[Tiny Paper] Intrinsic-Energy Joint Embedding Predictive Architectures Induce Quasimetric Spaces

Anthony Kobanda, Waris Radji

Keywords: intrinsic energy, jepa, least-action principle, reinforcement learning, quasimetrics

Abstract: Joint-Embedding Predictive Architectures (JEPAs) aim to learn representations by predicting target embeddings from context embeddings, inducing a scalar compatibility energy in a latent space. In contrast, Quasimetric Reinforcement Learning (QRL) studies goal-conditioned control through \emph{directed} distance values (cost-to-go) that support reaching goals under asymmetric dynamics. In this short article, we connect these viewpoints by restricting attention to a principled class of JEPA energy functions : \emph{intrinsic (least-action) energies}, defined as infima of accumulated local effort over admissible trajectories between two states. Under mild closure and additivity assumptions, any intrinsic energy is a quasimetric. In goal-reaching control, optimal cost-to-go functions admit exactly this intrinsic form ; inversely, JEPAs trained to model intrinsic energies lie in the quasimetric value class targeted by QRL. Moreover, we observe why symmetric finite energies are structurally mismatched with one-way reachability, motivating asymmetric (quasimetric) energies when directionality matters.

Submission Number: 111