Multi-Armed Bandits with Abstention

arXiv:2402.15127v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: We introduce a novel extension of the canonical multi-armed bandit problem that incorporates an additional strategic element: abstention. In this enhanced framework, the agent is not only tasked with selecting an arm at each time step, but also has the option to abstain from accepting the stochastic instantaneous reward before observing it. When opting for abstention, the agent either suffers a fixed regret or gains a guaranteed reward. Given this added layer of complexity, we …

abstract agent arm arxiv canonical cs.it cs.lg element extension framework math.it multi-armed bandits novel stat.ml stochastic type