arXiv Machine Learning

Near-Optimal First-Order Regret for Bandits with Feedback Graphs

arXiv:2610. 40861v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: We study first-order regret guarantees for adversarial bandits with a fixed, known directed feedback graph.

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
Oct 16

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.

By Chen-Yu Wei
arXiv Machine Learning
Oct 15

High-Probability Regret Bounds for Feel-Good Thompson Sampling

The paper presents the first high‑probability regret bounds for both cumulative and current‑step variants of Feel‑Good Thompson Sampling (FGTS) in contextual bandits with general realizable function approximation. The bounds rely on decoupling coefficients and prior mass near the true reward function, and in the linear setting they achieve ≠d√T log(2T)+√T log(1/δ) regret with probability at least 1‑δ. This matches the dimension and horizon dependence of upper‑confidence‑bound algorithms up to logarithmic factors, while the high‑probability cost adds only linear dependence on log(1/δ).

By Xuheng Li, Qingyue Zhao, Quanquan Gu
arXiv Machine Learning
Oct 19

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

The paper presents the first adversarial linear bandit algorithm based on Follow-the-Perturbed-Leader (FTPL) that achieves √T regret over general action sets. It attains a ≥O(d^{5/4}√T) regret using only linear optimization oracles, and a near‑optimal ≥O(d√T) regret when an optimal‑design exploration distribution is available. The authors introduce adaptive perturbation distributions—including Gaussian, random‑weighting, and elliptical perturbations—and develop a systematic analysis of the FTPL stability term via Fisher information, extending the FTPL framework beyond previous approaches.

By Chen-Yu Wei
arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 19

Stabilizing Bandits using Regularization: Precise Regret and A Quantitative Central Limit Theorem

arXiv:2603. 10184v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Statistical inference with bandit data presents fundamental challenges owing to adaptive sampling, which violates the independence assumptions underlying classical asymptotic theory.

By Budhaditya Halder, Ishan Sengupta, Koustav Chowdhury, Samya Praharaj, Koulik Khamaru