Related papers: The Gittins index is optimal for dynamic allocatio…
We study dynamic allocation problems for discrete time multi-armed bandits under uncertainty, based on the the theory of nonlinear expectations. We show that, under strong independence of the bandits and with some relaxation in the…
We consider the problem of revenue-optimal dynamic mechanism design in settings where agents' types evolve over time as a function of their (both public and private) experience with items that are auctioned repeatedly over an infinite…
We study new types of dynamic allocation problems the {\sl Halting Bandit} models. As an application, we obtain new proofs for the classic Gittins index decomposition result and recent results of the authors in `Multi-armed bandits under…
This paper examines multi-armed bandits in which actions are taken at random discrete times. The model consists of $J$ independent arms. When an arm is operated, it must remain active for a random duration, modeled by the inter-arrival time…
The Gittins index is a tool that optimally solves a variety of decision-making problems involving uncertainty, including multi-armed bandit problems, minimizing mean latency in queues, and search problems like the Pandora's box model.…
Designing experiments often requires balancing between learning about the true treatment effects and earning from allocating more samples to the superior treatment. While optimal algorithms for the Multi-Armed Bandit Problem (MABP) provide…
Consider a multi-agent system in a dynamic and uncertain environment. Each agent's local decision problem is modeled as a Markov decision process (MDP) and agents must coordinate on a joint action in each period, which provides a reward to…
This paper proposes a general framework of multi-armed bandit (MAB) processes by introducing a type of restrictions on the switches among arms evolving in continuous time. The Gittins index process is constructed for any single arm subject…
The restless multi-armed bandit problem is a paradigmatic modeling framework for optimal dynamic priority allocation in stochastic models of wide-ranging applications that has been widely investigated and applied since its inception in a…
This paper considers the efficient exact computation of the counterpart of the Gittins index for a finite-horizon discrete-state bandit, which measures for each initial state the average productivity, given by the maximum ratio of expected…
In the budgeted learning problem, we are allowed to experiment on a set of alternatives (given a fixed experimentation budget) with the goal of picking a single alternative with the largest possible expected payoff. Approximation algorithms…
We present a two-armed bandit model of decision making under uncertainty where the expected return to investing in the "risky arm" increases when choosing that arm and decreases when choosing the "safe" arm. These dynamics are natural in…
We study a sequential resource allocation problem where a decision maker selects subsets of agents at each period to maximize overall outcomes without prior knowledge of individual-level effects. Our framework applies to settings such as…
We consider the classical multi-armed bandit problem, but with strategic arms. In this context, each arm is characterized by a bounded support reward distribution and strategically aims to maximize its own utility by potentially retaining a…
We consider a scenario where an agent has multiple available strategies to explore an unknown environment. For each new interaction with the environment, the agent must select which exploration strategy to use. We provide a new…
Gittins indices provide an optimal solution to the classical multi-armed bandit problem. An obstacle to their use has been the common perception that their computation is very difficult. This paper demonstrates an accessible general…
Motivated by applications such as online labor markets we consider a variant of the stochastic multi-armed bandit problem where we have a collection of arms representing strategic agents with different performance characteristics. The…
The multi-armed bandit problem is a core framework for sequential decision-making under uncertainty, but classical algorithms often fail in environments with hidden, time-varying states that confound reward estimation and optimal action…
We consider a class of restless multi-armed bandit problems (RMBP) that arises in dynamic multichannel access, user/server scheduling, and optimal activation in multi-agent systems. For this class of RMBP, we establish the indexability and…
We consider a multi-armed bandit problem in a setting where each arm produces a noisy reward realization which depends on an observable random covariate. As opposed to the traditional static multi-armed bandit problem, this setting allows…