arXiv:2608. 10529v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The multi-armed bandit problem is a central framework in sequential decision-making, extensively studied under sub-Gaussian reward assumptions.
By Daphne Feng, Ricardo Parada, Lily Jiang, Sophia Yi, William Chang
The paper introduces a new algorithm for the Multi‑Armed Bandit problem that prioritizes selecting the arm with the lowest variance rather than the highest expected reward, using a softmax policy parameterization. It constructs an unbiased estimate of the minimal‑variance objective by drawing two independent samples from the chosen arm and proves convergence under natural conditions. Numerical experiments demonstrate the algorithm’s practical behavior and provide implementation guidance, while also addressing general risk‑aware trade‑offs between average reward and variance.
By Gabriel Turinici
arXiv:2004. 06321v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: We study the sequential batch learning problem in linear contextual bandits with finite action sets, where the decision maker is constrained to split incoming individuals into (at most) a fixed number of batches and can only observe outcomes for the individuals within a batch at the batch's end.
By Yanjun Han, Zhengqing Zhou, Zihao Hu, Jose Blanchet, Peter W. Glynn, Yinyu Ye, Zhengyuan Zhou
arXiv:2609. 22690v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: We develop an index policy for finite-horizon Bernoulli multi-armed bandits from minimax solutions to single-arm bandit (SAB) problems.
By Huikang Liu, Zhengchao Wang, Daniel Kuhn, Wolfram Wiesemann
arXiv:2605. 20854v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: We study a stochastic bandit algorithm motivated by retry-aware objectives that value the best outcome among multiple attempts, such as pass@$k$ and max@$k$.
By Bingkui Tong, Junpei Komiyama, Soichiro Nishimori, Paavo Parmas
arXiv:2606. 09002v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: We study a stochastic multi-armed bandit problem in which the set of available arms expands over time.
By Deqi Zheng, Xiaoyang Xu, Yuhong Yang