15 research outputs found

    Exploration with Limited Memory: Streaming Algorithms for Coin Tossing, Noisy Comparisons, and Multi-Armed Bandits

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    Consider the following abstract coin tossing problem: Given a set of nn coins with unknown biases, find the most biased coin using a minimal number of coin tosses. This is a common abstraction of various exploration problems in theoretical computer science and machine learning and has been studied extensively over the years. In particular, algorithms with optimal sample complexity (number of coin tosses) have been known for this problem for quite some time. Motivated by applications to processing massive datasets, we study the space complexity of solving this problem with optimal number of coin tosses in the streaming model. In this model, the coins are arriving one by one and the algorithm is only allowed to store a limited number of coins at any point -- any coin not present in the memory is lost and can no longer be tossed or compared to arriving coins. Prior algorithms for the coin tossing problem with optimal sample complexity are based on iterative elimination of coins which inherently require storing all the coins, leading to memory-inefficient streaming algorithms. We remedy this state-of-affairs by presenting a series of improved streaming algorithms for this problem: we start with a simple algorithm which require storing only O(logn)O(\log{n}) coins and then iteratively refine it further and further, leading to algorithms with O(loglog(n))O(\log\log{(n)}) memory, O(log(n))O(\log^*{(n)}) memory, and finally a one that only stores a single extra coin in memory -- the same exact space needed to just store the best coin throughout the stream. Furthermore, we extend our algorithms to the problem of finding the kk most biased coins as well as other exploration problems such as finding top-kk elements using noisy comparisons or finding an ϵ\epsilon-best arm in stochastic multi-armed bandits, and obtain efficient streaming algorithms for these problems

    Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence: Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth Conference

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    Modeling language with structured penalties

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    La modélisation de la langue naturelle est l¿un des défis fondamentaux de l¿intelligence artificielle et de la conception de systèmes interactifs, avec applications dans les systèmes de dialogue, la génération de texte et la traduction automatique. Nous proposons un modèle log-linéaire discriminatif donnant la distribution des mots qui suivent un contexte donné. En raison de la parcimonie des données, nous proposons un terme de pénalité qui code correctement la structure de l¿espace fonctionnel pour éviter le sur-apprentissage et d¿améliorer la généralisation, tout en capturant de manière appropriée les dépendances à long terme. Le résultat est un modèle efficace qui capte suffisamment les dépendances longues sans occasionner une forte augmentation des ressources en espace ou en temps. Dans un modèle log-linéaire, les phases d¿apprentissage et de tests deviennent de plus en plus chères avec un nombre croissant de classes. Le nombre de classes dans un modèle de langue est la taille du vocabulaire, qui est généralement très importante. Une astuce courante consiste à appliquer le modèle en deux étapes: la première étape identifie le cluster le plus probable et la seconde prend le mot le plus probable du cluster choisi. Cette idée peut être généralisée à une hiérarchie de plus grande profondeur avec plusieurs niveaux de regroupement. Cependant, la performance du système de classification hiérarchique qui en résulte dépend du domaine d¿application et de la construction d¿une bonne hiérarchie. Nous étudions différentes stratégies pour construire la hiérarchie des catégories de leurs observations.Modeling natural language is among fundamental challenges of artificial intelligence and the design of interactive machines, with applications spanning across various domains, such as dialogue systems, text generation and machine translation. We propose a discriminatively trained log-linear model to learn the distribution of words following a given context. Due to data sparsity, it is necessary to appropriately regularize the model using a penalty term. We design a penalty term that properly encodes the structure of the feature space to avoid overfitting and improve generalization while appropriately capturing long range dependencies. Some nice properties of specific structured penalties can be used to reduce the number of parameters required to encode the model. The outcome is an efficient model that suitably captures long dependencies in language without a significant increase in time or space requirements. In a log-linear model, both training and testing become increasingly expensive with growing number of classes. The number of classes in a language model is the size of the vocabulary which is typically very large. A common trick is to cluster classes and apply the model in two-steps; the first step picks the most probable cluster and the second picks the most probable word from the chosen cluster. This idea can be generalized to a hierarchy of larger depth with multiple levels of clustering. However, the performance of the resulting hierarchical classifier depends on the suitability of the clustering to the problem. We study different strategies to build the hierarchy of categories from their observations.PARIS-JUSSIEU-Bib.électronique (751059901) / SudocSudocFranceF

    Operational Research: Methods and Applications

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    Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order. The authors dedicate this paper to the 2023 Turkey/Syria earthquake victims. We sincerely hope that advances in OR will play a role towards minimising the pain and suffering caused by this and future catastrophes

    Operational Research: Methods and Applications

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    Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order

    Operational research:methods and applications

    Get PDF
    Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order

    Fuelling the zero-emissions road freight of the future: routing of mobile fuellers

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    The future of zero-emissions road freight is closely tied to the sufficient availability of new and clean fuel options such as electricity and Hydrogen. In goods distribution using Electric Commercial Vehicles (ECVs) and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (HFCVs) a major challenge in the transition period would pertain to their limited autonomy and scarce and unevenly distributed refuelling stations. One viable solution to facilitate and speed up the adoption of ECVs/HFCVs by logistics, however, is to get the fuel to the point where it is needed (instead of diverting the route of delivery vehicles to refuelling stations) using "Mobile Fuellers (MFs)". These are mobile battery swapping/recharging vans or mobile Hydrogen fuellers that can travel to a running ECV/HFCV to provide the fuel they require to complete their delivery routes at a rendezvous time and space. In this presentation, new vehicle routing models will be presented for a third party company that provides MF services. In the proposed problem variant, the MF provider company receives routing plans of multiple customer companies and has to design routes for a fleet of capacitated MFs that have to synchronise their routes with the running vehicles to deliver the required amount of fuel on-the-fly. This presentation will discuss and compare several mathematical models based on different business models and collaborative logistics scenarios
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