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The Rising Multi-Armed Bandit (RMAB) framework models environments where expected rewards of arms increase with plays, which models practical scenarios where performance of each option improves with the repeated usage, such as in robotics…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-02-16 Seockbean Song , Chenyu Gan , Youngsik Yoon , Siwei Wang , Wei Chen , Jungseul Ok

We prove that, for finite-arm bandits with linear function approximation, the global convergence of policy gradient (PG) methods depends on inter-related properties between the policy update and the representation. textcolor{blue}{First},…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-04-04 Jincheng Mei , Bo Dai , Alekh Agarwal , Mohammad Ghavamzadeh , Csaba Szepesvari , Dale Schuurmans

The multi-armed bandit(MAB) problem is a simple yet powerful framework that has been extensively studied in the context of decision-making under uncertainty. In many real-world applications, such as robotic applications, selecting an arm…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-03-21 Tianpeng Zhang , Kasper Johansson , Na Li

We study the problem of efficiently estimating policies that simultaneously optimize multiple objectives in reinforcement learning (RL). Given $n$ objectives (or tasks), we seek the optimal partition of these objectives into $k \ll n$…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-02-24 Zhenshuo Zhang , Minxuan Duan , Youran Ye , Hongyang R. Zhang

Policy optimization, which finds the desired policy by maximizing value functions via optimization techniques, lies at the heart of reinforcement learning (RL). In addition to value maximization, other practical considerations arise as…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-01-12 Wenhao Zhan , Shicong Cen , Baihe Huang , Yuxin Chen , Jason D. Lee , Yuejie Chi

The stochastic multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem is a common model for sequential decision problems. In the standard setup, a decision maker has to choose at every instant between several competing arms, each of them provides a scalar random…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2021-10-27 Asaf Cassel , Shie Mannor , Assaf Zeevi

Bandit and reinforcement learning (RL) problems can often be framed as optimization problems where the goal is to maximize average performance while having access only to stochastic estimates of the true gradient. Traditionally, stochastic…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-02-22 Wesley Chung , Valentin Thomas , Marlos C. Machado , Nicolas Le Roux

We present the first high-probability optimal regret bound for a policy optimization technique applied to the problem of stochastic contextual multi-armed bandit (CMAB) with general offline function approximation. Our algorithm is both…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-02-17 Orin Levy , Yishay Mansour

In a multi-armed bandit problem, an online algorithm chooses from a set of strategies in a sequence of trials so as to maximize the total payoff of the chosen strategies. While the performance of bandit algorithms with a small finite…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2019-04-16 Robert Kleinberg , Aleksandrs Slivkins , Eli Upfal

We study the problem of selecting large language models (LLMs) for user queries in settings where multiple LLM providers submit the cost of solving a query. From the users' perspective, choosing an optimal model is a sequential,…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2026-02-17 Pronoy Patra , Sankarshan Damle , Manisha Padala , Sujit Gujar

Restless multi-armed bandits (RMAB) is a framework for allocating limited resources under uncertainty. It is an extremely useful model for monitoring beneficiaries and executing timely interventions to ensure maximum benefit in public…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-07-28 Dexun Li , Pradeep Varakantham

Recently, it has been shown that the Stochastic Gradient Bandit (SGB) algorithm converges to a globally optimal policy with a constant learning rate. However, these guarantees rely on unrealistic assumptions about the learning process,…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-05-11 Leonardo Cesani , Matteo Papini , Marcello Restelli

Large language models (LLMs) have become powerful and widely used systems for language understanding and generation, while multi-armed bandit (MAB) algorithms provide a principled framework for adaptive decision-making under uncertainty.…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-03-10 Siguang Chen , Chunli Lv , Miao Xie

Multi-objective multi-armed bandit (MO-MAB) problems traditionally aim to achieve Pareto optimality. However, real-world scenarios often involve users with varying preferences across objectives, resulting in a Pareto-optimal arm that may…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-11-18 Linfeng Cao , Ming Shi , Ness B. Shroff

The multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem is an active learning framework that aims to select the best among a set of actions by sequentially observing rewards. Recently, it has become popular for a number of applications over wireless networks,…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-11-12 Osama A. Hanna , Lin F. Yang , Christina Fragouli

The improving multi-armed bandits problem is a formal model for allocating effort under uncertainty, motivated by scenarios such as investing research effort into new technologies, performing clinical trials, and hyperparameter selection…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-05-22 Avrim Blum , Marten Garicano , Kavya Ravichandran , Dravyansh Sharma

Strategic behavior against sequential learning methods, such as "click framing" in real recommendation systems, have been widely observed. Motivated by such behavior we study the problem of combinatorial multi-armed bandits (CMAB) under…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-11-22 Jing Dong , Ke Li , Shuai Li , Baoxiang Wang

Although the classical version of the Multi-Armed Bandits (MAB) framework has been applied successfully to several practical problems, in many real-world applications, the possible actions are not presented to the learner simultaneously,…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-10-01 Marco Gabrielli , Francesco Trovò , Manuela Antonelli

This paper considers a multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem in which multiple mobile agents receive rewards by sampling from a collection of spatially dispersed stochastic processes, called bandits. The goal is to formulate a decentralized…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-04-01 Pathmanathan Pankayaraj , D. H. S. Maithripala , J. M. Berg

As an extension of the classical multi-armed bandit problem, multi-fidelity multi-armed bandits (MF-MAB) enable individual arms to be evaluated using diverse feedback sources that vary in both cost and accuracy. Prior stochastic models…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-05-12 Muyun Lu , Haoyang Hong , Huazheng Wang , Ying Lin