Related papers: Approximation Schemes for Sequential Hiring Proble…
We develop a randomized approximation algorithm for the classical maximum coverage problem, which given a list of sets $A_1,A_2,\cdots, A_m$ and integer parameter $k$, select $k$ sets $A_{i_1}, A_{i_2},\cdots, A_{i_k}$ for maximum union…
This paper considers single-machine scheduling problems in which a given solution, i.e. an ordered set of jobs, has to be improved as much as possible by re-sequencing the jobs. The need for rescheduling may arise in different contexts,…
To address efficiency and design challenges in choice-based matching platforms, we introduce a two-sided assortment optimization framework under general choice preferences. The goal in this problem is to maximize the expected number of…
In this work we investigate the min-max-min robust optimization problem and the k-adaptability robust optimization problem for binary problems with uncertain costs. The idea of the first approach is to calculate a set of k feasible…
The Map-Reduce computing framework rose to prominence with datasets of such size that dozens of machines on a single cluster were needed for individual jobs. As datasets approach the exabyte scale, a single job may need distributed…
Hierarchical reinforcement learning is a promising approach to tackle long-horizon decision-making problems with sparse rewards. Unfortunately, most methods still decouple the lower-level skill acquisition process and the training of a…
Bayesian approaches developed to solve the optimal design of sequential experiments are mathematically elegant but computationally challenging. Recently, techniques using amortization have been proposed to make these Bayesian approaches…
This paper investigates sequencing policies for file reading requests in linear storage devices, such as magnetic tapes. Tapes are the technology of choice for long-term storage in data centers due to their low cost and reliability.…
We study human-in-the-loop reinforcement learning (RL) with trajectory preferences, where instead of receiving a numeric reward at each step, the agent only receives preferences over trajectory pairs from a human overseer. The goal of the…
Job shop scheduling problems represent a significant and complex facet of combinatorial optimization problems, which have traditionally been addressed through either exact or approximate solution methodologies. However, the practical…
Human preference alignment is critical in building powerful and reliable large language models (LLMs). However, current methods either ignore the multi-dimensionality of human preferences (e.g. helpfulness and harmlessness) or struggle with…
We consider the problem of finding patrol schedules for $k$ robots to visit a given set of $n$ sites in a metric space. Each robot has the same maximum speed and the goal is to minimize the weighted maximum latency of any site, where the…
We consider single-machine scheduling problems that are natural generalizations or variations of the min-sum set cover problem and the min-sum vertex cover problem. For each of these problems, we give new approximation algorithms. Some of…
This work proposes and studies the distributed resource allocation problem in asynchronous and stochastic settings. We consider a distributed system with multiple workers and a coordinating server with heterogeneous computation and…
In this paper, we propose a framework based on the Retrospective Approximation (RA) paradigm to solve optimization problems with a stochastic objective function and general nonlinear deterministic constraints. This framework sequentially…
We consider the {\em mobile facility location} (\mfl) problem. We are given a set of facilities and clients located in a common metric space. The goal is to move each facility from its initial location to a destination and assign each…
We develop approximation algorithms for set-selection problems with deterministic constraints, but random objective values, i.e., stochastic probing problems. When the goal is to maximize the objective, approximation algorithms for probing…
We give the first approximation algorithm for mixed packing and covering semidefinite programs (SDPs) with polylogarithmic dependence on width. Mixed packing and covering SDPs constitute a fundamental algorithmic primitive with recent…
In the weighted flow-time problem on a single machine, we are given a set of n jobs, where each job has a processing requirement p_j, release date r_j and weight w_j. The goal is to find a preemptive schedule which minimizes the sum of…
Motivated by a transit line planning problem in transportation systems, we investigate the following capacitated assignment problem under a budget constraint. Our model involves $L$ bins and $P$ items. Each bin $l$ has a utilization cost…