首次完全刻画对抗性噪声老虎机的可学习性条件。
A Complete Characterization of Learnability for Adversarial Noisy Bandits
- 基于函数类凸包的广义最大最小体积判定可学习性。
- 无论对手是静止还是自适应,可学习性等价且需体积为正。
- 揭示了命中集与分布覆盖数的新组合性质,适合理论研究者。
我们研究已知函数类 $\\(mathcal{F}$$$ 的对抗性噪声老虎机问题。每轮中,对手选择一个函数 $f \in \\mathcal{F}$,学习者选一个臂,随后观测由所选臂和函数 $f$ 决定的噪声奖励。目标是最小化累积遗憾 $R(T)$,即学习者表现与事后最优固定臂的差距。若存在算法实现亚线性遗憾,则称函数类 $\\mathcal{F}$ 可学习。本文给出对抗性噪声老虎机可学习性的完整刻画:当且仅当在凸包 $\\operatorname{co}(\\mathcal{F})$ 上评估的凸化广义最大最小体积在所有尺度上均为正时,$\\mathcal{F}$ 可学习。该条件同时适用于静止与自适应对手,表明二者在此设定下等价。分析揭示关键复杂度度量与两个新组合概念——命中集与分布覆盖数——密切相关,可能具有独立研究价值。这是首个关于对抗性噪声老虎机可学习性的完整刻画。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
We study adversarial noisy bandits given a known function class $\mathcal{F}$. In each round, the adversary selects a function $f \in \mathcal{F}$, the learner chooses an arm, and then observes a noisy reward determined by the chosen arm and the function $f$. The goal is to minimize the cumulative regret $R(T)$, defined as the difference between the learner's performance and that of the best fixed arm in hindsight over $T$ rounds. We say that a function class $\mathcal{F}$ is learnable if there exists an algorithm achieving sublinear regret. Our main result is a complete characterization of learnability for adversarial noisy bandits. The characterization is given in terms of a convexified variant of the generalized maximin volume introduced by Hanneke and Wang (2025): namely, the generalized maximin volume evaluated on the convex hull $\operatorname{co}(\mathcal F)$. We prove that $\mathcal F$ is learnable if and only if this convexified generalized maximin volume is positive at every scale. This condition characterizes learnability against both oblivious and adaptive adversaries, showing in particular that these two notions of learnability are equivalent in the noisy bandit setting. Our analysis reveals that the key complexity measure is closely connected to two new combinatorial notions, hitting set and distribution covering number, which may be of independent interest. These results establish the first complete characterization of learnability for adversarial noisy bandits.
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