Related papers: The clumsy coupon collector's problem
We model the transmission of a message on the complete graph with n vertices and limited resources. The vertices of the graph represent servers that may broadcast the message at random. Each server has a random emission capital that…
We study the number of random records in an arbitrary split tree (or equivalently, the number of random cuttings required to eliminate the tree). We show that a classical limit theorem for convergence of sums of triangular arrays to…
Optimal stopping problems give rise to random distributions describing how many applicants the decision-maker will sample or interview before choosing one, a quantity sometimes referred to as the search time or process duration. This…
We describe an approach that allows us to deduce the limiting return times distribution for arbitrary sets to be compound Poisson distributed. We establish a relation between the limiting return times distribution and the probability of the…
In this paper, we show how to use stochastic approximation to compute hitting time of a stochastic process, based on the study of the time for a fluid approximation of this process to be at distance 1/N of its fixed point. This approach is…
The random cost problem is the problem of finding the minimum in an exponentially long list of random numbers. By definition, this problem cannot be solved faster than by exhaustive search. It is shown that a classical NP-hard optimization…
We treat a version of the multiple-choice secretary problem called the multiple-choice duration problem, in which the objective is to maximize the time of possession of relatively best objects. It is shown that, for the $m$--choice duration…
In many real life situations one has $m$ types of random events happening in chronological order within a time interval and one wishes to predict various milestones about these events or their subsets. An example is birdwatching. Suppose we…
This article explores the intersection of the Coupon Collector's Problem and the Orthogonal Matrix Factorization (OMF) problem. Specifically, we derive bounds on the minimum number of columns $p$ (in $\mathbf{X}$) required for the OMF…
We derive some Quantum Central Limit Theorems for expectation values of macroscopically coarse-grained observables, which are functions of coarse-grained hermitean operators. Thanks to the hermicity constraints, we obtain positive-definite…
We study exploration properties of a random walk on a network. For a fully connected network we find that the problem can be mapped to the well known coupon collector problem, thus allowing us to estimate form of $P(S,t)$: the distribution…
Consider a finite renewal process in the sense that interrenewal times are positive i.i.d. variables and the total number of renewals is a random variable, independent of interrenewal times. A finite point process can be obtained by…
Testing probabilistic programs is non-trivial due to their stochastic nature. Given an input, the program may produce different outcomes depending on the underlying stochastic choices in the program. This means testing the expected outcomes…
A set of m terminals, observing correlated signals, communicate interactively to generate common randomness for a given subset of them. Knowing only the communication, how many direct queries of the value of the common randomness will…
We consider some computationally efficient and provably correct algorithms with near-optimal sample-complexity for the problem of noisy non-adaptive group testing. Group testing involves grouping arbitrary subsets of items into pools. Each…
Let $M_n$ be the minimal position at generation $n$, of a real-valued branching random walk in the boundary case. As $n \to \infty$, $M_n- {3 \over 2} \log n$ is tight (see [1][9][2]). We establish here a law of iterated logarithm for the…
We use the method of Maximum (relative) Entropy to process information in the form of observed data and moment constraints. The generic "canonical" form of the posterior distribution for the problem of simultaneous updating with data and…
In many situations, sample data is obtained from a noisy or imperfect source. In order to address such corruptions, this paper introduces the concept of a sampling corrector. Such algorithms use structure that the distribution is purported…
We consider a finite sequence of random points in a finite domain of a finite-dimensional Euclidean space. The points are sequentially allocated in the domain according to a model of cooperative sequential adsorption. The main peculiarity…
In the compulsive gambler process there is a finite set of agents who meet pairwise at random times ($i$ and $j$ meet at times of a rate-$\nu_{ij}$ Poisson process) and, upon meeting, play an instantaneous fair game in which one wins the…