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Imitation learning often assumes that demonstrations are close to optimal according to some fixed, but unknown, cost function. However, according to satisficing theory, humans often choose acceptable behavior based on their personal (and…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-05-27 Rushit N. Shah , Nikolaos Agadakos , Synthia Sasulski , Ali Farajzadeh , Sanjiban Choudhury , Brian Ziebart

We introduce a model of graph-constrained dynamic choice with reinforcement modeled by positively $\alpha$-homogeneous rewards. We show that its empirical process, which can be written as a stochastic approximation recursion with Markov…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-07-27 Konstantin Avrachenkov , Vivek S. Borkar , Sharayu Moharir , Suhail M. Shah

We propose a novel formulation of group fairness with biased feedback in the contextual multi-armed bandit (CMAB) setting. In the CMAB setting, a sequential decision maker must, at each time step, choose an arm to pull from a finite set of…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-02-17 Candice Schumann , Zhi Lang , Nicholas Mattei , John P. Dickerson

One of the key drivers of complexity in the classical (stochastic) multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem is the difference between mean rewards in the top two arms, also known as the instance gap. The celebrated Upper Confidence Bound (UCB)…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-10-27 Anand Kalvit , Assaf Zeevi

We study the stochastic Budgeted Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) problem, where a player chooses from $K$ arms with unknown expected rewards and costs. The goal is to maximize the total reward under a budget constraint. A player thus seeks to…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-08-16 Marco Heyden , Vadim Arzamasov , Edouard Fouché , Klemens Böhm

Sequential decision making under uncertainty is studied in a mixed observability domain. The goal is to maximize the amount of information obtained on a partially observable stochastic process under constraints imposed by a fully observable…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2016-03-16 Mikko Lauri , Risto Ritala

Sequential portfolio selection has attracted increasing interests in the machine learning and quantitative finance communities in recent years. As a mathematical framework for reinforcement learning policies, the stochastic multi-armed…

Portfolio Management · Quantitative Finance 2017-09-14 Xiaoguang Huo , Feng Fu

We consider the query recommendation problem in closed loop interactive learning settings like online information gathering and exploratory analytics. The problem can be naturally modelled using the Multi-Armed Bandits (MAB) framework with…

Thompson sampling (TS) is widely used in sequential decision making due to its ease of use and appealing empirical performance. However, many existing analytical and empirical results for TS rely on restrictive assumptions on reward…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-06-16 Amin Karbasi , Nikki Lijing Kuang , Yi-An Ma , Siddharth Mitra

We study a stylized social learning dynamics where self-interested agents collectively follow a simple multi-armed bandit protocol. Each agent controls an ``episode": a short sequence of consecutive decisions. Motivating applications…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2026-02-06 Kiarash Banihashem , Natalie Collina , Aleksandrs Slivkins

We study adversarial noisy bandits given a known function class $\mathcal{F}$. In each round, the adversary selects a function $f \in \mathcal{F}$, the learner chooses an arm, and then observes a noisy reward determined by the chosen arm…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-05-12 Steve Hanneke , Kun Wang

In the classical best arm identification (Best-$1$-Arm) problem, we are given $n$ stochastic bandit arms, each associated with a reward distribution with an unknown mean. We would like to identify the arm with the largest mean with…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2017-05-25 Lijie Chen , Jian Li , Mingda Qiao

We present a formal model of human decision-making in explore-exploit tasks using the context of multi-armed bandit problems, where the decision-maker must choose among multiple options with uncertain rewards. We address the standard…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2019-12-23 Paul Reverdy , Vaibhav Srivastava , Naomi E. Leonard

This paper studies active learning in the context of robust statistics. Specifically, we propose a variant of the Best Arm Identification problem for \emph{contaminated bandits}, where each arm pull has probability $\varepsilon$ of…

Statistics Theory · Mathematics 2021-11-16 Jason Altschuler , Victor-Emmanuel Brunel , Alan Malek

In bandit best-arm identification, an algorithm is tasked with finding the arm with highest mean reward with a specified accuracy as fast as possible. We study multi-fidelity best-arm identification, in which the algorithm can choose to…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-05-27 Riccardo Poiani , Rémy Degenne , Emilie Kaufmann , Alberto Maria Metelli , Marcello Restelli

We address the problem of multi-group mean estimation, which seeks to allocate a finite sampling budget across multiple groups to obtain uniformly accurate estimates of their means. Unlike classical multi-armed bandits, whose objective is…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-10-14 Ziyi Wei , Huaiyang Zhong , Xiaocheng Li

We consider the classical multi-armed bandit problem, but with strategic arms. In this context, each arm is characterized by a bounded support reward distribution and strategically aims to maximize its own utility by potentially retaining a…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-01-28 Ahmed Ben Yahmed , Clément Calauzènes , Vianney Perchet

In multi-objective decision-making with hierarchical preferences, lexicographic bandits provide a natural framework for optimizing multiple objectives in a prioritized order. In this setting, a learner repeatedly selects arms and observes…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-11-11 Bo Xue , Yuanyu Wan , Zhichao Lu , Qingfu Zhang

This work examines a social learning problem, where dispersed agents connected through a network topology interact locally to form their opinions (beliefs) as regards certain hypotheses of interest. These opinions evolve over time, since…

Signal Processing · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2023-01-26 Michele Cirillo , Virginia Bordignon , Vincenzo Matta , Ali H. Sayed

We study the Improving Multi-Armed Bandit (IMAB) problem, where the reward obtained from an arm increases with the number of pulls it receives. This model provides an elegant abstraction for many real-world problems in domains such as…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-08-22 Vishakha Patil , Vineet Nair , Ganesh Ghalme , Arindam Khan