arXiv · 2506.17941
Greedy Selection under Independent Increments: A Toy Model Analysis
Abstract
We study an iterative selection problem over N i.i.d. discrete-time stochastic processes with independent increments. At each stage, a fixed number of processes are retained based on their observed values. Under this simple model, we prove that the optimal strategy for selecting the final maximum-value process is to apply greedy selection at each stage. While the result relies on strong independence assumptions, it offers a clean justification for greedy heuristics in multi-stage elimination settings and may serve as a toy example for understanding related algorithms in high-dimensional applications.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Huitao Yang. 2025-06-22. Greedy Selection under Independent Increments: A Toy Model Analysis. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.17941
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.