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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.00273 |
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| _version_ | 1866918165259223040 |
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| author | Gu, Yuzhou Han, Yanjun Qian, Jian |
| author_facet | Gu, Yuzhou Han, Yanjun Qian, Jian |
| contents | We study the evolution of information in interactive decision making through the lens of a stochastic multi-armed bandit problem. Focusing on a fundamental example where a unique optimal arm outperforms the rest by a fixed margin, we characterize the optimal success probability and mutual information over time. Our findings reveal distinct growth phases in mutual information -- initially linear, transitioning to quadratic, and finally returning to linear -- highlighting curious behavioral differences between interactive and non-interactive environments. In particular, we show that optimal success probability and mutual information can be decoupled, where achieving optimal learning does not necessarily require maximizing information gain. These findings shed new light on the intricate interplay between information and learning in interactive decision making. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_00273 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Evolution of Information in Interactive Decision Making: A Case Study for Multi-Armed Bandits Gu, Yuzhou Han, Yanjun Qian, Jian Machine Learning Information Theory We study the evolution of information in interactive decision making through the lens of a stochastic multi-armed bandit problem. Focusing on a fundamental example where a unique optimal arm outperforms the rest by a fixed margin, we characterize the optimal success probability and mutual information over time. Our findings reveal distinct growth phases in mutual information -- initially linear, transitioning to quadratic, and finally returning to linear -- highlighting curious behavioral differences between interactive and non-interactive environments. In particular, we show that optimal success probability and mutual information can be decoupled, where achieving optimal learning does not necessarily require maximizing information gain. These findings shed new light on the intricate interplay between information and learning in interactive decision making. |
| title | Evolution of Information in Interactive Decision Making: A Case Study for Multi-Armed Bandits |
| topic | Machine Learning Information Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.00273 |