Related papers: Learning to Detect an Odd Restless Markov Arm with…
We consider two multi-armed bandit problems with $n$ arms: (i) given an $\epsilon > 0$, identify an arm with mean that is within $\epsilon$ of the largest mean and (ii) given a threshold $\mu_0$ and integer $k$, identify $k$ arms with means…
We consider the problem of approximating the reachability probabilities in Markov decision processes (MDP) with uncountable (continuous) state and action spaces. While there are algorithms that, for special classes of such MDP, provide a…
We consider a stochastic bandit problem with countably many arms that belong to a finite set of types, each characterized by a unique mean reward. In addition, there is a fixed distribution over types which sets the proportion of each type…
Multi armed bandit (MAB) algorithms have been increasingly used to complement or integrate with A/B tests and randomized clinical trials in e-commerce, healthcare, and policymaking. Recent developments incorporate possible delayed feedback.…
The multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem is a classical learning task that exemplifies the exploration-exploitation tradeoff. However, standard formulations do not take into account {\em risk}. In online decision making systems, risk is a…
Restless multi-armed bandits (RMABs) generalize the multi-armed bandits where each arm exhibits Markovian behavior and transitions according to their transition dynamics. Solutions to RMAB exist for both offline and online cases. However,…
A device has two arms with unknown deterministic payoffs and the aim is to asymptotically identify the best one without spending too much time on the other. The Narendra algorithm offers a stochastic procedure to this end. We show under…
This paper studies restless multi-armed bandit (RMAB) problems with unknown arm transition dynamics but with known correlated arm features. The goal is to learn a model to predict transition dynamics given features, where the Whittle index…
We consider stochastic bandit problems with a continuous set of arms and where the expected reward is a continuous and unimodal function of the arm. No further assumption is made regarding the smoothness and the structure of the expected…
We analyze the sample complexity of the thresholding bandit problem, with and without the assumption that the mean values of the arms are increasing. In each case, we provide a lower bound valid for any risk $\delta$ and any…
The PhD thesis of Maillard (2013) presents a rather obscure algorithm for the $K$-armed bandit problem. This less-known algorithm, which we call Maillard sampling (MS), computes the probability of choosing each arm in a \textit{closed…
We study learning of probability distributions characterized by an unknown symmetry direction. Based on an entropic performance measure and the variational method of statistical mechanics we develop exact upper and lower bounds on the…
Stochastic linear bandits are a natural and simple generalisation of finite-armed bandits with numerous practical applications. Current approaches focus on generalising existing techniques for finite-armed bandits, notably the optimism…
The Thresholding Bandit Problem (TBP) aims to find the set of arms with mean rewards greater than a given threshold. We consider a new setting of TBP, where in addition to pulling arms, one can also \emph{duel} two arms and get the arm with…
Standard Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) problems assume that the arms are independent. However, in many application scenarios, the information obtained by playing an arm provides information about the remainder of the arms. Hence, in such…
This paper presents new deviation inequalities that are valid uniformly in time under adaptive sampling in a multi-armed bandit model. The deviations are measured using the Kullback-Leibler divergence in a given one-dimensional exponential…
This paper is in the field of stochastic Multi-Armed Bandits (MABs), i.e. those sequential selection techniques able to learn online using only the feedback given by the chosen option (a.k.a. $arm$). We study a particular case of the rested…
We address the problem of best arm identification (BAI) with a fixed budget for two-armed Gaussian bandits. In BAI, given multiple arms, we aim to find the best arm, an arm with the highest expected reward, through an adaptive experiment.…
Anomaly detection is the process of identifying abnormal instances or events in data sets which deviate from the norm significantly. In this study, we propose a signatures based machine learning algorithm to detect rare or unexpected items…
We consider adversarial multi-armed bandit problems where the learner is allowed to observe losses of a number of arms beside the arm that it actually chose. We study the case where all non-chosen arms reveal their loss with a fixed but…