Pandora's Box Problem with Order Constraints

The Pandora's Box Problem, originally formalized by Weitzman in 1979, models selection from set of random, alternative options, when evaluation is costly. This includes, for example, the problem of hiring a skilled worker, where only one hire can be made, but the evaluation of each candidate is an expensive procedure. Weitzman showed that the Pandora's Box Problem admits an elegant, simple solution, where the options are considered in decreasing order of reservation value,i.e., the value that reduces to zero the expected marginal gain for opening the box. We study for the first time this problem when order - or precedence - constraints are imposed between the boxes. We show that, despite the difficulty of defining reservation values for the boxes which take into account both in-depth and in-breath exploration of the various options, greedy optimal strategies exist and can be efficiently computed for tree-like order constraints. We also prove that finding approximately optimal adaptive search strategies is NP-hard when certain matroid constraints are used to further restrict the set of boxes which may be opened, or when the order constraints are given as reachability constraints on a DAG. We complement the above result by giving approximate adaptive search strategies based on a connection between optimal adaptive strategies and non-adaptive strategies with bounded adaptivity gap for a carefully relaxed version of the problem

Superannuation fund choice: Opening Pandora's box

Informed choice is essential for the choice of superannuation fund objectives to be met, but significant barriers to informed choice presently exist. These barriers include an absence of relevant information disclosures by superannuation funds and the greater problem of members who are unable or are unwilling to exercise choice. While the first barrier could be overcome by establishing standardised measures of fund performance, the potential problem of large numbers of workers not exercising choice requires rethinking the default option. A possible solution is the establishment of a universal default fund

Opening the Pandora's box of quantum spinor fields

Lounesto's classification of spinors is a comprehensive and exhaustive algorithm that, based on the bilinears covariants, discloses the possibility of a large variety of spinors, comprising regular and singular spinors and their unexpected applications in physics and including the cases of Dirac, Weyl, and Majorana as very particular spinor fields. In this paper we pose the problem of an analogous classification in the framework of second quantization. We first discuss in general the nature of the problem. Then we start the analysis of two basic bilinear covariants, the scalar and pseudoscalar, in the second quantized setup, with expressions applicable to the quantum field theory extended to all types of spinors. One can see that an ampler set of possibilities opens up with respect to the classical case. A quantum reconstruction algorithm is also proposed. The Feynman propagator is extended for spinors in all classes.Comment: 18 page

Pandora's box

Pandora's Box is the annual academic journal, first published in 1994 by the University of Queensland Women and Law Society and from 2008, by the Justice and the Law Society of The University of Queensland. The journal is a forum for academic discussion of legal, social justice and political issues

Pandora's box

Pandora's Box is the annual academic journal, first published in 1994 by the University of Queensland Women and Law Society and from 2008, by the Justice and the Law Society of The University of Queensland. The journal is a forum for academic discussion of legal, social justice and political issues

Pandora's box

Pandora's Box is the annual academic journal, first published in 1994 by the University of Queensland Women and Law Society and from 2008, by the Justice and the Law Society of The University of Queensland. The journal is a forum for academic discussion of legal, social justice and political issues

Pandora's box

Pandora's Box is the annual academic journal, first published in 1994 by the University of Queensland Women and Law Society and from 2008, by the Justice and the Law Society of The University of Queensland. The journal is a forum for academic discussion of legal, social justice and political issues

Pandora's box

Pandora's Box is the annual academic journal, first published in 1994 by the University of Queensland Women and Law Society and from 2008, by the Justice and the Law Society of The University of Queensland. The journal is a forum for academic discussion of legal, social justice and political issues