惯性聚合 高效追踪和阅读你感兴趣的博客、新闻、科技资讯
阅读原文 在惯性聚合中打开

推荐订阅源

量子位
D
DataBreaches.Net
Microsoft Security Blog
Microsoft Security Blog
V
Visual Studio Blog
GbyAI
GbyAI
美团技术团队
云风的 BLOG
云风的 BLOG
大猫的无限游戏
大猫的无限游戏
小众软件
小众软件
博客园 - 叶小钗
Engineering at Meta
Engineering at Meta
博客园 - 三生石上(FineUI控件)
N
Netflix TechBlog - Medium
奇客Solidot–传递最新科技情报
奇客Solidot–传递最新科技情报
G
Google Developers Blog
博客园 - 【当耐特】
OSCHINA 社区最新新闻
OSCHINA 社区最新新闻
宝玉的分享
宝玉的分享
阮一峰的网络日志
阮一峰的网络日志
T
The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss
Y
Y Combinator Blog
U
Unit 42
P
Proofpoint News Feed
V
V2EX

math.ST updates on arXiv.org

What is Learnable in Valiant's Theory of the Learnable? Learning Perturbations to Extrapolate Your LLM Byzantine-Robust Distributed Sparse Learning Revisited The Sample Complexity of Multiple Change Point Identification under Bandit Feedback A proximal gradient algorithm for composite log-concave sampling Model-based Bootstrap of Controlled Markov Chains Approximation of Maximally Monotone Operators : A Graph Convergence Perspective Posterior Contraction Rates for Sparse Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks in Anisotropic Besov Spaces MIST: Reliable Streaming Decision Trees for Online Class-Incremental Learning via McDiarmid Bound A Spectral Framework for Closed-Form Relative Density Estimation Fast Rates for Offline Contextual Bandits with Forward-KL Regularization under Single-Policy Concentrability Higher-Order Equilibrium Tracking for EM-Compressible Online Estimation Scaling Limits of Long-Context Transformers A Note on Non-Negative $L_1$-Approximating Polynomials Susceptibilities and Patterning: A Primer on Linear Response in Bayesian Learning Linear Response Estimators for Singular Statistical Models Statistical inference with belief functions: A survey Robust stochastic first order methods in heavy-tailed noise via medoid mini-batch gradient sampling Every Feedforward Neural Network Definable in an o-Minimal Structure Has Finite Sample Complexity Adaptive auditing of AI systems with anytime-valid guarantees Locally Near Optimal Piecewise Linear Regression in High Dimensions via Difference of Max-Affine Functions Risk-Controlled Post-Processing of Decision Policies Covariate Balancing and Riesz Regression Should Be Guided by the Neyman Orthogonal Score in Debiased Machine Learning A Unified Pair-GRPO Family: From Implicit to Explicit Preference Constraints for Stable and General RL Alignment Time-Inhomogeneous Preconditioned Langevin Dynamics A Fine-Grained Understanding of Uniform Convergence for Halfspaces CITE: Anytime-Valid Statistical Inference in LLM Self-Consistency Ratio-based Loss Functions Optimal Confidence Band for Kernel Gradient Flow Estimator A renormalization-group inspired lattice-based framework for piecewise generalized linear models
A Simple Geometric Proof of the Optimality of the Sequent...
Chirag Pabbaraju, Gregory Valiant, Rishi Verma · 2025-10-18 · via math.ST updates on arXiv.org

This paper revisits the classical problem of determining the bias of a weighted coin, where the bias is known to be either $p = 1/2 + \varepsilon$ or $p = 1/2 - \varepsilon$, while minimizing the expected number of coin tosses and the error probability. The optimal strategy for this problem is given by Wald's Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT), which compares the log-likelihood ratio against fixed thresholds to determine a stopping time. Classical proofs of this result typically rely on analytical, continuous, and non-constructive arguments. In this paper, we present a discrete, self-contained proof of the optimality of the SPRT for this problem. We model the problem as a biased random walk on the two-dimensional (heads, tails) integer lattice, and model strategies as marked stopping times on this lattice. Our proof takes a straightforward greedy approach, showing how any arbitrary strategy may be transformed into the optimal, parallel-line "difference policy" corresponding to the SPRT, via a sequence of local perturbations that improve a Bayes risk objective.