Unified framework for ranking-and-selection with multiple correct answers and non-answerable estimates
problem Fixed-precision ranking-and-selection in structured settings with non-unique answers and non-answerable estimates
method Unified framework based on answer-wise acceptance sets, restricted generalized likelihood ratio stopping, and answer-pitfall decomposition
result Unified recipe performs well across a broad range of pure-exploration problems
The paper improves PCS approximation for ranking and selection under limited simulation budgets.
problem Improving finite sample performance in Ranking and Selection.
method Develops a Bahadur-Rao type expansion for PCS, proposes a novel FCBA policy.
result FCBA policy achieves superior PCS performance compared to traditional methods.
Myopic procedures are shown to be asymptotically optimal in ranking and selection problems.
problem Selecting the best design from a set with unknown mean performance.
method Myopic procedures that iteratively improve an approximation of the objective measure.
result Myopic procedures satisfy optimality conditions of ranking and selection problems.
Under a Bayesian framework, we formulate the fully sequential sampling and selection decision in statistical ranking and selection as a stochastic control problem, and derive the associated Bellman equation. Using value function approximation, we derive an approximately optimal allocation policy. We show that this poli…
Proposes a method to optimize budget allocation for collecting and analyzing streaming data.
problem Optimizing resource allocation for collecting and analyzing streaming data.
method Formulates optimization problems to allocate budgets for collecting input data and running simulations, characterizes asymptotic behavior of performance estimators, and develops a multi-stage simultaneous budget allocation procedure.
result Demonstrates competitive performance of the proposed procedure through numerical studies.
Proposes a new allocation method for distributionally robust ranking and selection.
problem Inaccurate simulation input modeling due to limited data.
method Introduces a simple additive allocation (AA) procedure and a general additive allocation (GAA) framework.
result Proves that the proposed AA procedure is consistent and achieves additivity in the strongest sense.
Optimizes data collection for ranking and selection problems.
problem Identifying the best system from multiple solutions with limited data.
method Sequential sampling algorithm with MPB estimator and kernel ridge regression.
result OSAR achieves optimal sampling ratios almost surely in the limit.
A new method ranks and selects features without model fitting.
problem Feature importance measures algorithm-specific and need improvement.
method Integrates global sensitivity analysis with forward selection and backward elimination.
result Demonstrates clear advantage over state-of-the-art methods.
Annealed Entropic Allocation improves ranking and selection by mitigating hard switching and improving finite-budget discrimination.
problem Sequential budget allocation in ranking and selection
method Annealed weighted soft-min framework
result Surrogate converges uniformly to the hard minimum, soft-min weights concentrate on active challengers, and target allocation map is continuous.
Bayesian method reduces misclassification errors in ranking Pareto-optimal solutions.
problem Identifying true Pareto-optimal solutions in noisy multiobjective optimization.
method Sequential allocation of extra samples using stochastic kriging to build predictive distributions.
result The proposed method outperforms existing algorithms in reducing misclassification errors.
We consider a problem of ranking and selection via simulation in the context of personalized decision making, where the best alternative is not universal but varies as a function of some observable covariates. The goal of ranking and selection with covariates (R&S-C) is to use simulation samples to obtain a selection p…
Proposes a new sampling policy for ranking and selection problems.
problem Improving ranking and selection in adaptive sampling policies.
method Annealed entropic allocation, using soft-min weights and saddlepoint corrections.
result Consistently competitive performance in various settings.
A neural network approach for feature selection using mutual information.
problem Feature ranking and selection leading to sub-optimal solutions for class separability.
method Stochastic mutual information gradient estimation for dimensionality reduction.
result The network projects features onto an output space maximizing mutual information with class labels.
New OCBA procedures minimize PICS in robust R&S.
problem Selecting the best alternative under input uncertainty.
method Developed new asymptotically optimal OCBA procedures.
result Procedures minimize probability of incorrect selection.
Unified algorithm for efficient pure exploration using dual variables.
problem Efficiently achieving a specific goal through adaptive experimentation.
method Introducing dual variables to derive optimal allocation conditions, leading to Information-Directed Selection.
result Top-two Thompson sampling attains asymptotic optimality for Gaussian best-arm identification.
RI-based variable ranking and selection outperforms lasso in high-dimensional datasets.
problem Challenges in variable selection and model creation with correlated predictors.
method RI measures for feature ranking and selection, including CRI.Z.
result RI-based methods outperform lasso in high-dimensional datasets, especially with correlated predictors.
Paper introduces a new metric to select optimal Graph Shift Operator for GNNs.
problem Empirical selection of Graph Shift Operator remains challenging.
method Introduces a novel alignment gain metric connecting geometric distortion to generalization bounds via spectral proxy.
result Provides a principled, computation-efficient criterion to rank and select optimal GSO.
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 …
We propose a sequential learning policy for noisy discrete global optimization and ranking and selection (R\&S) problems with high dimensional sparse belief functions, where there are hundreds or even thousands of features, but only a small portion of these features contain explanatory power. We aim to identify the spa…
In an era where accumulating data is easy and storing it inexpensive, feature selection plays a central role in helping to reduce the high-dimensionality of huge amounts of otherwise meaningless data. In this paper, we propose a graph-based method for feature selection that ranks features by identifying the most import…
New method for selecting clusters in residential electricity data.
problem Selecting useful clusters in electricity consumption data.
method Formalizing expert knowledge as external validation measures.
result Successfully reconstructed customer archetypes.
In order to decode the human brain, Multivariate Pattern (MVP) classification generates cognitive models by using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) datasets. As a standard pipeline in the MVP analysis, brain patterns in multi-subject fMRI dataset must be mapped to a shared space and then a classification mod…
MAML with over-parameterized DNNs converges globally at a linear rate.
problem Few-shot learning with limited data.
method Model-agnostic meta-learning (MAML) with over-parameterized deep neural networks (DNNs).
result MAML with over-parameterized DNNs converges globally at a linear rate.
Objective: A variety of pattern analysis techniques for model training in brain interfaces exploit neural feature dimensionality reduction based on feature ranking and selection heuristics. In the light of broad evidence demonstrating the potential sub-optimality of ranking based feature selection by any criterion, we …
New research shows fixed-budget best-arm identification cannot match static oracle performance.
problem Fixed-budget best-arm identification's performance limitations.
method Analysis of various adaptive and static algorithms for best-arm identification.
result For any algorithm, there exists at least one instance where the error decay rate is at most \((1 + \frac{\log(K)}{8})^{-1}\) times that of the static oracle.
This paper studies Bayesian ranking and selection (R&S) problems with correlated prior beliefs and continuous domains, i.e. Bayesian optimization (BO). Knowledge gradient methods [Frazier et al., 2008, 2009] have been widely studied for discrete R&S problems, which sample the one-step Bayes-optimal point. When used ove…
An algorithm finds the most probable best solution in uncertain parameter settings.
problem Finding the most probable best solution in uncertain parameter settings.
method Designing an efficient sequential sampling algorithm to learn the most probable best (MPB) and optimizing the computing budget allocation.
result The algorithms achieve the optimal sampling ratios as the simulation budget increases and significantly improve empirical performance.
The TREX is a recently introduced method for performing sparse high-dimensional regression. Despite its statistical promise as an alternative to the lasso, square-root lasso, and scaled lasso, the TREX is computationally challenging in that it requires solving a non-convex optimization problem. This paper shows a remar…
We present a sparse knowledge gradient (SpKG) algorithm for adaptively selecting the targeted regions within a large RNA molecule to identify which regions are most amenable to interactions with other molecules. Experimentally, such regions can be inferred from fluorescence measurements obtained by binding a complement…
Simple algorithms identify best items or full rankings from choice-based feedback.
problem Learning to identify the best item or full ranking from choice-based feedback.
method Nested Elimination (NE) and Nested Partition (NP) algorithms.
result NE is worst-case asymptotically optimal, NP is optimal up to a constant factor.
SOCRATES uses LLMs to automate simulation optimization of complex systems.
problem Optimizing complex, expensive-to-sample stochastic systems.
method Two-stage procedure: replica construction and meta-optimization.
result Adaptive hybrid optimization schedule for real systems.