Related papers: Waiting Times for Ties in Random Competitions

This paper considers multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) where the rewards are received after delays and the delay time varies across agents and across time steps. Based on the V-learning framework, this paper proposes MARL algorithms…

In a dynamic matching market, such as a marriage or job market, how should agents balance accepting a proposed match with the cost of continuing their search? We consider this problem in a discrete setting, in which agents have cardinal…

Game-theoretical approach to the analysis of parallel algorithms is proposed. The approach is based on presentation of the parallel computing as a congestion game. In the game processes compete for resources such as core of a central…

Winning competitive debates requires sophisticated reasoning and argument skills. There are unique challenges in the competitive debate: (1) The time constraints force debaters to make strategic choices about which points to pursue rather…

Waiting times in a business process often arise when a case transitions from one activity to another. Accordingly, analyzing the causes of waiting times of activity transitions can help analysts to identify opportunities for reducing the…

We present here a system with collection of random walks relaying a signal in one dimension in the presence of delays. We are interested in the time for a signal to travel from one end (start) to the other end (finish) of the lined group of…

Banks routinely use neural networks to make decisions. While these models offer higher accuracy, they are susceptible to adversarial attacks, a risk often overlooked in the context of event sequences, particularly sequences of financial…

The paper addresses the problem of computing maximal conditional expected accumulated rewards until reaching a target state (briefly called maximal conditional expectations) in finite-state Markov decision processes where the condition is…

We study reachability games on recursive timed automata (RTA) that generalize Alur-Dill timed automata with recursive procedure invocation mechanism similar to recursive state machines. It is known that deciding the winner in reachability…

Patterns of wins and losses in pairwise contests, such as occur in sports and games, consumer research and paired comparison studies, and human and animal social hierarchies, are commonly analyzed using probabilistic models that allow one…

In this paper, we consider contention resolution algorithms that are augmented with predictions about the network. We begin by studying the natural setup in which the algorithm is provided a distribution defined over the possible network…

Inspired by applications in sports where the skill of players or teams competing against each other varies over time, we propose a probabilistic model of pairwise-comparison outcomes that can capture a wide range of time dynamics. We…

It is common to be interested in rankings or order relationships among entities. In complex settings where one does not directly measure a univariate statistic upon which to base ranks, such inferences typically rely on statistical models…

Winners-take-all situations introduce an incentive for agents to diversify their behavior, since doing so will result in splitting an eventual price with fewer people. At the same time, when the payoff of a process depends on a parameter…

We consider the problem of search through comparisons, where a user is presented with two candidate objects and reveals which is closer to her intended target. We study adaptive strategies for finding the target, that require knowledge of…

In science as elsewhere, attention is a limited resource and scientists compete with one another to produce the most exciting, novel and impactful results. We develop a game-theoretic model to explore how such competition influences the…

Airlift operations require the timely distribution of various cargo, much of which is time sensitive and valuable. These operations, however, have to contend with sudden disruptions from weather and malfunctions, requiring immediate…

Temporal graphs are a popular modelling mechanism for dynamic complex systems that extend ordinary graphs with discrete time. Simply put, time progresses one unit per step and the availability of edges can change with time. We consider the…

We study the complexity of solving two-player infinite duration games played on a fixed finite graph, where the control of a node is not predetermined but rather assigned randomly. In classic random-turn games, control of each node is…

The baseball game is often seen as many contests that are performed between individuals. The duel between the pitcher and the batter, for example, is considered the engine that drives the sport. The pitchers use a variety of strategies to…