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Thompson sampling (TS) is a class of algorithms for sequential decision-making, which requires maintaining a posterior distribution over a model. However, calculating exact posterior distributions is intractable for all but the simplest…
This paper addresses the problem of finding a B-term wavelet representation of a given discrete function $f \in \real^n$ whose distance from f is minimized. The problem is well understood when we seek to minimize the Euclidean distance…
We study the problem, introduced by Qiao and Valiant, of learning from untrusted batches. Here, we assume $m$ users, all of whom have samples from some underlying distribution $p$ over $1, \ldots, n$. Each user sends a batch of $k$ i.i.d.…
We design new approximation algorithms for the Multiway Cut problem, improving the previously known factor of 1.32388 [Buchbinder et al., 2013]. We proceed in three steps. First, we analyze the rounding scheme of Buchbinder et al., 2013 and…
Estimating the density of a distribution from its samples is a fundamental problem in statistics. Hypothesis selection addresses the setting where, in addition to a sample set, we are given $n$ candidate distributions -- referred to as…
In the $d$-Scattered Set problem we are asked to select at least $k$ vertices of a given graph, so that the distance between any pair is at least $d$. We study the problem's (in-)approximability and offer improvements and extensions of…
Stochastic approximation is a foundation for many algorithms found in machine learning and optimization. It is in general slow to converge: the mean square error vanishes as $O(n^{-1})$. A deterministic counterpart known as quasi-stochastic…
The degree distribution is one of the most fundamental properties used in the analysis of massive graphs. There is a large literature on graph sampling, where the goal is to estimate properties (especially the degree distribution) of a…
We consider the problem of hypothesis testing for discrete distributions. In the standard model, where we have sample access to an underlying distribution $p$, extensive research has established optimal bounds for uniformity testing,…
We study the risk performance of distributed learning for the regularization empirical risk minimization with fast convergence rate, substantially improving the error analysis of the existing divide-and-conquer based distributed learning.…
We consider the problem of approximating an unknown function from point evaluations. This problem is a crucial subproblem in many modern (nonlinear) approximation schemes. When obtaining these point evaluations is costly, minimising the…
Factor graphs are important models for succinctly representing probability distributions in machine learning, coding theory, and statistical physics. Several computational problems, such as computing marginals and partition functions, arise…
In this paper, a distributed stochastic approximation algorithm is studied. Applications of such algorithms include decentralized estimation, optimization, control or computing. The algorithm consists in two steps: a local step, where each…
We consider the classical problem of learning, with arbitrary accuracy, the natural parameters of a $k$-parameter truncated \textit{minimal} exponential family from i.i.d. samples in a computationally and statistically efficient manner. We…
Given a rectangle $R$ with area $A$ and a set of areas $L=\{A_1,...,A_n\}$ with $\sum_{i=1}^n A_i = A$, we consider the problem of partitioning $R$ into $n$ sub-regions $R_1,...,R_n$ with areas $A_1,...,A_n$ in a way that the total…
We consider the problem of learning a discrete distribution in the presence of an $\epsilon$ fraction of malicious data sources. Specifically, we consider the setting where there is some underlying distribution, $p$, and each data source…
We study the max-min fair allocation problem in which a set of $m$ indivisible items are to be distributed among $n$ agents such that the minimum utility among all agents is maximized. In the restricted setting, the utility of each item $j$…
Two-stage stochastic optimization is a framework for modeling uncertainty, where we have a probability distribution over possible realizations of the data, called scenarios, and decisions are taken in two stages: we make first-stage…
We propose a fast and scalable algorithm to project a given density on a set of structured measures defined over a compact 2D domain. The measures can be discrete or supported on curves for instance. The proposed principle and algorithm are…
We study the computational complexity of approximating general constrained Markov decision processes. Our primary contribution is the design of a polynomial time $(0,\epsilon)$-additive bicriteria approximation algorithm for finding optimal…