2,869 research outputs found
A Neural Networks Committee for the Contextual Bandit Problem
This paper presents a new contextual bandit algorithm, NeuralBandit, which
does not need hypothesis on stationarity of contexts and rewards. Several
neural networks are trained to modelize the value of rewards knowing the
context. Two variants, based on multi-experts approach, are proposed to choose
online the parameters of multi-layer perceptrons. The proposed algorithms are
successfully tested on a large dataset with and without stationarity of
rewards.Comment: 21st International Conference on Neural Information Processin
Concurrent bandits and cognitive radio networks
We consider the problem of multiple users targeting the arms of a single
multi-armed stochastic bandit. The motivation for this problem comes from
cognitive radio networks, where selfish users need to coexist without any side
communication between them, implicit cooperation or common control. Even the
number of users may be unknown and can vary as users join or leave the network.
We propose an algorithm that combines an -greedy learning rule with a
collision avoidance mechanism. We analyze its regret with respect to the
system-wide optimum and show that sub-linear regret can be obtained in this
setting. Experiments show dramatic improvement compared to other algorithms for
this setting
Bootstrapping Monte Carlo Tree Search with an Imperfect Heuristic
We consider the problem of using a heuristic policy to improve the value
approximation by the Upper Confidence Bound applied in Trees (UCT) algorithm in
non-adversarial settings such as planning with large-state space Markov
Decision Processes. Current improvements to UCT focus on either changing the
action selection formula at the internal nodes or the rollout policy at the
leaf nodes of the search tree. In this work, we propose to add an auxiliary arm
to each of the internal nodes, and always use the heuristic policy to roll out
simulations at the auxiliary arms. The method aims to get fast convergence to
optimal values at states where the heuristic policy is optimal, while retaining
similar approximation as the original UCT in other states. We show that
bootstrapping with the proposed method in the new algorithm, UCT-Aux, performs
better compared to the original UCT algorithm and its variants in two benchmark
experiment settings. We also examine conditions under which UCT-Aux works well.Comment: 16 pages, accepted for presentation at ECML'1
Pilot, Rollout and Monte Carlo Tree Search Methods for Job Shop Scheduling
Greedy heuristics may be attuned by looking ahead for each possible choice,
in an approach called the rollout or Pilot method. These methods may be seen as
meta-heuristics that can enhance (any) heuristic solution, by repetitively
modifying a master solution: similarly to what is done in game tree search,
better choices are identified using lookahead, based on solutions obtained by
repeatedly using a greedy heuristic. This paper first illustrates how the Pilot
method improves upon some simple well known dispatch heuristics for the
job-shop scheduling problem. The Pilot method is then shown to be a special
case of the more recent Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) methods: Unlike the
Pilot method, MCTS methods use random completion of partial solutions to
identify promising branches of the tree. The Pilot method and a simple version
of MCTS, using the -greedy exploration paradigms, are then
compared within the same framework, consisting of 300 scheduling problems of
varying sizes with fixed-budget of rollouts. Results demonstrate that MCTS
reaches better or same results as the Pilot methods in this context.Comment: Learning and Intelligent OptimizatioN (LION'6) 7219 (2012
Polarization observables in high-energy deuteron photodisintegration within the Quark-Gluon Strings Model
Deuteron two-body photodisintegration is analysed within the framework of the
Quark-Gluon Strings Model. The model describes fairly well the recent
experimental data from TJNAF in the few GeV region. Angular distributions at
different -energies are presented and the effect of a forward-backward
asymmetry is discussed. New results from the QGSM for polarization observables
from 1.5 -- 6 GeV are presented and compared with the available data.Comment: 3 pages, LaTeX, 4 postscript figures; contribution to QNP2002,
Juelich, June 10-14, 200
Hybridizing Constraint Programming and Monte-Carlo Tree Search: Application to the Job Shop problem
International audienceConstraint Programming (CP) solvers classically explore the solution space using tree search-based heuristics. Monte-Carlo Tree-Search (MCTS), a tree-search based method aimed at sequential decision making under uncertainty, simultaneously estimates the reward associated to the sub-trees, and gradually biases the exploration toward the most promising regions. This paper examines the tight combination of MCTS and CP on the job shop problem (JSP). The contribution is twofold. Firstly, a reward function compliant with the CP setting is proposed. Secondly, a biased MCTS node-selection rule based on this reward is proposed, that is suitable in a multiple-restarts context. Its integration within the Gecode constraint solver is shown to compete with JSP-specific CP approaches on difficult JSP instances
Thermodynamics and magnetic field profiles in low-kappa type-II superconductors
Two-dimensional low-kappa type-II superconductors are studied numerically
within the Eilenberger equations of superconductivity. Depending on the
Ginzburg-Landau parameter \kappa=\lambda/\xi vortex-vortex interaction can be
attractive or purely repulsive. The sign of interaction is manifested as a
first (second) order phase transition from Meissner to the mixed state.
Temperature and field dependence of the magnetic field distribution in
low-kappa type-II superconductors with attractive intervortex interaction is
calculated. Theoretical results are compared to the experiment.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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