Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: This paper proposes an extension to discrete Phase-Type distributions (DPH) by introducing random rewards. These allow for modeling a system in which a visit to a certain state does not emit a deterministic reward. Instead, the rewards follow either a Bernoulli or a geometric distribution. Utilizing this increased flexibility, we further sketch a possible use case for these random rewards by introducing the Inertia-Escalation model (IEM), a process with latent severity levels characterized through two parameters: Inertia ν and escalation η. We also discuss parameter inference for such models. To validate and explore random rewards and the IEM, we conducted extensive simulations and applied the model to two datasets: historical warfare and the Telco customer churn dataset.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Pauli, Simon, Futschik, Andreas
Institution: Johannes Kepler University of Linz
Subfield: Statistics and Probability
Field: Mathematics
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7155205102
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