English
Related papers

Related papers: Multi-task Representation Learning for Pure Explor…

200 papers

We introduce a new graphical bilinear bandit problem where a learner (or a \emph{central entity}) allocates arms to the nodes of a graph and observes for each edge a noisy bilinear reward representing the interaction between the two end…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-06-14 Geovani Rizk , Albert Thomas , Igor Colin , Rida Laraki , Yann Chevaleyre

In this paper, we introduce the constrained best mixed arm identification (CBMAI) problem with a fixed budget. This is a pure exploration problem in a stochastic finite armed bandit model. Each arm is associated with a reward and multiple…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-05-27 Dengwang Tang , Rahul Jain , Ashutosh Nayyar , Pierluigi Nuzzo

We propose a {\em novel} piecewise stationary linear bandit (PSLB) model, where the environment randomly samples a context from an unknown probability distribution at each changepoint, and the quality of an arm is measured by its return…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-10-11 Yunlong Hou , Vincent Y. F. Tan , Zixin Zhong

Taking advantage of contextual information can potentially boost the performance of recommender systems. In the era of big data, such side information often has several dimensions. Thus, developing decision-making algorithms to cope with…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-07-26 Saeed Ghoorchian , Evgenii Kortukov , Setareh Maghsudi

Sequential decision-making algorithms such as multi-armed bandits can find optimal personalized decisions, but are notoriously sample-hungry. In personalized medicine, for example, training a bandit from scratch for every patient is…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-05-12 Ahmet Zahid Balcıoğlu , Newton Mwai , Emil Carlsson , Fredrik D. Johansson

Bandit algorithms have garnered significant attention due to their practical applications in real-world scenarios. However, beyond simple settings such as multi-arm or linear bandits, optimal algorithms remain scarce. Notably, no optimal…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2025-02-10 Eduardo Ochoa Rivera , Ambuj Tewari

We study social learning dynamics motivated by reviews on online platforms. The agents collectively follow a simple multi-armed bandit protocol, but each agent acts myopically, without regards to exploration. We allow the greedy…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2025-04-11 Kiarash Banihashem , MohammadTaghi Hajiaghayi , Suho Shin , Aleksandrs Slivkins

Pure exploration in episodic Reinforcement Learning has primarily focused on Best Policy Identification (BPI), which seeks to identify a (near)-optimal policy with high confidence. Motivated by practical settings where a ``good enough''…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-05-25 Zitian Li , Wang Chi Cheung

In the Best-$K$ identification problem (Best-$K$-Arm), we are given $N$ stochastic bandit arms with unknown reward distributions. Our goal is to identify the $K$ arms with the largest means with high confidence, by drawing samples from the…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2017-05-22 Haotian Jiang , Jian Li , Mingda Qiao

We propose a generalization of the best arm identification problem in stochastic multi-armed bandits (MAB) to the setting where every pull of an arm is associated with delayed feedback. The delay in feedback increases the effective sample…

Learning paradigms based purely on offline data as well as those based solely on sequential online learning have been well-studied in the literature. In this paper, we consider combining offline data with online learning, an area less…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-06-16 Shubhada Agrawal , Sandeep Juneja , Karthikeyan Shanmugam , Arun Sai Suggala

The pure-exploration problem in stochastic multi-armed bandits aims to find one or more arms with the largest (or near largest) means. Examples include finding an {\epsilon}-good arm, best-arm identification, top-k arm identification, and…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2020-09-14 Blake Mason , Lalit Jain , Ardhendu Tripathy , Robert Nowak

In lifelong learning, a learner faces a sequence of tasks with shared structure and aims to identify and leverage it to accelerate learning. We study the setting where such structure is captured by a common representation of data. Unlike…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-11-04 Zhi Wang , Chicheng Zhang , Ramya Korlakai Vinayak

Combinatorial Multi-Armed Bandit with fairness constraints is a framework where multiple arms form a super arm and can be pulled in each round under uncertainty to maximize cumulative rewards while ensuring the minimum average reward…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-01-14 Xiaoyi Wu , Bo Ji , Bin Li

In several realistic situations, an interactive learning agent can practice and refine its strategy before going on to be evaluated. For instance, consider a student preparing for a series of tests. She would typically take a few practice…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2017-06-08 Sudeep Raja Putta , Theja Tulabandhula

Pure exploration is one of the fundamental problems in multi-armed bandits (MAB). However, existing works mostly focus on specific pure exploration tasks, without a holistic view of the general pure exploration problem. This work fills this…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2025-03-12 Di Wu , Chengshuai Shi , Ruida Zhou , Cong Shen

We consider a K-armed bandit problem in general graphs where agents are arbitrarily connected and each of them has limited memorizing capabilities and communication bandwidth. The goal is to let each of the agents eventually learn the best…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-05-09 Feng Li , Xuyang Yuan , Lina Wang , Huan Yang , Dongxiao Yu , Weifeng Lv , Xiuzhen Cheng

Causal knowledge can be used to support decision-making problems. This has been recognized in the causal bandits literature, where a causal (multi-armed) bandit is characterized by a causal graphical model and a target variable. The arms…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-10-14 Francisco N. F. Q. Simoes , Itai Feigenbaum , Mehdi Dastani , Thijs van Ommen

In the Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) problem, there is a given set of arms with unknown reward models. At each time, a player selects one arm to play, aiming to maximize the total expected reward over a horizon of length T. An approach based on…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2013-03-12 Sattar Vakili , Keqin Liu , Qing Zhao

We consider the best arm identification (BAI) problem in the $K-$armed bandit framework with a modification - the agent is allowed to play a subset of arms at each time slot instead of one arm. Consequently, the agent observes the sample…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-01-30 Siddhartha Parupudi , Gourab Ghatak