arXiv Machine Learning

Follow the Perturbed Leader for Linear Bandits: $\sqrt{T}$ Regret over General Convex Sets

The paper presents the first adversarial linear bandit algorithm based on Follow-the-Perturbed-Leader (FTPL) that achieves √T regret over general convex action sets. It achieves a regret of ≥O(d^{5/4}√T) using only linear optimization oracles, and a near‑optimal ≥O(d√T) regret when an optimal‑design exploration distribution is available. The work improves on previous FTPL algorithms and generalizes earlier results for special action sets, offering a simpler and more computationally efficient approach that relies on adaptive perturbation distributions and a new analysis framework based on Fisher information.

arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 14

Bandit PCA with Minimax Optimal Regret

arXiv:2607. 10936v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: We study the bandit-feedback version of online principal component analysis (Bandit PCA): in each round $t = 1,\dots,T$, the adversary selects a $d \times d$ symmetric gain matrix $G_t$ with spectrum in $[0,1]$ and rank at most $r$; the learner simultaneously selects a unit vector $w_t \in S^{d-1}$ and receives the reward $w_t^\top G_t w_t$.

By Mo\"ise Blanchard, Dmitrii Ostrovskii, Aadirupa Saha
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 9

Nonlinear Bandit

arXiv:2607. 07304v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: In this paper we first study the problem of generalized linear bandit (GLB) under heavy-tailed noise.

By Tianshuo Zheng, Ting Wu, Zhi-Hua Zhou, Keqin Liu
arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 3

Parameter-Free Heavy-Tailed Bandits

arXiv:2607. 29460v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Heavy-tailed distributions arise naturally in sequential decision-making problems such as financial investment, online advertising, and network management, where rare but extreme outcomes can dominate performance.

By Gianmarco Genalti, Alberto Maria Metelli
arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 29

Self-Concordant Perturbations for Linear Bandits

arXiv:2510. 24187v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: We consider the adversarial linear bandits setting and present a unified algorithmic framework that bridges Follow-the-Regularized-Leader (FTRL) and Follow-the-Perturbed-Leader (FTPL) methods, extending the known connection between them from the full-information setting.

By Lucas L\'evy, Jean-Lou Valeau, Arya Akhavan, Patrick Rebeschini
arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 9

Asymptotic Optimality of Thompson Sampling for Risk-Averse Bandits with Sub-Gaussian Rewards

arXiv:2606. 09191v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: We prove that $\rho\text{-}\mathrm{NPTS}_{\mathrm{SG}}$, an anchor-free nonparametric Thompson Sampling algorithm for risk-averse bandits, achieves regret matching the instance-dependent lower bound to leading order in $\log n$, establishing it as asymptotically optimal for any continuous risk functional $\rho$ (CVaR, mean-variance, Sharpe ratio, distortion risk measures, and more) on the class of distributions with bounded density and sub-Gaussian tails, including Gaussian arms.

By Joel Q. L. Chang
Hugging Face Trending Papers
Jul 21

The Price of Hidden Curvature: An $\widetildeΩ (d^{5/4} \sqrt{T})$ Lower Bound for Bandit Convex Optimization

We establish a $\widetildeΩ(d^{5/4}\sqrt T)$ lower bound on the minimax expected regret of stochastic bandit convex optimization of $1$-Lipschitz functions on the Euclidean ball. This presents the first nontrivial regret lower bound that grows faster than $d\sqrt{T}$ for this problem, establishing that stochastic bandit convex optimization is fundamentally harder than linear bandits.

arXiv Machine Learning
Oct 9

A General $\widetilde{\Omega}(\sqrt{T \gamma_T})$ Lower Bound for Kernel Bandits

The paper establishes a general minimax regret lower bound of Ω(√{Tγ_T/ log T}) for kernel bandits with non‑constant continuous kernels on compact domains, matching existing upper bounds up to logarithmic factors. It shows that this log factor is unavoidable in general but can be removed under specific conditions. Consequently, the optimal scaling is exactly Θ(√{Tγ_T}) for several common kernels, including Matérn‑ν (ν∈(0,2)), γ‑exponential (γ∈(0,2)), and certain piecewise‑polynomial kernels.

By Chenkai Ma, Jonathan Scarlett