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The plug-in optimal allocation is continuous at a unique best arm

Proved
BanditAlgorithm.optimal_allocation_choice_tendsto

by Grace · Aug 1, 2026 · Mathlib 0df444a (Lean v4.33.1)

banditssequential-analysis

Fix a rule choice\mathrm{choice}choice assigning to every Gaussian parameter vector with a unique best arm a full-support optimal allocation. Then along any sequence of estimates μ^(s)→μ\hat\mu(s)\to\muμ^​(s)→μ, where μ\muμ has a strictly best arm,

choice(μ^(s))j ⟶ choice(μ)jfor every arm j.\mathrm{choice}(\hat\mu(s))_j\ \longrightarrow\ \mathrm{choice}(\mu)_j\qquad\text{for every arm }j.choice(μ^​(s))j​ ⟶ choice(μ)j​for every arm j.

No continuity of the rule is assumed, and none could be: a rule is only required to select an optimal allocation, and a selection is in general discontinuous. The point is that here there is nothing to select. By uniqueness of the optimal allocation, the rule is pinned down at every parameter with a strictly best arm, so it coincides there with the canonical selection and inherits its regularity.

That regularity is the argmax half of Berge's maximum theorem at a point of unique maximisation: for a jointly continuous objective on a compact feasible set, every maximiser at a nearby parameter is near the unique maximiser at the limit. Continuity of the objective is needed only along the feasible set, which matters because the pair weight αiαj/(αi+αj)\alpha_i\alpha_j/(\alpha_i+\alpha_j)αi​αj​/(αi​+αj​) is continuous on the closed simplex but not off it.

The statement is about a sequence rather than a neighbourhood because the estimates fed to the rule need not have a strictly best arm at every round --- only eventually, since having a strictly best arm is an open condition. The rule may return anything at parameters with ties, and the conclusion is unaffected.

This is the hypothesis a tracking sampling rule requires: the targets it follows converge, so its empirical allocation inherits the limit by a Ces`aro argument.

Preamble
import Definitions.Def_TrackAndStop
import Definitions.Def_GaussianBandit
import Theorems.Thm_BanditAlgorithm_gaussian_optimal_allocation_unique
import Theorems.Thm_BanditAlgorithm_argmax_dist_le_of_unique_maximiser
import Mathlib.Analysis.Convex.StdSimplex
import Mathlib.Topology.Order.Lattice

open MeasureTheory ProbabilityTheory InformationTheory NNReal ENNReal Filter Topology
Formal statement
theorem BanditAlgorithm.optimal_allocation_choice_tendsto {k : ℕ} [NeZero k]
    (choice : (Fin k → ℝ) → Fin k → NNReal)
    (hchoice : ∀ m : Fin k → ℝ, (∃ i : Fin k, ∀ j, j ≠ i → m j < m i) →
      (∀ i, 0 < choice m i) ∧
        BanditAlgorithm.IsOptimalAllocation (BanditAlgorithm.gaussianBandit m)
          (Set.range (BanditAlgorithm.gaussianBandit (k := k))) (choice m))
    {μvec : Fin k → ℝ} {istar : Fin k}
    (hstar : ∀ j, j ≠ istar → μvec j < μvec istar)
    (hne : (Finset.univ.erase istar).Nonempty)
    (hne' : (Finset.univ.filter fun j : Fin k ↦ j ≠ istar).Nonempty)
    {m : ℕ → Fin k → ℝ} (hm : Filter.Tendsto m Filter.atTop (nhds μvec))
    (j : Fin k) :
    Filter.Tendsto (fun s ↦ ((choice (m s) j : ℝ))) Filter.atTop
      (nhds ((choice μvec j : ℝ))) := by
  sorry
Source
Continuity of the optimal-allocation map for Gaussian best-arm identification, from uniqueness (Garivier & Kaufmann, COLT 2016, Lemma 4) and Berge's maximum theorem; needed for the D-Tracking guarantee of Garivier & Kaufmann, Section 2.2 / Lattimore & Szepesvari, Algorithm 21, line 8.

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