Related papers: The Gittins Index: A Design Principle for Decision…
We consider a version of the continuous-time multi-armed bandit problem where decision opportunities arrive at Poisson arrival times, and study its Gittins index policy. When driven by spectrally one-sided L\'evy processes, the Gittins…
The Greedy algorithm is the simplest heuristic in sequential decision problem that carelessly takes the locally optimal choice at each round, disregarding any advantages of exploring and/or information gathering. Theoretically, it is known…
Whittle index is a generalization of Gittins index that provides very efficient allocation rules for restless multi-armed bandits. In this work, we develop an algorithm to test the indexability and compute the Whittle indices of any…
Pandora's Box is a fundamental stochastic optimization problem, where the decision-maker must find a good alternative while minimizing the search cost of exploring the value of each alternative. In the original formulation, it is assumed…
The Knowledge Gradient (KG) policy was originally proposed for online ranking and selection problems but has recently been adapted for use in online decision making in general and multi-armed bandit problems (MABs) in particular. We study…
The Whittle index for restless bandits (two-action semi-Markov decision processes) provides an intuitively appealing optimal policy for controlling a single generic project that can be active (engaged) or passive (rested) at each decision…
The multi-armed restless bandit framework allows to model a wide variety of decision-making problems in areas as diverse as industrial engineering, computer communication, operations research, financial engineering, communication networks…
We consider the problem of decision-making under uncertainty in an environment with safety constraints. Many business and industrial applications rely on real-time optimization to improve key performance indicators. In the case of unknown…
Recommendation systems when employed in markets play a dual role: they assist users in selecting their most desired items from a large pool and they help in allocating a limited number of items to the users who desire them the most. Despite…
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…
This paper presents a new \emph{fast-pivoting} algorithm that computes the $n$ Gittins index values of an $n$-state bandit -- in the discounted and undiscounted cases -- by performing $(2/3) n^3 + O(n^2)$ arithmetic operations, thus…
The multi-armed bandit problem is a classical decision-making problem where an agent has to learn an optimal action balancing exploration and exploitation. Properly managing this trade-off requires a correct assessment of uncertainty; in…
A key feature of sequential decision making under uncertainty is a need to balance between exploiting--choosing the best action according to the current knowledge, and exploring--obtaining information about values of other actions. The…
The rich body of Bandit literature not only offers a diverse toolbox of algorithms, but also makes it hard for a practitioner to find the right solution to solve the problem at hand. Typical textbooks on Bandits focus on designing and…
The optimal scheduling problem in single-server queueing systems is a classic problem in queueing theory. The Gittins index policy is known to be the optimal preemptive nonanticipating policy (both for the open version of the problem with…
Satisficing is a relaxation of maximizing and allows for less risky decision making in the face of uncertainty. We propose two sets of satisficing objectives for the multi-armed bandit problem, where the objective is to achieve reward-based…
We address the intractable multi-armed bandit problem with switching costs, for which Asawa and Teneketzis introduced in [M. Asawa and D. Teneketzis. 1996. Multi-armed bandits with switching penalties. IEEE Trans. Automat. Control, 41…
Although many algorithms for the multi-armed bandit problem are well-understood theoretically, empirical confirmation of their effectiveness is generally scarce. This paper presents a thorough empirical study of the most popular multi-armed…
We study the multi-armed bandit problem with arms which are Markov chains with rewards. In the finite-horizon setting, the celebrated Gittins indices do not apply, and the exact solution is intractable. We provide approximation algorithms…
This paper is motivated by recent research in the $d$-dimensional stochastic linear bandit literature, which has revealed an unsettling discrepancy: algorithms like Thompson sampling and Greedy demonstrate promising empirical performance,…