arXiv:2409.08295stat.MLcs.IT2024-09被引 4

提出高阶因果关系新定义,能识别多变量协同作用。

Higher order definition of causality by optimally conditioned transfer entropy

  • 用优化条件转移熵扩展因果分析,捕捉多变量协同效应
  • 在神经动力学仿真中验证可区分协同与独立因果
  • 适合研究复杂系统中非线性协同机制的研究者

复杂系统动态描述的核心问题之一是刻画系统各元素间的相互作用结构和因果关系。尽管成对因果关系的表征已相对成熟,但标准方法如格兰杰因果或转移熵可能无法准确反映高阶协同效应,而这类现象在真实复杂系统中极为重要。本文提出信息论因果推断的广义与改进方法,实现真正多变量而非多重成对因果关系的描述,从而将因果网络推进为因果超网络。该方法在控制中介变量或共同原因的同时,对纯粹协同作用(如异或)赋予多变量因果集以因果角色,而非单个输入,区别于多个独立线性因果的情形。通过理论示例及近期报道具有协同计算特征的生物神经动力学仿真,验证了该概念的有效性。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

The description of the dynamics of complex systems, in particular the capture of the interaction structure and causal relationships between elements of the system, is one of the central questions of interdisciplinary research. While the characterization of pairwise causal interactions is a relatively ripe field with established theoretical concepts and the current focus is on technical issues of their efficient estimation, it turns out that the standard concepts such as Granger causality or transfer entropy may not faithfully reflect possible synergies or interactions of higher orders, phenomena highly relevant for many real-world complex systems. In this paper, we propose a generalization and refinement of the information-theoretic approach to causal inference, enabling the description of truly multivariate, rather than multiple pairwise, causal interactions, and moving thus from causal networks to causal hypernetworks. In particular, while keeping the ability to control for mediating variables or common causes, in case of purely synergetic interactions such as the exclusive disjunction, it ascribes the causal role to the multivariate causal set but \emph{not} to individual inputs, distinguishing it thus from the case of e.g. two additive univariate causes. We demonstrate this concept by application to illustrative theoretical examples as well as a biophysically realistic simulation of biological neuronal dynamics recently reported to employ synergetic computations.

因果推断信息论协同效应

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