A learner selects subsets of choices for a user who then picks from them, aiming to minimize regret.
problem Optimizing subset selection for user choices in a stochastic setting.
method Introduces a new problem and defines regret, then proposes algorithms with matching upper and lower bounds.
result Upper and lower bounds on expected regret match up to a logarithmic term, demonstrating algorithm efficiency.
Algorithm selects k arms from context-dependent options using Plackett-Luce model.
problem Selecting k arms from context-dependent options with Plackett-Luce feedback.
method Proposes CPPL algorithm inspired by UCB, evaluated on synthetic and real data.
result Demonstrates effectiveness of CPPL algorithm in online algorithm selection.
LCD improves causal discovery in high-dimensional gene data.
problem Predicting causal effects in large-scale gene expression data.
method Local Causal Discovery (LCD) with practical estimators, ICP algorithm inspiration, preselection method, and statistical tests.
result LCD estimator closely matches ICP's accuracy but is simpler and faster.
Two-stage recommender systems struggle with exploration, leading to linear regret.
problem Linear regret in two-stage recommender systems due to exploration issues.
method Proposed a method to synchronize exploration strategies between the ranker and nominators using LinUCB.
result Demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm experimentally.
Logistic regression for brain imaging without p-values.
problem Computing the distribution of random field suprema is hard.
method Uses logistic regression for brain network classification.
result Performs classification at each edge level without preselected features.
We propose a nonparametric procedure to achieve fast inference in generative graphical models when the number of latent states is very large. The approach is based on iterative latent variable preselection, where we alternate between learning a 'selection function' to reveal the relevant latent variables, and use this …
Ensemble method detects time series anomalies without preselecting parameter values.
problem Anomaly detection requires known anomaly length, limiting practicality.
method Ensemble grammar induction for variable-length anomalies.
result Ensemble approach outperforms existing methods with different parameter selections.
The paper develops a uniform function estimator in RKHS for regression.
problem Reconstructing functions from noisy data at random locations.
method Using reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces and Gaussian random fields.
result The estimator converges uniformly to the conditional expectation.
Lasso and other regularization procedures are attractive methods for variable selection, subject to a proper choice of shrinkage parameter. Given a set of potential subsets produced by a regularization algorithm, a consistent model selection criterion is proposed to select the best one among this preselected set. The a…
Portfolio management problems are often divided into two types: active and passive, where the objective is to outperform and track a preselected benchmark, respectively. Here, we formulate and solve a dynamic asset allocation problem that combines these two objectives in a unified framework. We look to maximize the exp…
New algorithms tackle RKHS bandits with reduced complexity and improved performance.
problem Adversarial and stochastic RKHS bandit problems with high computational complexity.
method Combining approximation theory with misspecified linear bandit methods.
result First general algorithm for adversarial RKHS bandit problem.
Unified formulation bridges adversarial and nonstationary bandits.
problem Handling time-varying reward distributions in multi-armed bandit problems.
method Unified oracle that switches between adversarial and nonstationary bandit oracles based on window size.
result Optimal regret achieved with matching lower bound.
Paper studies attacks on bandit algorithms and shows how attackers can manipulate data to hijack behavior.
problem Potential attacks on bandit algorithms can cause catastrophic loss in real-world applications.
method Proposes a framework of offline and online attacks on bandit algorithms using convex optimization and adaptive strategies.
result Attackers can force bandit algorithms to pull target arms with high probability by manipulating data.
Paper solves stochastic contextual linear bandits using linear bandit algorithms.
problem Stochastic contextual linear bandits with unknown context distribution.
method Establishes a reduction framework to convert to linear bandit problems.
result Achieves nearly optimal regret bound of O ( d T log T ) O(d\sqrt{T\log T}) O ( d T log T ) . Paper tackles LDP bandits learning with improved results and sub-linear regret.
problem Contextual bandits learning with LDP privacy constraints.
method Simple black-box reduction frameworks for context-free bandits, extended to GLB.
result First result for BCO with multi-point feedback under LDP, sub-linear regret for GLB.
Kernel-based methods exhibit well-documented performance in various nonlinear learning tasks. Most of them rely on a preselected kernel, whose prudent choice presumes task-specific prior information. Especially when the latter is not available, multi-kernel learning has gained popularity thanks to its flexibility in ch…
Algorithm identifies best arm in linked bandits with reduced feedback.
problem Best arm identification in linked bandits with reduced feedback.
method Combines uniform sampling with regular bandit algorithm.
result Almost matching upper and lower bounds on sample complexity.
Graph-Triggered Bandits unify rested and restless bandits with graph-defined arm interactions.
problem Modeling sequential decision-making problems with evolving arm rewards.
method Graph-Triggered Bandits (GTBs) framework that generalizes rested and restless bandits using a graph.
result Rested and restless bandits are special cases of GTBs for suitable graphs.
New definition resolves ambiguity in non-stationary bandit classification.
problem Ambiguity in classifying non-stationary bandits using existing definitions.
method Introducing a formal definition that resolves ambiguity and provides a unified approach.
result Unified approach applicable to both Bayesian and frequentist formulations, resolves classification issues.
Unified approach for non-stationary and clustered bandits.
problem Solving non-stationary and clustered bandits with overlapping solutions.
method Test of homogeneity for seamless integration of non-stationary and clustered bandits.
result Unified solution framework for change detection and cluster identification.
A framework for auto-tuning hyper-parameters in contextual bandit algorithms.
problem Auto-tuning hyper-parameters in real-time for contextual bandit algorithms.
method Proposes a Syndicated Bandits framework to learn multiple hyper-parameters dynamically.
result Achieves optimal regret bounds under certain scenarios and handles multiple contextual bandit algorithms.
QENDy learns quadratic dynamics from nonlinear systems data.
problem Identifying governing equations of highly nonlinear dynamical systems.
method QENDy embeds nonlinear dynamics into a quadratic feature space, requiring trajectory data and preselected basis functions.
result QENDy accurately identifies quadratic dynamics and outperforms SINDy and deep learning methods.
New algorithm learns optimal exploration parameters for contextual bandits.
problem Learning optimal exploration in contextual bandits.
method Proposes two algorithms that learn optimal exploration parameters online based on context and reward.
result Demonstrates improved performance in learning optimal exploration compared to traditional methods.
Investigates sequential problems on graph structures and large action spaces.
problem Sequential decision-making on graph structures and large action spaces.
method Spectral bandits, side observations, influence maximization, kernel bandits, polymatroid bandits, function optimization, infinitely many-arms bandits.
result Contributions to graph and structured bandits.
A new method for dueling bandits improves performance.
problem Improving decision-making in dueling bandits.
method Sup-KLUCB method for K-armed dueling bandits, converting Copeland dueling bandits into standard MAB problems.
result Sup-KLUCB outperforms state-of-the-art methods in Copeland dueling bandits.
Study on indexability of restless multi-armed bandits and rollout policy performance.
problem Maximizing discounted rewards in finite state restless multi-armed bandit problems.
method Decouple the problem into single-armed restless bandits, analyze using value iteration, and compare with Whittle index policy.
result Demonstrates conditions for indexability and compares performance of index policy and rollout policy.
New insights into multi-armed bandits with budget constraints.
problem Multi-armed bandits with supply/budget constraints.
method Characterization of logarithmic regret rates, simple regret, and reduction to other bandit problems.
result Full characterization of logarithmic, instance-dependent regret rates for BwK.
The pathwise coordinate optimization is one of the most important computational frameworks for high dimensional convex and nonconvex sparse learning problems. It differs from the classical coordinate optimization algorithms in three salient features: {\it warm start initialization}, {\it active set updating}, and {\it …
Optimal algorithm for identifying best arm in stochastic linear bandits with fixed confidence.
problem Identifying the best arm in stochastic linear bandits with fixed confidence.
method Extending an algorithm designed for Best Arm Identification to the ε ε ε -Thresholding Bandit Problem (TBP). result Asymptotically optimal algorithm for TBP.
A meta-UCB method combines stochastic bandit algorithms.
problem Combining multiple stochastic bandit algorithms efficiently.
method Meta-UCB procedure solving an N-armed bandit problem.
result Final regret depends only on the best base algorithm's regret.
New method for contextual bandits with corrupted context.
problem Contextual bandits with corrupted context in online settings.
method Combining contextual bandit and multi-armed bandit approaches.
result Improved learning from all iterations, including corrupted ones.
A new algorithm for top-k combinatorial bandits with full-bandit feedback.
problem Optimizing decisions among subsets of arms with only aggregate rewards observed.
method CSAR algorithm using Hadamard matrices for estimating individual arm rewards.
result Proved a tight lower bound on sample complexity for k = O ( 1 ) k=O(1) k = O ( 1 ) . A new framework for structured bandits using influence diagrams and variational Thompson sampling.
problem Complex statistical dependencies in structured bandit problems.
method Influence diagram framework, variational Thompson sampling, tracking structured posterior distribution.
result Empirically evaluated algorithms perform as well as or better than existing baselines.
Smooth Contextual Bandits bridge two previously studied extremes of non-differentiable and parametric-response bandits.
problem Nonparametric contextual bandits with Hölder smoothness.
method Developed a novel algorithm that optimally balances between non-differentiable and parametric-response bandits.
result Proved the algorithm achieves rate-optimal regret for all smoothness settings.
New algorithm for nonstationary multi-armed bandits with optimal performance.
problem Nonstationary multi-armed bandits with changing model parameters over time.
method Adaptive Resetting Bandit (ADR-bandit) algorithm using adaptive windowing techniques.
result ADR-bandit achieves nearly optimal performance in both abrupt and gradual changes.
First robust bandit algorithm for contextual bandits with sub-linear regret.
problem Vulnerability of linear contextual bandit algorithms to adversarial attacks.
method Proposes a robust bandit algorithm for stochastic linear contextual bandits under fully adaptive and omniscient attacks.
result Sub-linear regret under various attacks without requiring attack information.
Unified framework for high-dimensional bandit problems with low-dimensional structures.
problem Stochastic high-dimensional bandit problems with low-dimensional structures.
method Proposed a simple unified algorithm and a general analysis framework for the regret upper bound.
result Unified algorithm achieves comparable regret bounds in various high-dimensional bandit problems.
Adapts multi-armed bandits to contextual bandits using logistic regression.
problem Online decision-making with contextual information and binary rewards.
method Adapts multi-armed bandits policies to contextual bandits using logistic regression and bootstrapping.
result Adaptive-Greedy algorithm shows better performance than upper confidence bound and Thompson sampling.
Survey and compare PAC-Bayes bounds for bandit problems.
problem Designing and evaluating bandit algorithms with strong performance guarantees.
method PAC-Bayes bounds applied to bandit problems.
result PAC-Bayes bounds useful for offline bandit algorithms, but loose for online algorithms.
Adversaries can manipulate bandit algorithms to control chosen actions.
problem Manipulating stochastic bandit algorithms to influence chosen actions.
method Proposes an attack against ε ε ε -greedy and UCB algorithms without knowing mean rewards. result Attackers can control actions with logarithmic effort, making it easy to hijack behavior.
New algorithms reduce regret for convex bandits with small comparator norms.
problem Optimizing in bandit convex optimization with varying comparator norms.
method Developed algorithms using techniques from full-information setting and new gradient estimators.
result Regret bounds are small when comparator norm is small.
Variable screening is a fast dimension reduction technique for assisting high dimensional feature selection. As a preselection method, it selects a moderate size subset of candidate variables for further refining via feature selection to produce the final model. The performance of variable screening depends on both com…
Robustly combines supervised and bandit feedback for contextual bandits.
problem Learning from mixed supervised and bandit data with potentially misaligned costs.
method Developed no-regret algorithms robust to misaligned cost distributions.
result Our approach is feasible and helpful in practice, as shown by empirical evaluations.
Paper tackles domain adaptation for contextual bandits with sub-linear regret.
problem Adapting contextual bandit algorithms across domains with distribution shift.
method Learn a bandit model for the target domain using feedback from the source domain.
result Sub-linear regret bound maintained across domains.
Conversational UCB accelerates bandit learning with user feedback.
problem Slow learning speed in traditional contextual bandit algorithms.
method Generalized contextual bandit to conversational contextual bandit, leveraging both behavioral and conversational feedbacks.
result ConUCB achieves a smaller regret upper bound, indicating faster learning speed.
New model tackles causal bandits with dependent variables.
problem Understanding reward-maximizing interventions in causal networks with dependent variables.
method Introduces hierarchical causal bandit model with a contextual variable capturing interactions among variables.
result Derives nearly matching regret bounds for binary context in causal bandits with dependent arms.
New dynamic allocation methods for multi-armed bandit models.
problem Dynamic allocation problems in multi-armed bandit models.
method New types of dynamic allocation problems and proofs for Gittins index decomposition.
result New proofs for Gittins index decomposition and related results.
The paper tackles lifelong learning in multi-armed bandits, aiming to minimize average regret over multiple tasks.
problem Minimizing average regret in multi-armed bandits over multiple tasks.
method Confidence interval tuning of UCB algorithms and greedy algorithms applied to a bandit over bandit approach.
result Empirical improvement over previous work in the mortal bandit problem.