On the Chronology of Dynamic Allocation Index Policies: The Pioneering Work of K. C. Sevcik

Kenneth Sevcik's pioneering result in stochastic scheduling theory seems to be the first dynamic allocation index policy for problems of bandit type. The Sevcik rank was the precursor of the much celebrated Gittins index that appeared about a year later. We present the main result, put it in the context of the research on these problems in the late sixties to mid seventies, and give a number of illustrations extending those of Sevcik.