://qihang-zhang.com/" + affiliations: + name: UBC + +---