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+/-
+Copyright (c) 2026 Rémy Degenne. All rights reserved.
+Released under Apache 2.0 license as described in the file LICENSE.
+Authors: Rémy Degenne
+-/
+module
+
+public import Mathlib.Algebra.Order.BigOperators.Group.Finset
+public import Mathlib.Algebra.Ring.GeomSum
+public import Mathlib.Data.Nat.Log
+
+/-!
+# The tree of the hard instances of episodic MDPs
+
+The hard instances of the minimax lower bounds for episodic MDPs [DMKV21, Theorems 7 and 9]
+place, besides three special states, the remaining `n` states on an `A`-ary tree: from the root,
+an agent walks down the tree by choosing one of the `A` actions at each internal node, and the
+leaves lead to the special states. This file develops the combinatorics of that tree, on natural
+numbers.
+
+The nodes are `0, …, n - 1`, numbered in the breadth-first order of the infinite `A`-ary tree:
+the parent of the node `j + 1` is `j / A`, so that the children of the node `j` are the nodes
+`A * j + k + 1` for `k < A`. The first `∑_{i < D} A ^ i` nodes are those of depth less than `D`.
+
+* `depth A j`, the depth of the node `j`, increases by one from a node to each of its children
+  (`depth_mul_add_add_one`), and is characterized by
+  `∑_{i < D} A ^ i ≤ j ↔ D ≤ depth A j` (`sum_pow_le_iff_le_depth`).
+* `height A n = ⌈log_A ((A - 1) n + 1)⌉`, the number of levels of the tree with `n` nodes, is
+  characterized by `height A n ≤ D ↔ n ≤ ∑_{i < D} A ^ i` (`height_le_iff`). Every node has depth
+  less than `height A n` (`depth_lt_height`), and the full tree of depth `d`, with
+  `n = ∑_{i < d} A ^ i = (A ^ d - 1) / (A - 1)` nodes, has height `d` (`height_sum_pow`).
+* `child A n j k` is the node reached from `j` by the action `k < A`: the child `A * j + k + 1`
+  when it is a node of the tree, and the first child `A * j + 1` otherwise, so that in a tree that
+  is not full every action leads somewhere (`child_lt`, `depth_child`).
+* `leaves A n`, the nodes without children, make up at least half of the tree
+  (`le_two_mul_card_leaves`).
+* `walk A n acts m` is the node reached from the root by the actions `acts 0, …, acts (m - 1)`;
+  every node `j` is reached by a walk of `depth A j` steps through internal nodes
+  (`exists_walk`).
+
+This development is adapted from the formalization `Essakine2026Tight`
+(`github.com/RemyDegenne/Essakine2026Tight`, file `Essakine2026Tight/EV2026/HardTree.lean`, by
+Rémy Degenne, Apache 2.0) of [EV26], whose lower bound uses these trees for every number of
+states `S ≥ 6` and not only for full trees.
+
+## References
+
+* [DMKV21] O. D. Domingues, P. Ménard, E. Kaufmann and M. Valko, *Episodic reinforcement learning
+  in finite MDPs: minimax lower bounds revisited*, ALT 2021, arXiv:2010.03531.
+* [EV26] A. Essakine and C. Vernade, *Tight sample complexity bounds for entropic best policy
+  identification*, COLT 2026, arXiv:2605.13717.
+-/
+
+public section
+
+open Finset
+
+namespace LMLExplore.ReinforcementLearning.HardTree
+
+variable {A n j k D : ℕ}
+
+/-! ### Depths -/
+
+/-- The depth of the node `j` of the breadth-first `A`-ary tree, in which the parent of the node
+`j + 1` is `j / A`. -/
+def depth (A : ℕ) : ℕ → ℕ
+  | 0 => 0
+  | j + 1 => depth A (j / A) + 1
+decreasing_by exact Nat.lt_succ_of_le (Nat.div_le_self j A)
+
+@[simp]
+lemma depth_zero (A : ℕ) : depth A 0 = 0 := by
+  rw [depth]
+
+lemma depth_add_one (A j : ℕ) : depth A (j + 1) = depth A (j / A) + 1 := by
+  rw [depth]
+
+/-- The child `A * j + k + 1` of the node `j`, for `k < A`, has depth one more than `j`. -/
+lemma depth_mul_add_add_one (j : ℕ) (hk : k < A) : depth A (A * j + k + 1) = depth A j + 1 := by
+  rw [depth_add_one, Nat.mul_add_div (by omega), Nat.div_eq_of_lt hk, add_zero]
+
+/-- The nodes of depth at least `D` are numbered at least `∑_{i < D} A ^ i`. -/
+lemma sum_pow_le_of_le_depth (h : D ≤ depth A j) : ∑ i ∈ range D, A ^ i ≤ j := by
+  induction D generalizing j with
+  | zero => simp
+  | succ D ih =>
+    obtain _ | j := j
+    · simp at h
+    rw [depth_add_one] at h
+    have := Nat.mul_le_mul_left A (ih (j := j / A) (by omega))
+    have := Nat.mul_div_le j A
+    rw [geom_sum_succ]
+    omega
+
+/-- The node `j` is numbered less than `∑_{i ≤ depth A j} A ^ i`. -/
+lemma lt_sum_pow_depth_add_one (hA : 0 < A) (j : ℕ) :
+    j < ∑ i ∈ range (depth A j + 1), A ^ i := by
+  induction j using Nat.strong_induction_on with
+  | _ j ih =>
+    obtain _ | j := j
+    · simp
+    have h : j / A + 1 ≤ ∑ i ∈ range (depth A (j / A) + 1), A ^ i :=
+      ih (j / A) (Nat.lt_succ_of_le (Nat.div_le_self j A))
+    have := Nat.mul_le_mul_left A h
+    have : j < A * (j / A + 1) := Nat.lt_mul_div_succ j hA
+    rw [depth_add_one, geom_sum_succ]
+    omega
+
+/-- The node `j` has depth at least `D` if and only if it is numbered at least
+`∑_{i < D} A ^ i`: the nodes of depth less than `D` are the first `∑_{i < D} A ^ i` nodes. -/
+theorem sum_pow_le_iff_le_depth (hA : 0 < A) : ∑ i ∈ range D, A ^ i ≤ j ↔ D ≤ depth A j := by
+  refine ⟨fun h ↦ ?_, sum_pow_le_of_le_depth⟩
+  by_contra! hD
+  have := lt_sum_pow_depth_add_one hA j
+  have : ∑ i ∈ range (depth A j + 1), A ^ i ≤ ∑ i ∈ range D, A ^ i :=
+    sum_le_sum_of_subset (range_subset_range.2 hD)
+  omega
+
+/-! ### The height of a tree -/
+
+/-- The number of levels `⌈log_A ((A - 1) n + 1)⌉` of the breadth-first `A`-ary tree with the
+nodes `0, …, n - 1`: the least `D` with `n ≤ ∑_{i < D} A ^ i` (`height_le_iff`). -/
+def height (A n : ℕ) : ℕ := Nat.clog A ((A - 1) * n + 1)
+
+lemma height_def (A n : ℕ) : height A n = Nat.clog A ((A - 1) * n + 1) :=
+  (rfl)
+
+/-- The tree with `n` nodes has at most `D` levels if and only if the first `D` levels of the
+infinite tree contain `n` nodes. -/
+theorem height_le_iff (hA : 1 < A) : height A n ≤ D ↔ n ≤ ∑ i ∈ range D, A ^ i := by
+  obtain ⟨B, rfl⟩ : ∃ B, A = B + 1 := ⟨A - 1, by omega⟩
+  rw [height_def, Nat.clog_le_iff_le_pow hA, ← geom_sum_mul_add, Nat.add_sub_cancel, mul_comm,
+    add_le_add_iff_right, Nat.mul_le_mul_right_iff (by omega)]
+
+lemma le_sum_pow_height (hA : 1 < A) (n : ℕ) : n ≤ ∑ i ∈ range (height A n), A ^ i :=
+  (height_le_iff hA).1 le_rfl
+
+lemma lt_height_iff (hA : 1 < A) : D < height A n ↔ ∑ i ∈ range D, A ^ i < n := by
+  simpa only [not_le] using (height_le_iff hA).not
+
+/-- The full tree of depth `d`, with `∑_{i < d} A ^ i = (A ^ d - 1) / (A - 1)` nodes, has `d`
+levels. -/
+theorem height_sum_pow (hA : 1 < A) (d : ℕ) : height A (∑ i ∈ range d, A ^ i) = d := by
+  obtain ⟨B, rfl⟩ : ∃ B, A = B + 1 := ⟨A - 1, by omega⟩
+  rw [height_def, Nat.add_sub_cancel, mul_comm, geom_sum_mul_add, Nat.clog_pow _ _ hA]
+
+/-- A tree with at least two nodes has at least two levels. -/
+lemma two_le_height (hA : 1 < A) (hn : 2 ≤ n) : 2 ≤ height A n :=
+  (lt_height_iff (D := 1) hA).2 (by simp; omega)
+
+/-- Every node of the tree with `n` nodes has depth less than its height. -/
+theorem depth_lt_height (hA : 1 < A) (hj : j < n) : depth A j < height A n := by
+  by_contra! h
+  have := sum_pow_le_of_le_depth h
+  have := le_sum_pow_height hA n
+  omega
+
+/-! ### Children and leaves -/
+
+/-- The node reached from the node `j` of the tree with `n` nodes by the action `k`: its child
+`A * j + k + 1` if it is a node of the tree, and its first child `A * j + 1` otherwise. -/
+def child (A n j k : ℕ) : ℕ := if A * j + k + 1 < n then A * j + k + 1 else A * j + 1
+
+lemma child_of_lt (h : A * j + k + 1 < n) : child A n j k = A * j + k + 1 := by
+  simp [child, h]
+
+lemma child_of_not_lt (h : ¬ A * j + k + 1 < n) : child A n j k = A * j + 1 := by
+  simp [child, h]
+
+/-- From an internal node `j`, every action leads to a node of the tree. -/
+lemma child_lt (hj : A * j + 1 < n) : child A n j k < n := by
+  unfold child
+  split_ifs <;> omega
+
+lemma depth_child (hk : k < A) : depth A (child A n j k) = depth A j + 1 := by
+  unfold child
+  split_ifs
+  · exact depth_mul_add_add_one j hk
+  · exact depth_mul_add_add_one j (k := 0) (by omega)
+
+/-- The leaves of the tree with the nodes `0, …, n - 1`: the nodes without children. -/
+def leaves (A n : ℕ) : Finset ℕ := (range n).filter fun j ↦ n ≤ A * j + 1
+
+@[simp]
+lemma mem_leaves : j ∈ leaves A n ↔ j < n ∧ n ≤ A * j + 1 := by
+  simp [leaves]
+
+/-- At least half of the nodes of a tree of arity at least `2` are leaves. -/
+theorem le_two_mul_card_leaves (hA : 2 ≤ A) (n : ℕ) : n ≤ 2 * #(leaves A n) := by
+  have hsub : Ico (n / 2) n ⊆ leaves A n := by
+    intro j hj
+    rw [mem_Ico] at hj
+    rw [mem_leaves]
+    have : 2 * j ≤ A * j := Nat.mul_le_mul_right j hA
+    omega
+  have := card_le_card hsub
+  rw [Nat.card_Ico] at this
+  omega
+
+/-! ### Walks from the root -/
+
+/-- The node of the tree with `n` nodes reached from the root by the actions
+`acts 0, …, acts (m - 1)`. -/
+def walk (A n : ℕ) (acts : ℕ → ℕ) : ℕ → ℕ
+  | 0 => 0
+  | m + 1 => child A n (walk A n acts m) (acts m)
+
+@[simp]
+lemma walk_zero (acts : ℕ → ℕ) : walk A n acts 0 = 0 :=
+  (rfl)
+
+@[simp]
+lemma walk_add_one (acts : ℕ → ℕ) (m : ℕ) :
+    walk A n acts (m + 1) = child A n (walk A n acts m) (acts m) :=
+  (rfl)
+
+/-- A walk by actions in `{0, …, A - 1}` reaches a node of depth `m` after `m` steps. -/
+lemma depth_walk {acts : ℕ → ℕ} (hacts : ∀ m, acts m < A) (m : ℕ) :
+    depth A (walk A n acts m) = m := by
+  induction m with
+  | zero => simp
+  | succ m ih => rw [walk_add_one, depth_child (hacts m), ih]
+
+/-- The first `D` steps of a walk do not depend on its action at the step `D`. -/
+lemma walk_update_of_le {acts : ℕ → ℕ} {m : ℕ} (x : ℕ) (hm : m ≤ D) :
+    walk A n (Function.update acts D x) m = walk A n acts m := by
+  induction m with
+  | zero => rfl
+  | succ m ih =>
+    rw [walk_add_one, walk_add_one, ih (by omega), Function.update_of_ne (by omega)]
+
+/-- Every node `j` of the tree with `n` nodes is reached from the root by a walk of `depth A j`
+steps through internal nodes. -/
+theorem exists_walk (hA : 0 < A) (hj : j < n) :
+    ∃ acts : ℕ → ℕ, (∀ m, acts m < A) ∧ walk A n acts (depth A j) = j ∧
+      ∀ m < depth A j, A * walk A n acts m + 1 < n := by
+  induction j using Nat.strong_induction_on with
+  | _ j ih =>
+    obtain _ | j := j
+    · exact ⟨fun _ ↦ 0, fun _ ↦ hA, by simp, by simp⟩
+    -- extend the walk to the parent `j / A` by the action `j % A`
+    have hdiv : j / A ≤ j := Nat.div_le_self j A
+    obtain ⟨acts, hacts, hwalk, hint⟩ := ih (j / A) (by omega) (by omega)
+    have hj' : A * (j / A) + j % A + 1 = j + 1 := by
+      have := Nat.div_add_mod j A
+      omega
+    refine ⟨Function.update acts (depth A (j / A)) (j % A), fun m ↦ ?_, ?_, fun m hm ↦ ?_⟩
+    · rcases eq_or_ne m (depth A (j / A)) with rfl | h
+      · rw [Function.update_self]
+        exact Nat.mod_lt _ hA
+      · rw [Function.update_of_ne h]
+        exact hacts m
+    · rw [depth_add_one, walk_add_one, walk_update_of_le _ le_rfl, hwalk, Function.update_self,
+        child_of_lt (by omega), hj']
+    · rw [depth_add_one] at hm
+      rcases Nat.lt_or_ge m (depth A (j / A)) with h | h
+      · rw [walk_update_of_le _ h.le]
+        exact hint m h
+      · rw [show m = depth A (j / A) by omega, walk_update_of_le _ le_rfl, hwalk]
+        have := Nat.mul_div_le j A
+        omega
+
+end LMLExplore.ReinforcementLearning.HardTree