English
Related papers

Related papers: Strategic A/B testing via Maximum Probability-driv…

200 papers

One of the key drivers of complexity in the classical (stochastic) multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem is the difference between mean rewards in the top two arms, also known as the instance gap. The celebrated Upper Confidence Bound (UCB)…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-10-27 Anand Kalvit , Assaf Zeevi

We investigate stochastic combinatorial multi-armed bandit with semi-bandit feedback (CMAB). In CMAB, the question of the existence of an efficient policy with an optimal asymptotic regret (up to a factor poly-logarithmic with the action…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2021-01-05 Pierre Perrault , Etienne Boursier , Vianney Perchet , Michal Valko

Multi-armed bandit problems (MABPs) are a special type of optimal control problem well suited to model resource allocation under uncertainty in a wide variety of contexts. Since the first publication of the optimal solution of the classic…

Methodology · Statistics 2015-07-30 Sofía S. Villar , Jack Bowden , James Wason

The purpose of this paper is to provide further understanding into the structure of the sequential allocation ("stochastic multi-armed bandit", or MAB) problem by establishing probability one finite horizon bounds and convergence rates for…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2015-12-18 Wesley Cowan , Michael N. Katehakis

Randomized experiments play a major role in data-driven decision making across many different fields and disciplines. In medicine, for example, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the backbone of clinical trial methodology for testing…

Applications · Statistics 2016-08-30 Andrew W. Correia

The sample mean is among the most well studied estimators in statistics, having many desirable properties such as unbiasedness and consistency. However, when analyzing data collected using a multi-armed bandit (MAB) experiment, the sample…

Statistics Theory · Mathematics 2021-05-03 Jaehyeok Shin , Aaditya Ramdas , Alessandro Rinaldo

We develop asymptotically optimal policies for the multi armed bandit (MAB), problem, under a cost constraint. This model is applicable in situations where each sample (or activation) from a population (bandit) incurs a known bandit…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2015-12-18 Apostolos N. Burnetas , Odysseas Kanavetas , Michael N. Katehakis

We study A/B experiments that are designed to compare the performance of two recommendation algorithms. Prior work has observed that the stable unit treatment value assumption (SUTVA) often does not hold in large-scale recommendation…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2026-02-24 Shuangning Li , Chonghuan Wang , Jingyan Wang

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 consider the Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) problem, where an agent sequentially chooses actions and observes rewards for the actions it took. While the majority of algorithms try to minimize the regret, i.e., the cumulative difference between…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-09-14 Nadav Merlis , Shie Mannor

It is well known that in stochastic multi-armed bandits (MAB), the sample mean of an arm is typically not an unbiased estimator of its true mean. In this paper, we decouple three different sources of this selection bias: adaptive…

Statistics Theory · Mathematics 2019-10-29 Jaehyeok Shin , Aaditya Ramdas , Alessandro Rinaldo

Experimentation is crucial for managers to rigorously quantify the value of a change and determine if it leads to a statistically significant improvement over the status quo. As companies increasingly mandate that all changes undergo…

Methodology · Statistics 2024-10-16 Biyonka Liang , Iavor Bojinov

A/B-tests are a cornerstone of experimental design on the web, with wide-ranging applications and use-cases. The statistical $t$-test comparing differences in means is the most commonly used method for assessing treatment effects, often…

Methodology · Statistics 2025-02-25 Olivier Jeunen

The multi-armed bandit (MAB) is a classical online optimization model for the trade-off between exploration and exploitation. The traditional MAB is concerned with finding the arm that minimizes the mean cost. However, minimizing the mean…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2018-09-17 Jianyu Xu , William B. Haskell , Zhisheng Ye

Multi-armed bandit (MAB) is a widely adopted framework for sequential decision-making under uncertainty. Traditional bandit algorithms rely solely on online data, which tends to be scarce as it must be gathered during the online phase when…

Statistics Theory · Mathematics 2026-04-23 Wenlong Ji , Yihan Pan , Ruihao Zhu , Lihua Lei

Adaptive designs for multi-armed clinical trials have become increasingly popular recently in many areas of medical research because of their potential to shorten development times and to increase patient response. However, developing…

Applications · Statistics 2017-03-16 Adam Smith , Sofia S. Villar

Conducting randomized experiments in education settings raises the question of how we can use machine learning techniques to improve educational interventions. Using Multi-Armed Bandits (MAB) algorithms like Thompson Sampling (TS) in…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-08-11 Fernando J. Yanez , Angela Zavaleta-Bernuy , Ziwen Han , Michael Liut , Anna Rafferty , Joseph Jay Williams

The multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem is a classic example of the exploration-exploitation dilemma. It is concerned with maximising the total rewards for a gambler by sequentially pulling an arm from a multi-armed slot machine where each arm…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2018-05-16 Xue Lu , Niall Adams , Nikolas Kantas

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

Clinical trials involving multiple treatments utilize randomization of the treatment assignments to enable the evaluation of treatment efficacies in an unbiased manner. Such evaluation is performed in post hoc studies that usually use…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2018-09-10 Yogatheesan Varatharajah , Brent Berry , Sanmi Koyejo , Ravishankar Iyer