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Title: Instance-dependent Sample Complexity Bounds for Zero-sum Matrix Games
We study the sample complexity of identifying an approximate equilibrium for two-player zero-sum n × 2 matrix games. That is, in a sequence of repeated game plays, how many rounds must the two players play before reaching an approximate equilibrium (e.g., Nash)? We derive instance-dependent bounds that define an ordering over game matrices that captures the intuition that the dynamics of some games converge faster than others. Specifically, we consider a stochastic observation model such that when the two players choose actions i and j, respectively, they both observe each other’s played actions and a stochastic observation Xij such that E [Xij ] = Aij . To our knowledge, our work is the first case of instance-dependent lower bounds on the number of rounds the players must play before reaching an approximate equilibrium in the sense that the number of rounds depends on the specific properties of the game matrix A as well as the desired accuracy. We also prove a converse statement: there exist player strategies that achieve this lower bound.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1907907 2023166
PAR ID:
10415280
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Editor(s):
Francisco Ruiz, Jennifer Dy
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of Machine Learning Research
Volume:
206
ISSN:
2640-3498
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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