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In statistical learning, algorithms for model selection allow the learner to adapt to the complexity of the best hypothesis class in a sequence. We ask whether similar guarantees are possible for contextual bandit learning.

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-06-22 Dylan J. Foster , Akshay Krishnamurthy , Haipeng Luo

We introduce the "inverse bandit" problem of estimating the rewards of a multi-armed bandit instance from observing the learning process of a low-regret demonstrator. Existing approaches to the related problem of inverse reinforcement…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2022-02-23 Wenshuo Guo , Kumar Krishna Agrawal , Aditya Grover , Vidya Muthukumar , Ashwin Pananjady

We provide a simple method to combine stochastic bandit algorithms. Our approach is based on a "meta-UCB" procedure that treats each of $N$ individual bandit algorithms as arms in a higher-level $N$-armed bandit problem that we solve with a…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-12-25 Ashok Cutkosky , Abhimanyu Das , Manish Purohit

We study the problem of federated stochastic multi-arm contextual bandits with unknown contexts, in which M agents are faced with different bandits and collaborate to learn. The communication model consists of a central server and the…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-01-31 Jiabin Lin , Shana Moothedath

We study the problem of corralling stochastic bandit algorithms, that is combining multiple bandit algorithms designed for a stochastic environment, with the goal of devising a corralling algorithm that performs almost as well as the best…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-03-02 Raman Arora , Teodor V. Marinov , Mehryar Mohri

In this paper, we consider a best action identification problem in the stochastic linear bandit setup with a fixed confident constraint. In the considered best action identification problem, instead of minimizing the accumulative regret as…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2018-12-04 Jun Geng , Lifeng Lai

Combinatorial bandits extend the classical bandit framework to settings where the learner selects multiple arms in each round, motivated by applications such as online recommendation and assortment optimization. While extensions of upper…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-10-29 Yuxiao Wen , Yanjun Han , Zhengyuan Zhou

We propose an algorithm for next query recommendation in interactive data exploration settings, like knowledge discovery for information gathering. The state-of-the-art query recommendation algorithms are based on sequence-to-sequence…

Information Retrieval · Computer Science 2024-07-08 Shameem A Puthiya Parambath , Christos Anagnostopoulos , Roderick Murray-Smith

We study nonparametric contextual bandits under batch constraints, where the expected reward for each action is modeled as a smooth function of covariates, and the policy updates are made at the end of each batch of observations. We…

Statistics Theory · Mathematics 2025-10-06 Rong Jiang , Cong Ma

The contextual multi-armed bandit (MAB) is a widely used framework for problems requiring sequential decision-making under uncertainty, such as recommendation systems. In applications involving a large number of users, the performance of…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-02-05 Zhiyong Wang , Jiahang Sun , Mingze Kong , Jize Xie , Qinghua Hu , John C. S. Lui , Zhongxiang Dai

We propose an extensible deep learning method that uses reinforcement learning to train neural networks for offline ranking in information retrieval (IR). We call our method BanditRank as it treats ranking as a contextual bandit problem. In…

Information Retrieval · Computer Science 2019-10-24 Phanideep Gampa , Sumio Fujita

Online recommender systems often face long delays in receiving feedback, especially when optimizing for some long-term metrics. While mitigating the effects of delays in learning is well-understood in stationary environments, the problem…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2020-08-12 Claire Vernade , Andras Gyorgy , Timothy Mann

The bandit paradigm provides a unified modeling framework for problems that require decision-making under uncertainty. Because many business metrics can be viewed as rewards (a.k.a. utilities) that result from actions, bandit algorithms…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-02-03 Bram van den Akker , Olivier Jeunen , Ying Li , Ben London , Zahra Nazari , Devesh Parekh

Contextual bandit algorithms are essential for solving real-world decision making problems. In practice, collecting a contextual bandit's feedback from different domains may involve different costs. For example, measuring drug reaction from…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-04-08 Ziyan Wang , Xiaoming Huo , Hao Wang

Online decision-making can be formulated as the popular stochastic multi-armed bandit problem where a learner makes decisions (or takes actions) to maximize cumulative rewards collected from an unknown environment. This paper proposes to…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2025-11-26 Jonathan Gornet , Mehdi Hosseinzadeh , Bruno Sinopoli

Contextual multi-armed bandit has shown to be an effective tool in recommender systems. In this paper, we study a novel problem of multi-facet bandits involving a group of bandits, each characterizing the users' needs from one unique…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-07-02 Yikun Ban , Jingrui He , Curtiss B. Cook

We study offline data poisoning attacks in contextual bandits, a class of reinforcement learning problems with important applications in online recommendation and adaptive medical treatment, among others. We provide a general attack…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2018-08-27 Yuzhe Ma , Kwang-Sung Jun , Lihong Li , Xiaojin Zhu

We consider a special case of bandit problems, named batched bandits, in which an agent observes batches of responses over a certain time period. Unlike previous work, we consider a more practically relevant batch-centric scenario of batch…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-04-04 Danil Provodin , Pratik Gajane , Mykola Pechenizkiy , Maurits Kaptein

In this paper, we study the stochastic multi-armed bandit problem with graph feedback. Motivated by the clinical trials and recommendation problem, we assume that two arms are connected if and only if they are similar (i.e., their means are…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-05-21 Han Qi , Guo Fei , Li Zhu

The contextual bandit framework is widely used to solve sequential optimization problems where the reward of each decision depends on auxiliary context variables. In settings such as medicine, business, and engineering, the decision maker…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2025-03-17 Kevin Li , Eric Laber