We provide several applications of Optimistic Mirror Descent, an online learning algorithm based on the idea of predictable sequences. First, we recover the Mirror-Prox algorithm, prove an extension to Holder-smooth functions, and apply the results to saddle-point type problems. Second, we prove that a version of Optimistic Mirror Descent (which has a close relation to the Exponential Weights algorithm) can be used by two strongly-uncoupled players in a finite zero-sum matrix game to converge to the minimax equilibrium at the rate of O(log T / T). This addresses a question of Daskalakis et al, 2011. Further, we consider a partial information version of the problem. We then apply the results to approximate convex programming and show a simple algorithm for the approximate Max-Flow problem.

We provide several applications of Optimistic Mirror Descent, an online learning algorithm based on the idea of predictable sequences. First, we recover the Mirror Prox algorithm for offline optimization, prove an extension to Hölder-smooth functions, and apply the results to saddle-point type problems. Next, we prove that a version of Optimistic Mirror Descent (which has a close relation to the Exponential Weights algorithm) can be used by two strongly-uncoupled players in a finite zero-sum matrix game to converge to the minimax equilibrium at the rate of O((log T) T).

This paper derives confidence intervals (CI) and time-uniform confidence sequences (CS) for an unknown mean based on bounded observations. Our methods are based on a new general approach for deriving concentration bounds, that can be seen as a generalization (and improvement) of the classical Chernoff method. At its heart, it is based on deriving a new class of composite nonnegative martingales with initial value one, with strong connections to betting and the method of mixtures. We show how to extend these ideas to sampling without replacement. In all cases considered, the bounds are adaptive to the unknown variance, and empirically outperform competing approaches based on Hoeffding's or empirical Bernstein's inequalities and their recent supermartingale generalizations.

We provide several applications of Optimistic Mirror Descent, an online learning algorithm based on the idea of predictable sequences. First, we recover the Mirror-Prox algorithm, prove an extension to Holder-smooth functions, and apply the results to saddle-point type problems. Second, we prove that a version of Optimistic Mirror Descent (which has a close relation to the Exponential Weights algorithm) can be used by two strongly-uncoupled players in a finite zero-sum matrix game to converge to the minimax equilibrium at the rate of O(log T / T). This addresses a question of Daskalakis et al, 2011. Further, we consider a partial information version of the problem.

We provide several applications of Optimistic Mirror Descent, an online learning algorithm based on the idea of predictable sequences. First, we recover the Mirror-Prox algorithm, prove an extension to Holder-smooth functions, and apply the results to saddle-point type problems. Second, we prove that a version of Optimistic Mirror Descent (which has a close relation to the Exponential Weights algorithm) can be used by two strongly-uncoupled players in a finite zero-sum matrix game to converge to the minimax equilibrium at the rate of O(log T / T). This addresses a question of Daskalakis et al, 2011. Further, we consider a partial information version of the problem. We then apply the results to approximate convex programming and show a simple algorithm for the approximate Max-Flow problem.