An optimal anytime estimation algorithm
In many applications a key step is estimating some unknown quantity ~$mu$ from a sequence of trials, each having expected value~$mu$. Optimal algorithms are known when the task is to estimate $mu$ within a multiplicative factor of $epsilon$, for an $epsilon$ given in advance. In this paper we consid...
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| Tipo de recurso: | informe técnico |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2004 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/87244 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/87244 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Optimal algorithms Approximation algorithms Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Informàtica teòrica |
| Sumario: | In many applications a key step is estimating some unknown quantity ~$mu$ from a sequence of trials, each having expected value~$mu$. Optimal algorithms are known when the task is to estimate $mu$ within a multiplicative factor of $epsilon$, for an $epsilon$ given in advance. In this paper we consider {em anytime} approximation algorithms, i.e., algorithms that must give a reliable approximation after each trial, and whose approximations have to be increasingly accurate as the number of trials grows. We give an anytime algorithm for this task when the only a-priori known property of $mu$ is its range, and show that it is asymptotically optimal in some cases, in the sense that no correct anytime algorithm can give asymptotically better approximations. The key ingredient is a new large deviation bound for the supremum of the deviations in an infinite sequence of trials, which can be seen as a non-limit analog of the classical Law of the Iterated Logarithm. |
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