The paper honors Lai's contributions to multi-armed bandits and establishes new regret bounds.
problem Improving regret bounds in multi-armed bandit problems.
method Establishes non-asymptotic regret bounds for upper confidence bound indices.
result New regret bounds match Lai-Robbins lower bound.
This note gives a short, self-contained, proof of a sharp connection between Gittins indices and Bayesian upper confidence bound algorithms. I consider a Gaussian multi-armed bandit problem with discount factor γ γ γ . The Gittins index of an arm is shown to equal the γ γ γ -quantile of the posterior distribution of the arm'…
Improved Bayesian optimisation method using randomised Gaussian process UCB.
problem Improving performance in Bayesian optimisation.
method Developed a modified Gaussian process upper confidence bound (GP-UCB) acquisition function.
result The method achieves better performance than GP-UCB in various problems.
Paper improves regret bounds for Gaussian process upper confidence bound in Bayesian optimization.
problem Minimizing regret in Gaussian process bandit optimization.
method Gaussian process upper confidence bound (GP-UCB) algorithm with refined analysis.
result Achieves O ( T ln 2 T ) O(\sqrt{T \ln^2 T}) O ( T ln 2 T ) cumulative regret under squared exponential kernel. The estimation of probabilities of default (PDs) for low default portfolios by means of upper confidence bounds is a well established procedure in many financial institutions. However, there are often discussions within the institutions or between institutions and supervisors about which confidence level to use for the…
One-bit feedback suffices for a bandit problem's optimal strategy.
problem Optimal strategy for multi-armed bandit problem with limited feedback.
method Coding and decoding schemes for one-bit feedback to mimic full-reward feedback.
result Regret ratio approaches 1 with one-bit feedback.
Bayesian methods improve drug discovery experiment design.
problem Optimizing drug screening experiments in high-dimensional data.
method Bayesian inference and optimisation with upper confidence bound algorithms, Thompson sampling, and sparse tree search.
result Sparse tree search techniques outperform other methods in drug toxicity screening.
A new method optimizes robustness measures under input uncertainty using randomized Gaussian process upper confidence bound.
problem Optimizing robustness measures under input uncertainty.
method Randomized robustness measure GP-UCB (RRGP-UCB) that samples β from a chi-squared-based distribution.
result RRGP-UCB provides tight bounds on expected regret.
UCB algorithm provides stable sample means for sequential data.
problem Challenges in inferential tasks with sequential data.
method Stability property of UCB algorithm for multiarmed bandit problems.
result UCB algorithm ensures asymptotically normal sample means.
In this paper, the method UCB-RS, which resorts to recommendation system (RS) for enhancing the upper-confidence bound algorithm UCB, is presented. The proposed method is used for dealing with non-stationary and large-state spaces multi-armed bandit problems. The proposed method has been targeted to the problem of the …
Paper proposes a new UCB approach for estimating maximum mean.
problem Estimating the maximum mean in various applications.
method Upper Confidence Bound (UCB) approach with adaptive sampling.
result LSA estimator shows faster bias decay compared to GA.
A new algorithm for better decision-making in recommendation systems.
problem Stochastic multi-armed bandit problem and cold start problem in recommender systems.
method Proposes Hellinger-UCB, a variant of UCB algorithm using squared Hellinger distance.
result Hellinger-UCB reaches the theoretical lower bound and outperforms other algorithms in practical applications.
We present two algorithms for Bayesian optimization in the batch feedback setting, based on Gaussian process upper confidence bound and Thompson sampling approaches, along with frequentist regret guarantees and numerical results.
This paper improves GP-UCB by using a shifted exponential distribution for confidence parameters.
problem Theoretical confidence parameter in GP-UCB increases with iterations, leading to large values.
method Introduced IRGP-UCB, a randomized variant of GP-UCB using a shifted exponential distribution for confidence parameters.
result IRGP-UCB achieves sub-linear regret without increasing the confidence parameter.
CRB tackles rising rewards in combinatorial online learning.
problem Rising rewards in combinatorial online learning.
method CRB framework and CRUCB algorithm.
result Empirical and theoretical validation of CRUCB's effectiveness.
Upper Confidence Bound (UCB) method is arguably the most celebrated one used in online decision making with partial information feedback. Existing techniques for constructing confidence bounds are typically built upon various concentration inequalities, which thus lead to over-exploration. In this paper, we propose a n…
EBUCB framework achieves optimal regret with bounded approximate inference error.
problem Theoretical gap between practical performance and theoretical justification of Bayesian bandit algorithms with approximate inference.
method Enhanced Bayesian Upper Confidence Bound (EBUCB) framework that accommodates bandit problems with approximate inference.
result EBUCB achieves optimal regret order O ( log T ) O(\log T) O ( log T ) under certain conditions on inference error. Bayesian bandit algorithms with approximate inference improve regret bounds in stochastic linear bandits.
problem Theoretical justification for Bayesian bandit algorithms with approximate inference in stochastic linear bandits.
method Proposed a theoretical framework to analyze approximate inference impact and conducted frequentist regret analysis on LinTS and LinBUCB.
result LinTS and LinBUCB preserve their original regret upper bounds with larger constant terms in approximate inference settings.
This paper is devoted to regret lower bounds in the classical model of stochastic multi-armed bandit. A well-known result of Lai and Robbins, which has then been extended by Burnetas and Katehakis, has established the presence of a logarithmic bound for all consistent policies. We relax the notion of consistence, and e…
Bayes-UCBVI tackles reinforcement learning with a new upper confidence bound method.
problem Optimizing exploration in reinforcement learning without bonuses.
method Bayes-UCBVI uses a quantile of a Q-value function posterior as an upper confidence bound.
result Proves a regret bound of order O ~ ( H 3 S A T ) \widetilde{O}(\sqrt{H^3SAT}) O ( H 3 S A T ) for tabular reinforcement learning. We study an extension of the classic stochastic multi-armed bandit problem which involves multiple plays and Markovian rewards in the rested bandits setting. In order to tackle this problem we consider an adaptive allocation rule which at each stage combines the information from the sample means of all the arms, with t…
Efficiently identifies good policies by choosing contexts for human feedback.
problem Efficiently identifying good policies in applications with high feedback costs.
method Introduces offline contextual dueling bandit setting and an upper-confidence-bound style algorithm.
result Proves a regret bound and shows superior performance over uniformly sampled contexts.
This paper proposes a DGP approach with UCBs for point target tracking over WSNs.
problem Uncertainty quantification in distributed machine learning-based tracking over WSNs.
method Distributed Gaussian process (DGP) approach with upper confidence bounds (UCBs).
result UCBs provide 88% and 42% higher probability of encompassing true target states in X and Y coordinates, respectively.
StoSOO optimistically maximizes noisy, locally smooth functions.
problem Global maximization of noisy, locally smooth functions with unknown semi-metric.
method StoSOO uses optimistic upper confidence bounds to iteratively decide on the next evaluation point.
result StoSOO performs almost as well as the best tuned algorithms, even without knowing the semi-metric.
Standard acquisition functions are sufficient for asynchronous Bayesian optimization.
problem Redundant and repeated queries in asynchronous Bayesian optimization.
method Conceptual analysis and theoretical guarantees of standard acquisitions.
result Standard acquisition functions achieve theoretical guarantees equivalent to Thompson sampling in asynchronous settings.
A hybrid model for Bayesian optimization handles mixed variables using MCTS for categorical and GP for continuous.
problem Optimizing functions with mixed variable types (continuous, integer, categorical).
method Merges MCTS for categorical and GP for continuous variables, integrates UCTS search strategy, and dynamically selects kernels.
result Hybrid models outperform traditional methods in Bayesian optimization.
New acquisition function for extreme rewards in bandits.
problem Online decision making with extreme payoffs in multi-armed bandits.
method Modeling payoffs as Gaussian processes and using a novel UCB acquisition function.
result Demonstrated benefits across synthetic and real-world benchmarks.
New algorithms tackle latent bandit problems with lower regret.
problem Learning optimal actions in a latent state setting.
method General algorithms based on UCBs and Thompson sampling, aware of model uncertainty.
result Our methods have lower regret than classic bandit policies when latent states are fewer than actions.
A bandit problem with filtered Poisson process data.
problem Maximizing points revealed from a continuum action space.
method Upper confidence bound algorithm with data-adaptive discretisation.
result Regret bound of O(T^(2/3)) under Lipschitz assumption.
Improved BO algorithms reduce prediction error under Gaussian noise.
problem Reducing prediction error in Bayesian optimization with Gaussian noise.
method Established new prediction error bounds for Gaussian process under frequentist setting.
result Proved improved convergence rates of cumulative regret for GP-UCB and GP-TS.
Contextual bandits are widely used in Internet services from news recommendation to advertising, and to Web search. Generalized linear models (logistical regression in particular) have demonstrated stronger performance than linear models in many applications where rewards are binary. However, most theoretical analyses …
We show how an ensemble of Q ∗ Q^* Q ∗ -functions can be leveraged for more effective exploration in deep reinforcement learning. We build on well established algorithms from the bandit setting, and adapt them to the Q Q Q -learning setting. We propose an exploration strategy based on upper-confidence bounds (UCB). Our experimen…
A new algorithm, Regular Tree Search, tackles non-convex simulation optimization problems.
problem Non-convex objective functions in simulation optimization.
method Integrates adaptive sampling with recursive partitioning of the search space.
result Proves global convergence and reliably identifies the global optimum.
Designs adaptive controller for networked control systems with wireless data transmission.
problem Adaptive control in networked systems with unreliable wireless channels.
method Upper Confidence Bounds for Networked Control Systems (UCB-NCS) learning rule.
result Non-asymptotic performance guarantees with a regret bound of O(C√T).
Maximin UCB algorithm optimizes energy harvesting for sensor networks.
problem Optimizing energy harvesting for sensor nodes in varying environments.
method Modeling as Maximin Multi-Armed Bandits and proposing Maximin UCB algorithm.
result Maximin UCB algorithm achieves performance guarantees similar to UCB1.
A new UCB algorithm for heavy-tailed bandits with near-optimal regret.
problem Sequential decision making in uncertain environments with heavy-tailed rewards.
method Data-driven, distribution-free UCB algorithm combining resampled median-of-means and UCB.
result Near-optimal regret bound for heavy-tailed distributions.
A new federated multi-armed bandit framework with personalization balances generalization and personalization.
problem Balancing generalization and personalization in federated multi-armed bandits.
method Proposed a Personalized Federated Upper Confidence Bound (PF-UCB) algorithm to achieve a O ( log ( T ) ) O(\log(T)) O ( log ( T )) regret. result PF-UCB achieves an O ( log ( T ) ) O(\log(T)) O ( log ( T )) regret regardless of personalization degree and has similar instance dependency to lower bound. New bounds for Bayesian bandits show prior improves performance.
problem Improving regret bounds for Bayesian bandits.
method Upper confidence bound algorithm with finite-time logarithmic regret bounds.
result Derives O ( c Δ log n ) O(c_Δ\log n) O ( c Δ log n ) and O ( c h log 2 n ) O(c_h \log^2 n) O ( c h log 2 n ) upper bounds for Bayesian bandits. Inexact acquisition solutions in BO lead to sublinear cumulative regret.
problem Inexact maximization of acquisition functions in Bayesian optimization.
method Define inaccuracy measure, establish cumulative regret bounds for GP-UCB and GP-TS.
result Inexact BO algorithms can achieve sublinear cumulative regret under appropriate inaccuracy conditions.
Statistical model checking for PCTL on MDPs using reinforcement learning.
problem Model checking PCTL specifications on MDPs with statistical methods.
method Reinforcement learning for policy search, statistical model checking with UCB-based Q-learning.
result Provably guaranteed statistical model checking method for PCTL specifications on MDPs.
BaNk-UCB tackles batched nonparametric bandits with k-NN regression and UCB.
problem Sequential decision-making with limited online feedback in domains like medicine and marketing.
method Combines k-NN regression with UCB principle for fully nonparametric, adaptive, and simple implementation.
result Near-optimal regret guarantees under Lipschitz smoothness and margin assumptions, with minimax-optimal rates.
Neural algorithms optimize arm selection with human preference feedback for complex reward functions.
problem Optimizing arm selection with noisy human preference feedback for complex, non-linear reward functions.
method Neural network to estimate reward function using preference feedback, upper confidence bound and Thompson sampling algorithms.
result Sub-linear regret guarantees for efficient arm selection in contextual dueling bandits.
Optimal strategy for reinforcement learning with delayed observations.
problem Delayed state observation in reinforcement learning.
method Combines augmentation method and upper confidence bound approach.
result Minimax optimal regret bound of i l d e O ( H D max S A K ) ilde{\mathcal{O}}(H \sqrt{D_{\max} SAK}) i l d e O ( H D m a x S A K ) . New algorithm reduces RL complexity with low switching costs.
problem Exploration-exploitation dilemma in RL with complex models.
method Monotonic Q-Learning with Upper Confidence Bound (MQL-UCB) for RL with general function approximation.
result Achieves minimax optimal regret of O ( d H K ) O(d\sqrt{HK}) O ( d H K ) and near-optimal policy switching cost. FP-UCB algorithm achieves bounded regret for finitely parameterized multi-armed bandits.
problem Finitely parameterized multi-armed bandits with unknown but known parameter set.
method FP-UCB algorithm using structural information about the parameter set.
result FP-UCB achieves bounded regret under structural condition, logarithmic otherwise.
Study optimizes dynamic product selection and pricing using censored preference feedback.
problem Maximizing revenue from dynamic assortment and pricing decisions.
method Proposes a censored multinomial logit model and LCB pricing strategy combined with UCB or TS product selection.
result Achieves optimal regret bounds for dynamic pricing and selection.
Optimizes energy efficiency in wireless sensor networks with limited information.
problem Maximizing energy efficiency in energy harvesting wireless sensor networks with limited channel state information.
method Modeling as a Multi-Armed Bandits problem and developing an Upper Confidence Bound algorithm.
result Significant gains in energy efficiency compared to benchmark schemes.
In this paper, we consider the challenge of maximizing an unknown function f for which evaluations are noisy and are acquired with high cost. An iterative procedure uses the previous measures to actively select the next estimation of f which is predicted to be the most useful. We focus on the case where the function ca…