Related papers: Near-Optimal Discrete Optimization for Experimenta…
Regret matching (RM) -- and its modern variants -- is a foundational online algorithm that has been at the heart of many AI breakthrough results in solving benchmark zero-sum games, such as poker. Yet, surprisingly little is known so far in…
The optimal selection of experimental conditions is essential to maximizing the value of data for inference and prediction, particularly in situations where experiments are time-consuming and expensive to conduct. We propose a general…
Motivated by learning of correlated equilibria in non-cooperative games, we perform a large deviations analysis of a regret minimizing stochastic approximation algorithm. The regret minimization algorithm we consider comprises multiple…
We address the problem of optimal experimental design (OED) for Bayesian nonlinear inverse problems governed by PDEs. The goal is to find a placement of sensors, at which experimental data are collected, so as to minimize the uncertainty in…
Algorithms often carry out equally many computations for "easy" and "hard" problem instances. In particular, algorithms for finding nearest neighbors typically have the same running time regardless of the particular problem instance. In…
We study online reinforcement learning in linear Markov decision processes with adversarial losses and bandit feedback, without prior knowledge on transitions or access to simulators. We introduce two algorithms that achieve improved regret…
In this paper, we consider the problem of sequentially optimizing a black-box function $f$ based on noisy samples and bandit feedback. We assume that $f$ is smooth in the sense of having a bounded norm in some reproducing kernel Hilbert…
Bayesian optimal experimental design is a sub-field of statistics focused on developing methods to make efficient use of experimental resources. Any potential design is evaluated in terms of a utility function, such as the (theoretically…
Pairwise comparison labels are more informative and less variable than class labels, but generating them poses a challenge: their number grows quadratically in the dataset size. We study a natural experimental design objective, namely,…
We consider control of uncertain linear time-varying stochastic systems from the perspective of regret minimization. Specifically, we focus on the problem of designing a feedback controller that minimizes the loss relative to a clairvoyant…
We give a quantum approximation scheme (i.e., $(1 + \varepsilon)$-approximation for every $\varepsilon > 0$) for the classical $k$-means clustering problem in the QRAM model with a running time that has only polylogarithmic dependence on…
Given points $p_1, \dots, p_n$ in $\mathbb{R}^d$, how do we find a point $x$ which maximizes $\frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^n e^{-\|p_i - x\|^2}$? In other words, how do we find the maximizing point, or mode of a Gaussian kernel density estimation…
Partitioning a sequence of length $n$ into $k$ coherent segments (Seg) is one of the classic optimization problems. As long as the optimization criterion is additive, Seg can be solved exactly in $O(n^2k)$ time using a classic dynamic…
In this paper, we study fundamental problems of maximizing DR-submodular continuous functions that have real-world applications in the domain of machine learning, economics, operations research and communication systems. It captures a…
We develop approximation algorithms for set-selection problems with deterministic constraints, but random objective values, i.e., stochastic probing problems. When the goal is to maximize the objective, approximation algorithms for probing…
We present a new anytime algorithm that achieves near-optimal regret for any instance of finite stochastic partial monitoring. In particular, the new algorithm achieves the minimax regret, within logarithmic factors, for both "easy" and…
We study time-inhomogeneous episodic reinforcement learning (RL) under general function approximation and sparse rewards. We design a new algorithm, Variance-weighted Optimistic $Q$-Learning (VO$Q$L), based on $Q$-learning and bound its…
In this work, we consider the problem of regret minimization in adaptive minimum variance and linear quadratic control problems. Regret minimization has been extensively studied in the literature for both types of adaptive control problems.…
We consider the random design regression model with square loss. We propose a method that aggregates empirical minimizers (ERM) over appropriately chosen random subsets and reduces to ERM in the extreme case, and we establish sharp oracle…
We consider the well-studied dueling bandit problem, where a learner aims to identify near-optimal actions using pairwise comparisons, under the constraint of differential privacy. We consider a general class of utility-based preference…