Sequential selection of random vectors under a sum constraint

Abstract

We observe a sequence X₁,X₂,...,X_n of independent and identically distributed coordinatewise nonnegative d-dimensional random vectors. When a vector is observed it can either be selected or rejected but once made this decision is final. In each coordinate the sum of the selected vectors must not exceed a given constant. The problem is to find a selection policy that maximizes the expected number of selected vectors. For a general absolutely continuous distribution of the X_i we determine the maximal expected number of selected vectors asymptotically and give a selection policy which asymptotically achieves optimality. This problem raises a question closely related to the following problem. Given an absolutely continuous measure μ on Q = [0,1]^d and a τ ∈ Q, find a set A of maximal measure μ(A) among all A ⊂ Q whose center of gravity lies below τ in all coordinates. We will show that a simplicial section {x ∈ Q | 〈x,θ〉 ≤ 1}, where θ ∈ R^d, θ ≥ 0, satisfies a certain additional property, is a solution to this problem.