A locally-built, LLM-digested index of recent arXiv papers in quant finance, geometry/topology, and statistical ML — keyword search served straight from SQLite on this machine.
New algorithm ensures consistent results in constrained MAB problems.
Paper proposes CVaR-TS for risk-constrained MAB problems.
New algorithms control loss and constraints in uncertain, changing environments.
For the stochastic multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem from a constrained model that generalizes the classical one, we show that an asymptotic optimality is achievable by a simple strategy extended from the -greedy strategy. We provide a finite-time lower bound on the probability of correct selection of an optimal ne…
Paper closes the gap in MP-MAB problems with novel adaptive communication and exploration.
We formulate the problem of sampling and recovering clustered graph signal as a multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem. This formulation lends naturally to learning sampling strategies using the well-known gradient MAB algorithm. In particular, the sampling strategy is represented as a probability distribution over the indiv…
New study shows feedback doesn't improve MAB performance over erasure channels.
LinConTS improves regret and constraint violations in probabilistic linearly constrained bandits.
A new bandit problem where experiments can be interrupted if results are not promising.
We extend Bayesian multi-armed bandit (MAB) algorithms beyond their original setting by making use of sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) methods. A MAB is a sequential decision making problem where the goal is to learn a policy that maximizes long term payoff, where only the reward of the executed action is observed. In the …
In this work, we study recommendation systems modelled as contextual multi-armed bandit (MAB) problems. We propose a graph-based recommendation system that learns and exploits the geometry of the user space to create meaningful clusters in the user domain. This reduces the dimensionality of the recommendation problem w…
New algorithms detect changes in non-stationary MABs for better performance.
Trust-aware MAB improves learning performance by accounting for human deviation.
A survey is performed of various Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) strategies in order to examine their performance in circumstances exhibiting non-stationary stochastic reward functions in conjunction with delayed feedback. We run several MAB simulations to simulate an online eCommerce platform for grocery pick up, optimizing …
New algorithm for multi-fidelity bandits reduces costs and improves regret.
INF-clip optimizes heavy-tailed MAB problems with improved performance.
In this paper, we introduce Ballooning Multi-Armed Bandits (BL-MAB), a novel extension of the classical stochastic MAB model. In the BL-MAB model, the set of available arms grows (or balloons) over time. In contrast to the classical MAB setting where the regret is computed with respect to the best arm overall, the regr…
The multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem is a classical learning task that exemplifies the exploration-exploitation tradeoff. However, standard formulations do not take into account {\em risk}. In online decision making systems, risk is a primary concern. In this regard, the mean-variance risk measure is one of the most co…
The Multi-Armed Bandits (MAB) framework highlights the tension between acquiring new knowledge (Exploration) and leveraging available knowledge (Exploitation). In the classical MAB problem, a decision maker must choose an arm at each time step, upon which she receives a reward. The decision maker's objective is to maxi…
We extend the classic multi-armed bandit (MAB) model to the setting of noncompliance, where the arm pull is a mere instrument and the treatment applied may differ from it, which gives rise to the instrument-armed bandit (IAB) problem. The IAB setting is relevant whenever the experimental units are human since free will…
Chronological Causal Bandits (CCB) tackles dynamic causal decision-making.
New TS algorithms improve performance in non-stationary multi-armed bandit problems.
Wireless communication systems operate in complex time-varying environments. Therefore, selecting the optimal configuration parameters in these systems is a challenging problem. For wireless links, \emph{rate selection} is used to select the optimal data transmission rate that maximizes the link throughput subject to a…
We propose an alternative framework to existing setups for controlling false alarms when multiple A/B tests are run over time. This setup arises in many practical applications, e.g. when pharmaceutical companies test new treatment options against control pills for different diseases, or when internet companies test the…
This paper deals with bandit online learning problems involving feedback of unknown delay that can emerge in multi-armed bandit (MAB) and bandit convex optimization (BCO) settings. MAB and BCO require only values of the objective function involved that become available through feedback, and are used to estimate the gra…
Existing multi-armed bandit (MAB) models make two implicit assumptions: an arm generates a payoff only when it is played, and the agent observes every payoff that is generated. This paper introduces synchronization bandits, a MAB variant where all arms generate costs at all times, but the agent observes an arm's instan…
A graph bandit algorithm learns optimal paths on unknown graphs.
New MAB model incentivizes user arm-pulling with self-reinforcing preferences.
New L2 regularization improves softmax MAB performance.
A scheme robust to action erasures improves MAB performance.
This paper analyzes the multi-armed bandit model using path-integral methods.
We study a policy gradient method with L2 regularization for MAB problems.
Contextual multi-armed bandit (MAB) algorithms have been shown promising for maximizing cumulative rewards in sequential decision tasks such as news article recommendation systems, web page ad placement algorithms, and mobile health. However, most of the proposed contextual MAB algorithms assume linear relationships be…
The paper studies MAB problems with LDP to balance privacy and service quality.
This paper proposes a general framework of multi-armed bandit (MAB) processes by introducing a type of restrictions on the switches among arms evolving in continuous time. The Gittins index process is constructed for any single arm subject to the restrictions on switches and then the optimality of the corresponding Git…
We study a distributed decision-making problem in which multiple agents face the same multi-armed bandit (MAB), and each agent makes sequential choices among arms to maximize its own individual reward. The agents cooperate by sharing their estimates over a fixed communication graph. We consider an unconstrained reward …
New algorithm identifies optimal actions in large reward spaces efficiently.
In a multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem a gambler needs to choose at each round of play one of K arms, each characterized by an unknown reward distribution. Reward realizations are only observed when an arm is selected, and the gambler's objective is to maximize his cumulative expected earnings over some given horizon of…
Improved RCPs for MABs using normalized weight functions.
We study the explore-exploit tradeoff in distributed cooperative decision-making using the context of the multiarmed bandit (MAB) problem. For the distributed cooperative MAB problem, we design the cooperative UCB algorithm that comprises two interleaved distributed processes: (i) running consensus algorithms for estim…
The (contextual) multi-armed bandit problem (MAB) provides a formalization of sequential decision-making which has many applications. However, validly evaluating MAB policies is challenging; we either resort to simulations which inherently include debatable assumptions, or we resort to expensive field trials. Recently …
Multi-armed bandit(MAB) problem is a reinforcement learning framework where an agent tries to maximise her profit by proper selection of actions through absolute feedback for each action. The dueling bandits problem is a variation of MAB problem in which an agent chooses a pair of actions and receives relative feedback…
New insights into balancing reward and fairness in stochastic MAB.
We study, to the best of our knowledge, the first Bayesian algorithm for unimodal Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) problems with graph structure. In this setting, each arm corresponds to a node of a graph and each edge provides a relationship, unknown to the learner, between two nodes in terms of expected reward. Furthermore, …
We discuss a multiple-play multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem in which several arms are selected at each round. Recently, Thompson sampling (TS), a randomized algorithm with a Bayesian spirit, has attracted much attention for its empirically excellent performance, and it is revealed to have an optimal regret bound in the…
The Knowledge Gradient (KG) policy was originally proposed for online ranking and selection problems but has recently been adapted for use in online decision making in general and multi-armed bandit problems (MABs) in particular. We study its use in a class of exponential family MABs and identify weaknesses, including …
New algorithm identifies best target arm with known additive relationship between source and target MAB instances.
New method reduces multi-armed bandit regret to near-optimal levels.