Online Covering with Multiple Experts

Designing online algorithms with machine learning predictions is a recent technique beyond the worst-case paradigm for various practically relevant online problems (scheduling, caching, clustering, ski rental, etc.). While most previous learning-augmented algorithm approaches focus on integrating the predictions of a single oracle, we study the design of online algorithms with multiple experts. To go beyond the popular benchmark of a static best expert in hindsight, we propose a new dynamic benchmark (linear combinations of predictions that change over time). We present a competitive algorithm in the new dynamic benchmark with a performance guarantee of O(log K), where K is the number of experts, for 0-1 online optimization problems. Furthermore, our multiple-expert approach provides a new perspective on how to combine in an online manner several online algorithms - a long-standing central subject in the online algorithm research community.