Related papers: Average search time bound in cue based search stra…
We consider the following generalization of the classic Binary Search Problem: a searcher is required to find a hidden target vertex $x$ in a graph $G$, by iteratively performing queries about vertices. A query to $v$ incurs a cost $c(v,…
We present new lower and upper bounds for the compression rate of binary prefix codes optimized over memoryless sources according to two related exponential codeword length objectives. The objectives explored here are exponential-average…
Estimating the normalizing constant of an unnormalized probability distribution has important applications in computer science, statistical physics, machine learning, and statistics. In this work, we consider the problem of estimating the…
We study first-passage time problems for a diffusive particle with stochastic resetting with a finite rate $r$. The optimal search time is compared quantitatively with that of an effective equilibrium Langevin process with the same…
Many management decisions involve accumulated random realizations for which only the first and second moments of their distribution are available. The sharp Chebyshev-type bound for the tail probability and Scarf bound for the expected loss…
In this paper we consider multiple constrained resource allocation problems, where the constraints can be specified by formulating activity dependency restrictions or by using game-theoretic models. All the problems are focused on generic…
We present a novel distributed probabilistic bisection algorithm using social learning with application to target localization. Each agent in the network first constructs a query about the target based on its local information and obtains a…
We leverage the Gibbs inequality and its natural generalization to R\'enyi entropies to derive closed-form parametric expressions of the optimal lower bounds of $\rho$th-order guessing entropy (guessing moment) of a secret taking values on…
Query expansion is a well known method to improve the performance of information retrieval systems. In this work we have tested different approaches to extract the candidate query terms from the top ranked documents returned by the…
Suppose a target is hidden in one of the vertices of an edge-weighted graph according to a known probability distribution. The expanding search problem asks for a search sequence of the vertices so as to minimize the expected time for…
This paper introduces a declarative framework to specify and reason about distributions of data over computing nodes in a distributed setting. More specifically, it proposes distribution constraints which are tuple and equality generating…
Given a network of fixed size $n$ and an initial distribution of data, we derive sufficient connectivity conditions on a sequence of time-varying digraphs for (a) data collection and (b) data dissemination, within at most $(n-1)$…
We investigate the distribution of the depth of a node containing a specific key or, equivalently, the number of steps needed to retrieve an item stored in a randomly grown binary search tree. Using a representation in terms of mixed and…
We analyze a tree search problem with an underlying Markov decision process, in which the goal is to identify the best action at the root that achieves the highest cumulative reward. We present a new tree policy that optimally allocates a…
Random walks can be used to search complex networks for a desired resource. To reduce search lengths, we propose a mechanism based on building random walks connecting together partial walks (PW) previously computed at each network node.…
This paper presents distributed algorithmic solutions that employ opportunistic inter-agent communication to achieve dynamic average consensus. In our solutions each agent is endowed with a local criterion that enables it to determine…
We study the limit behaviour of upper and lower bounds on expected time averages in imprecise Markov chains; a generalised type of Markov chain where the local dynamics, traditionally characterised by transition probabilities, are now…
This article investigates the difference between the true detection probability and the subjective probability of a uniformly optimal search plan. Its main contributions are multi-fold. First, it provides a set of examples to show that, in…
Consider a decision maker who is responsible to dynamically collect observations so as to enhance his information about an underlying phenomena of interest in a speedy manner while accounting for the penalty of wrong declaration. Due to the…
The speed of an exhaustive search can be measured by a cover time, which is defined as the time it takes a random searcher to visit every state in some target set. Cover times have been studied in both the physics and probability…