提出可建模动作间影响的新型强化学习框架
Influential Bandits: Pulling an Arm May Change the Environment
- 引入对称正半定交互矩阵刻画臂间影响机制
- 证明标准算法存在超线性Ω(T²/log²T) regret
- 新算法实现近最优O(KT log T) regret,适合复杂环境
经典多臂老虎机问题假设各臂奖励独立且平稳,但现实应用中常存在非平稳环境及臂间依赖。选择某一臂可能影响其他臂未来的收益,现有模型如腐烂老虎机或躁动老虎机无法充分描述此现象。为此,我们提出影响型老虎机问题,通过未知的对称正半定交互矩阵建模臂间动态损失关系。我们正式定义该问题,并推导出两个下界:标准LCB算法(损失最小化版UCB)的超线性Ω(T²/log²T)下界,以及不依赖算法的Ω(T)下界,揭示了该设定的本质困难。随后,我们设计一种基于低置信度边界(LCB)估计器的新算法,针对损失动态结构进行优化。在弱假设下,该算法达到O(KT log T)的遗憾上界,时间跨度依赖近乎最优。算法实现简单、计算高效。在合成数据和真实数据集上的实验验证了臂间影响的存在,并表明所提方法显著优于传统老虎机算法。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
While classical formulations of multi-armed bandit problems assume that each arm's reward is independent and stationary, real-world applications often involve non-stationary environments and interdependencies between arms. In particular, selecting one arm may influence the future rewards of other arms, a scenario not adequately captured by existing models such as rotting bandits or restless bandits. To address this limitation, we propose the influential bandit problem, which models inter-arm interactions through an unknown, symmetric, positive semi-definite interaction matrix that governs the dynamics of arm losses. We formally define this problem and establish two regret lower bounds, including a superlinear $Ω(T^2 / \log^2 T)$ bound for the standard LCB algorithm (loss minimization version of UCB) and an algorithm-independent $Ω(T)$ bound, which highlight the inherent difficulty of the setting. We then introduce a new algorithm based on a lower confidence bound (LCB) estimator tailored to the structure of the loss dynamics. Under mild assumptions, our algorithm achieves a regret of $O(KT \log T)$, which is nearly optimal in terms of its dependence on the time horizon. The algorithm is simple to implement and computationally efficient. Empirical evaluations on both synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate the presence of inter-arm influence and confirm the superior performance of our method compared to conventional bandit algorithms.
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