The paper tackles minimax optimality in continuum contextual bandits with Hölder continuity.
problem Minimizing regret in a continuum of contexts with Hölder continuity.
method Proves a static-to-contextual regret conversion theorem and analyzes various dependency cases.
result Achieves minimax optimal contextual regret for convex and strongly convex bandits.
New algorithm reduces regret from sqrt(T) to polylog(T) in stochastic contextual linear bandits.
problem Achieving logarithmic regret in stochastic contextual linear bandits.
method Low Regret Stochastic Contextual Bandits ( exttt{LR-SCB}) algorithm, exploiting stochastic contexts and parameter estimation.
result Logarithmic regret (polylog(T)) achieved, improving over sqrt(T) lower bound.
Study nonparametric contextual bandits with batched updates, achieving optimal regret.
problem Optimal regret in nonparametric contextual bandits with batch constraints.
method Dynamic binning of covariate space, optimal regret achieved.
result Achieves optimal regret (up to logarithmic factors) for nonparametric contextual bandits.
There are two variants of the classical multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem that have received considerable attention from machine learning researchers in recent years: contextual bandits and simple regret minimization. Contextual bandits are a sub-class of MABs where, at every time step, the learner has access to side in…
This paper achieves optimal regret bounds for locally private linear contextual bandit.
problem Designing locally private linear contextual bandit algorithms with optimal regret bounds.
method New algorithmic and analytical ideas, including mean absolute deviation analysis and layered principal component regression.
result Achieves an i l d e O ( T ) ilde O(\sqrt{T}) i l d e O ( T ) regret upper bound for locally private linear contextual bandit. Thompson Sampling bounds for contextual bandits with sub-Gaussian rewards.
problem Improving the performance of Thompson Sampling in contextual bandits with sub-Gaussian rewards.
method Proved comprehensive bounds on Thompson Sampling expected cumulative regret based on mutual information and lifted information ratio for sub-Gaussian rewards.
result Explicit regret bounds for various contextual bandit scenarios.
Efficient algorithms for contextual bandits with smooth regret in continuous action spaces.
problem Efficient learning in large or continuous action spaces.
method Smooth regret notion and efficient algorithms for general function approximation.
result Statistically and computationally efficient algorithms for contextual bandits with smooth regret.
New algorithms minimize simple and cumulative regret in contextual bandits.
problem Minimizing simple and cumulative regret in contextual bandit settings.
method Proposed new algorithms using conformal arm sets (CASs).
result Near-optimal minimax guarantees for simple regret and state-of-the-art guarantees for cumulative regret.
A new exploration strategy for contextual bandits reduces regret and is computationally efficient.
problem Improving exploration in contextual bandits to reduce regret.
method Feature perturbation, injecting randomness directly into feature inputs.
result Achieves i l d e O ( d T ) ilde{\mathcal{O}}(d\sqrt{T}) i l d e O ( d T ) worst-case regret bound, surpassing existing methods. Faster algorithm reduces contextual bandit regret with fewer offline regression calls.
problem Optimizing reward in contextual bandits with unknown functions.
method Designing a simple algorithm with O ( log T ) {O}(\log T) O ( log T ) offline regression calls. result Achieves statistically optimal regret with minimal offline calls.
OE2D framework reduces contextual bandits to offline regression for near-optimal regret.
problem Efficiently learning contextual bandits with large action spaces and complex reward functions.
method Offline Estimation to Decisions (OE2D) algorithm that reduces contextual bandits to offline regression.
result Near-optimal regret for contextual bandits with large action spaces and O ( log T ) O(\log T) O ( log T ) calls to an offline regression oracle. New algorithm reduces regret in contextual bandits with many near-boundary contexts.
problem High regret in contextual bandits with many near-boundary contexts.
method Hierarchical nearest neighbour approach, holding out contexts for computation.
result Eradicates high regret in adversarial contextual bandits.
New method tackles high-dimensional contextual bandits with flexible kernel models.
problem Maximizing rewards in decision-making scenarios with many features.
method Introduces stochastic assumptions and no-regret learning for Gaussian kernels.
result Achieves no-regret learning even with feature dimensions growing with samples.
Framework reduces contextual bandit learning to offline regression with near-optimal regret.
problem Efficient learning with large action spaces and complex reward functions.
method Offline Estimation to Decisions (OE2D) algorithm that minimizes regret with near-optimal oracle calls.
result Near-optimal regret for contextual bandits with large action spaces and O ( l o g ( T ) ) O(log(T)) O ( l o g ( T )) offline oracle calls. New method for sequential probability assignment reduces regret using contextual Shtarkov sums.
problem Minimizing regret in sequential probability assignment with arbitrary hypothesis classes.
method Introducing contextual Shtarkov sum and contextual Normalized Maximum Likelihood (cNML) algorithm.
result The contextual Shtarkov sum characterizes minimax regret and provides a minimax optimal strategy.
We study a nonparametric contextual bandit problem where the expected reward functions belong to a Hölder class with smoothness parameter β β β . We show how this interpolates between two extremes that were previously studied in isolation: non-differentiable bandits ( β ≤ 1 β\leq1 β ≤ 1 ), where rate-optimal regret is achieved by run…
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.
A simple algorithm reduces federated contextual linear bandits' regret efficiently.
problem Solving federated contextual linear bandits with asynchronous agents.
method Proposed a simple algorithm exttt{FedLinUCB} based on optimism principle.
result Proved exttt{FedLinUCB} has bounded regret i l d e O ( d ∑ m = 1 M T m ) ilde{O}(d\sqrt{\sum_{m=1}^M T_m}) i l d e O ( d ∑ m = 1 M T m ) and communication complexity i l d e O ( d M 2 ) ilde{O}(dM^2) i l d e O ( d M 2 ) . New algorithms use neural networks to minimize regret in contextual bandits.
problem Minimizing regret in sequential decisions with side information.
method Proposes NN-UCB and NTK-UCB algorithms using neural networks.
result Proves sublinear regret bounds for contextual bandits.
A new algorithm selects models for contextual bandits, reducing regret.
problem Model selection for stochastic contextual bandits under realizability assumption.
method Adaptive Contextual Bandit (ACB) algorithm, successive refinement phases.
result ACB algorithm achieves similar regret bound to known algorithms, with a model selection cost.
New algorithms reduce costly feature collection in bandits.
problem Costly feature collection in contextual bandits.
method Proposes algorithms avoiding unnecessary feature collection.
result Strong regret guarantees maintained with reduced feature collection.
New algorithms reduce contextual bandits' regret without knowing reward noise variances.
problem Reducing regret in contextual bandits with unknown reward noise variances.
method Developed new algorithms based on the optimism principle.
result Regret scales as the square root of the sum of measurement variances, not the time horizon.
GPE algorithm optimizes nonparametric contextual bandits with efficient regret bounds.
problem Optimizing nonparametric contextual bandits with efficient regret bounds.
method Inspired by Policy Elimination, GPE uses oracle-efficient techniques for nonparametric classes with infinite VC-dimension.
result GPE is regret-optimal for policy classes with integrable entropy, and for larger entropy, it provides an ε \varepsilon ε -greedy algorithm with matching regret bounds. Study sparsity benefits in infinite feature contextual bandits.
problem Minimizing regret in infinite feature contextual bandits.
method Novel reduction to multi-armed bandits, Feel-Good Thompson Sampling algorithm.
result Regret bounds match lower bounds up to logarithmic factors, logarithmic dependence on effective features.
Improved Thompson Sampling reduces regret in contextual bandits and reinforcement learning.
problem Thompson Sampling's exploration is insufficient in some contexts.
method Developed Feel-Good Thompson Sampling to address exploration issues.
result Feel-Good Thompson Sampling reduces regret compared to standard Thompson Sampling.
Adapts to misspecification in contextual bandits using offline regression.
problem Unexpected regret due to misspecified reward models.
method Adapts to misspecification by reverting to a safe policy when necessary.
result Regret guarantees degrade gracefully with misspecification level.
Greedy algorithm achieves sublinear regret for various distributions.
problem Efficient performance of greedy algorithms in linear contextual bandit problems.
method Introduced Local Anti-Concentration (LAC) condition to ensure sublinear regret.
result Greedy algorithm achieves O ( poly log T ) O(\operatorname{poly} \log T) O ( poly log T ) cumulative expected regret. FGTSVA improves Thompson Sampling for contextual bandits with optimal variance-aware regret.
problem Optimizing regret bounds for Thompson Sampling in contextual bandits.
method Developed FGTSVA, a variance-aware Thompson Sampling algorithm for contextual bandits with a new decoupling coefficient.
result Achieved optimal regret bound of i l d e O ( d c ⋅ log ∣ F ∣ ∑ t = 1 T σ t 2 + d c ) ilde{O}(\sqrt{\mathrm{dc}\cdot\log|\mathcal{F}|\sum_{t=1}^Tσ_t^2}+\mathrm{dc}) i l d e O ( dc ⋅ log ∣ F ∣ ∑ t = 1 T σ t 2 + dc ) . Paper solves nonparametric contextual bandit with unbounded contexts.
problem Sequential decision making with unbounded context distributions.
method Two nearest neighbor methods combined with UCB exploration.
result Achieves minimax optimal regret under weak margin condition and light-tailed distributions.
Adaptive algorithms minimize regret in matching markets with contextual arm preferences.
problem Minimizing regret in matching markets with context-dependent player utilities.
method Developed adaptive algorithms for stochastic and adversarial contexts, providing upper and lower bounds.
result Achieved sublinear regret bounds for both stochastic and adversarial contexts.
A new policy for contextual bandits adapts to reward vector shifts.
problem Learning under reward vector shifts with ordered rewards.
method Adaptive-discretization and optimistic elimination policy.
result Established upper bounds on preference-based regret.
Unified framework for ensemble sampling in nonlinear contextual bandits with provable regret bounds.
problem Efficient exploration in nonlinear contextual bandits with unknown feature dimensions.
method Developed GLM-ES and Neural-ES for generalized linear and neural contextual bandits, respectively, using maximum likelihood estimation on randomly perturbed data.
result Unified high-probability frequentist regret bounds for GLM-ES and Neural-ES, matching state-of-the-art results.
A collaborative algorithm reduces regret in federated linear contextual bandits.
problem Optimizing decision-making in federated learning with heterogeneous data.
method Fed-PE algorithm, leveraging geometric structure of rewards, multi-client G-optimal design.
result Achieves near-optimal regrets with logarithmic communication costs.
A new linear contextual bandit algorithm with improved regret bound.
problem Efficiently solving linear contextual bandit problems with reduced regret.
method Proposes a novel estimator embedded with exploration and a self-normalized bound.
result Regret bound matches lower bound of Ω ( d T ) Ω(\sqrt{dT}) Ω ( d T ) up to logarithmic factors. Neural- σ 2 σ^2 σ 2 -LinearUCB improves regret in neural contextual bandits.
problem Balancing exploration and exploitation in neural contextual bandits.
method Proposes a variance-aware neural UCB algorithm using neural representations and an upper bound of reward noise variance.
result Oracle and practical versions of Neural- σ 2 σ^2 σ 2 -LinearUCB achieve better regret guarantees and performance. 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.
We revisit the proof by Qin et al. (2014) of bounded regret of the C 2 ^2 2 UCB contextual combinatorial bandit. We demonstrate an error in the proof of volumetric expansion of the moment matrix, used in upper bounding a function of context vector norms. We prove a relaxed inequality that yields the originally-stated regre…
Bayesian framework reduces online optimization regret.
problem Sequential optimization in dynamic environments with bounded losses.
method PAC-Bayes theory and Bayesian updating principles.
result Achieves O ( T ) \mathcal{O}(\sqrt{T}) O ( T ) regret for bounded losses. 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 ) . Develops a Best-of-Both-Worlds algorithm for linear contextual bandits with Tsallis entropy.
problem Linear contextual bandits with i.i.d. contexts.
method Follow-The-Regularized-Leader (FTRL) with Tsallis entropy.
result Achieves $O\left(\log(T)^{\frac{1+β}{2+β}}T^{\frac{1}{2+β}}
ight)$ regret under margin condition.
The paper achieves nearly optimal regret bounds for contextual multinomial logit bandits.
problem The contextual multinomial logit (MNL) bandit problem with varying rewards.
method Established lower bounds and proposed OFU-MNL+ algorithm with matching upper bounds.
result Achieved minimax optimal regret bounds for both uniform and non-uniform reward settings.
New algorithm reduces regret with diverse contexts in bandits.
problem Impact of context diversity on stochastic linear contextual bandits.
method Design of LinUCB-d algorithm and analysis of its regret performance.
result Cumulative expected regret is bounded by a constant under diverse context assumption.
This work improves online regression and contextual bandits using neural networks.
problem Improving online regression and contextual bandits using neural networks.
method Investigates neural networks for online regression, showing O ( log T ) \mathcal{O}(\log T) O ( log T ) regret for almost convex losses and KL loss. result Shows i l d e O ( K L ∗ + K ) ilde{\mathcal{O}}(\sqrt{KL^*} + K) i l d e O ( K L ∗ + K ) regret for NeuCB, outperforming existing algorithms. New algorithm reduces best-in-class regret in contextual bandits.
problem Compete with the best policy in a class without model restrictions.
method Proposes an algorithm that updates policies by minimizing a pessimistic objective, including a clipped inverse-propensity estimate and variance penalty.
result Achieves fast best-in-class regret rates, including polylogarithmic rates in the parametric case.
New algorithm for contextual dueling bandits achieves nearly optimal regret.
problem Contextual dueling bandits with feedback on preferred options.
method Proposes FGTS.CDB, a Thompson sampling algorithm for linear contextual dueling bandits.
result Achieves nearly minimax-optimal regret of i l d e O ( d T ) ilde{\mathcal{O}}(d\sqrt T) i l d e O ( d T ) . The paper addresses contextual optimization problems with feedback, aiming to minimize regret.
problem Contextual optimization with feedback information.
method Characterizing the optimal minimax policy in offline setting and leveraging geometric characterization in online setting to optimize cumulative regret.
result Developed an algorithm yielding logarithmic regret bound in the online setting.
Improved regret bounds for structured linear contextual bandits with Gaussian noise.
problem Optimizing bandit learning algorithms for structured contexts with Gaussian perturbations.
method Proposed simple greedy algorithms for structured linear contextual bandits with Gaussian noise.
result Unified regret analysis for structured parameters with geometric quantities as bounds.
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.