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Journal ArticleDOI

Restless bandits: activity allocation in a changing world

Peter Whittle
- 01 Jan 1988 - 
- Vol. 25, pp 287-298
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TLDR
In this article, the Lagrange multiplier associated with this constraint defines an index which reduces to the Gittins index when projects not being operated are static, and arguments are advanced to support the conjecture that, for m and n large in constant ratio, the policy of operating the m projects of largest current index is nearly optimal.
Abstract
We consider a population of n projects which in general continue to evolve whether in operation or not (although by different rules). It is desired to choose the projects in operation at each instant of time so as to maximise the expected rate of reward, under a constraint upon the expected number of projects in operation. The Lagrange multiplier associated with this constraint defines an index which reduces to the Gittins index when projects not being operated are static. If one is constrained to operate m projects exactly then arguments are advanced to support the conjecture that, for m and n large in constant ratio, the policy of operating the m projects of largest current index is nearly optimal. The index is evaluated for some particular projects.

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Citations
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The description-experience gap in risky choice

TL;DR: Converging findings show that when people make decisions based on experience, rare events tend to have less impact than they deserve according to their objective probabilities.
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The Complexity of Optimal Queuing Network Control

TL;DR: It is shown that several versions of the problem of optimally controlling a simple network of queues with simple arrival and service distributions and multiple customer classes is complete for exponential time.
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A modern Bayesian look at the multi-armed bandit

TL;DR: A heuristic for managing multi-armed bandits called randomized probability matching is described, which randomly allocates observations to arms according the Bayesian posterior probability that each arm is optimal.
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The Psychology and Neuroscience of Curiosity.

TL;DR: It is proposed that, rather than worry about defining curiosity, it is more helpful to consider the motivations for information-seeking behavior and to study it in its ethological context.
References
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Book

Systems in stochastic equilibrium

TL;DR: Preface Basic Material Abundance and Transfer Models Network Models Bonding Models: Polymerisation and Random Graphs Spatial Models, Random Fields Appendices.
Journal ArticleDOI

Arm-Acquiring Bandits

TL;DR: In this article, the problem of allocating effort between projects at different stages of development when new projects are also continually appearing is considered, and an expression for the expected reward yielded by the Gittins index policy is derived.
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