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We consider the well-studied dueling bandit problem, where a learner aims to identify near-optimal actions using pairwise comparisons, under the constraint of differential privacy. We consider a general class of utility-based preference…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-03-25 Aadirupa Saha , Hilal Asi

In many real-world sequential decision-making problems, an action does not immediately reflect on the feedback and spreads its effects over a long time frame. For instance, in online advertising, investing in a platform produces an…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-05-31 Marco Mussi , Alberto Maria Metelli , Marcello Restelli

Non-stationary multi-armed bandits enable agents to adapt to changing environments by incorporating mechanisms to detect and respond to shifts in reward distributions, making them well-suited for dynamic settings. However, existing…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-09-19 Shaoang Li , Jian Li

We consider the scheduling problem concerning N projects. Each project evolves as a multi-state Markov process. At each time instant, one project is scheduled to work, and some reward depending on the state of the chosen project is…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2016-02-02 Kehao Wang

We consider the problem of online learning in misspecified linear stochastic multi-armed bandit problems. Regret guarantees for state-of-the-art linear bandit algorithms such as Optimism in the Face of Uncertainty Linear bandit (OFUL) hold…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2017-04-25 Avishek Ghosh , Sayak Ray Chowdhury , Aditya Gopalan

We study sequential decision-making with known rewards and unknown constraints, motivated by situations where the constraints represent expensive-to-evaluate human preferences, such as safe and comfortable driving behavior. We formalize the…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-06-13 David Lindner , Sebastian Tschiatschek , Katja Hofmann , Andreas Krause

Preference-based Reinforcement Learning (PbRL) is a paradigm in which an RL agent learns to optimize a task using pair-wise preference-based feedback over trajectories, rather than explicit reward signals. While PbRL has demonstrated…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-04-18 Wenhao Zhan , Masatoshi Uehara , Wen Sun , Jason D. Lee

Restless Multi-Armed Bandits (RMABs) are powerful models for decision-making under uncertainty, yet classical formulations typically assume fixed dynamics, an assumption often violated in nonstationary environments. We introduce MARBLE…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-04-13 Mohsen Amiri , Konstantin Avrachenkov , Ibtihal El Mimouni , Sindri Magnússon

Research on the multi-armed bandit problem has studied the trade-off of exploration and exploitation in depth. However, there are numerous applications where the cardinal absolute-valued feedback model (e.g. ratings from one to five) is not…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2018-12-12 Lennard Hilgendorf

Preference-based reinforcement learning (PBRL) offers a promising alternative to explicit reward engineering by learning from pairwise trajectory comparisons. However, real-world preference data often comes from heterogeneous annotators…

Stochastic multi-armed bandit (MAB) mechanisms are widely used in sponsored search auctions, crowdsourcing, online procurement, etc. Existing stochastic MAB mechanisms with a deterministic payment rule, proposed in the literature,…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2020-06-01 Divya Padmanabhan , Satyanath Bhat , Prabuchandran K. J. , Shirish Shevade , Y. Narahari

We introduce a new class of reinforcement learning methods referred to as {\em episodic multi-armed bandits} (eMAB). In eMAB the learner proceeds in {\em episodes}, each composed of several {\em steps}, in which it chooses an action and…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2018-03-13 Cem Tekin , Mihaela van der Schaar

Preference-based Reinforcement Learning (PbRL) enables policy learning through simple queries comparing trajectories from a single policy. While human responses to these queries make it possible to learn policies aligned with human…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-01-22 Yuki Kadokawa , Jonas Frey , Takahiro Miki , Takamitsu Matsubara , Marco Hutter

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

There is a rising interest in industrial online applications where data becomes available sequentially. Inspired by the recommendation of playlists to users where their preferences can be collected during the listening of the entire…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-06-02 Giulia Romano , Andrea Agostini , Francesco Trovò , Nicola Gatti , Marcello Restelli

We consider the bandit problem of selecting $K$ out of $N$ arms at each time step. The reward can be a non-linear function of the rewards of the selected individual arms. The direct use of a multi-armed bandit algorithm requires choosing…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-02-16 Mridul Agarwal , Vaneet Aggarwal , Christopher J. Quinn , Abhishek Umrawal

In this paper, we investigate preference-based reinforcement learning (PbRL), which enables reinforcement learning (RL) agents to learn from human feedback. This is particularly valuable when defining a fine-grain reward function is not…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-11-11 Guojian Wang , Jianxiang Liu , Xinyuan Li , Faguo Wu , Xiao Zhang , Tianyuan Chen , Xuyang Chen

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

For a real-world decision-making problem, the reward function often needs to be engineered or learned. A popular approach is to utilize human feedback to learn a reward function for training. The most straightforward way to do so is to ask…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-10-31 Xiang Ji , Huazheng Wang , Minshuo Chen , Tuo Zhao , Mengdi Wang

Restless multi-armed bandits (RMABs) are a popular framework for algorithmic decision making in sequential settings with limited resources. RMABs are increasingly being used for sensitive decisions such as in public health, treatment…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-08-22 Jackson A. Killian , Manish Jain , Yugang Jia , Jonathan Amar , Erich Huang , Milind Tambe