Publications

My publications are also available on Google Scholar.

Current Research at Purdue University

Reinforcement Learning and Sequential Decision Making

Submitted/Working Papers

  • Natural Policy Gradient as Doubly Smoothed Policy Iteration: A Bellman-Operator Framework.
    Phalguni Nanda and Zaiwei Chen
    Submitted [arXiv]

  • From set convergence to pointwise convergence: finite-time guarantees for average-reward Q-learning with adaptive stepsizes
    Zaiwei Chen and Phalguni Nanda
    Under review at Mathematics of Operations Research, 2026

Published Articles

  • A minimal-assumption analysis of Q-learning with time-varying policies
    Phalguni Nanda and Zaiwei Chen
    Accepted to SIGMETRICS 2026 (Best Paper Award Finalist) to appear in Proceedings of the ACM on Measurement and Analysis of Computing Systems [arXiv]

Research Prior to Purdue

Inverse Problems and Scientific Computing

  • A decompositional approach for two-dimensional, two-phase, nonlinear inverse Stefan problems using the method of fundamental solutions
    Gujji Murali Mohan Reddy, Phalguni Nanda, Michael Vynnycky
    Studies in Applied Mathematics, 2026; 156:e70184, 2026 [Journal]

  • Inverse two-phase nonlinear Stefan and Cauchy-Stefan problems: a phase-wise approach
    Phalguni Nanda, Gujji Murali Mohan Reddy, and Michael Vynnycky
    Computers and Mathematics with Applications, 123:216–226, 2022 [Journal]

  • Efficient numerical solution of one-phase linear inverse Stefan and Cauchy-Stefan problems in two-dimensions: a posteriori error control
    Phalguni Nanda and Gujji Murali Mohan Reddy
    Studies in Applied Mathematics, 148(4) : 1563 – 1585, 2022 [Journal]

  • Efficient numerical solution of boundary identification problems: MFS with adaptive stochastic optimization
    Gujji Murali Mohan Reddy, Phalguni Nanda, Michael Vynnycky, and Jose Alberto Cuminato
    Applied Mathematics and Computation, 409:126402, [Journal]

  • An adaptive boundary algorithm for the reconstruction of boundary and initial data using the method of fundamental solutions for the inverse Cauchy–Stefan problem
    Gujji Murali Mohan Reddy, Phalguni Nanda, Michael Vynnycky, and Jose Alberto Cuminato
    Computational and Applied Mathematics, 40(3):1–26, 2021 [Journal]

Stochastic Comparisons and Reliability

  • Optimal replacement policy under cumulative damage model and strength degradation with applications
    Phalguni Nanda, Prajamitra Bhuyan, and Anup Dewanji
    Annals of Operations Research, 315, 1345–1371, 2022 [Journal]

  • Stochastic comparisons of parallel systems with generalized Kumaraswamy-G components
    Suchandan Kayal and Phalguni Nanda
    Communications in Statistics - Theory and Methods, 51(14):4712-4738, 2022 [Journal]

  • Mean inactivity time of lower record values
    Phalguni Nanda and Suchandan Kayal
    Communications in Statistics - Theory and Methods, 48(20):5145–5164, 2019 [Journal]

  • Ordering of series and parallel systems comprising heterogeneous generalized modified Weibull components
    Narayanaswamy Balakrishnan, Phalguni Nanda and Suchandan Kayal
    Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry, 34(6):816–834, 2018 [Journal]

  • Some stochastic comparison results of series and parallel systems with heterogeneous Pareto type components
    Lakshmi Kanta Patra, Phalguni Nanda and Suchandan Kayal
    Applications of Mathematics, 63(1):55-77, 2018 [Journal]