arXiv:2609.05150cs.LGcs.AI2026-09

提出新算法识别时间序列中的隐藏状态与因果结构变化。

Beyond Stationarity in Time Series: Discovering Causal Structures and Latent Regimes via Markov Blankets

论文配图:Beyond Stationarity in Time Series: Discovering Causal Structures and Latent Regimes via Markov Blankets
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 基于马尔可夫毯分段发现动态因果结构,不依赖固定因果关系假设。
  • 在模拟和真实监控数据中均准确识别出状态切换点及对应因果图。
  • 适合分析具有非平稳特性的复杂系统,如金融、工业监测场景。

本文提出一种名为RCBNB-MB的新型时间序列因果发现算法,突破传统方法对单一静态因果结构的假设。由于时间序列常在离散时刻观测且存在状态跃迁,导致因果关系随时间变化,现有方法难以应对。RCBNB-MB通过迭代分割时间序列为若干子区间(即潜藏因果状态),在每个区间内学习稳定因果图。该方法利用马尔可夫毯而非直接父节点进行推断,提升对误差的鲁棒性并保留预测信息。理论分析证明其可在合理假设下准确恢复状态转换与因果结构。在已知真实结构的模拟数据和真实世界IT监控数据上的大量实验表明,该方法显著优于基线模型,在检测状态切换及其关联因果图方面表现更优,具备强鲁棒性和广泛适用性,适用于非平稳时间序列分析。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

This paper introduces Regime-aware Constraint-Based and Noise-Based causal discovery with Markov Blankets (RCBNB-MB), a novel causal discovery algorithm for time series that relaxes the common assumption of a single, time-consistent causal structure. Time series are typically observed at discrete time points and often exhibit regime changes that challenge the assumption of a static causal structure, a limitation in many real-world dynamic systems. To address this challenge, RCBNB-MB identifies latent causal regimes, defined as subsets of time points within which a stable causal structure holds. The algorithm follows an iterative strategy that segments the time series into regimes and discovers the causal graph within each regime. By leveraging the Markov blanket rather than direct parents, RCBNB-MB gains robustness to errors in causal discovery and preserves predictive information. We provide theoretical guarantees for RCBNB-MB's ability to recover both regime transitions and causal graphs under reasonable assumptions. Furthermore, we validate its effectiveness through extensive experiments on simulated datasets with known ground truth and real-world IT monitoring data, where taking into account regime shifts is critical. Empirical results show that RCBNB-MB systematically outperforms baseline approaches in accurately detecting regime changes and their associated causal graphs, positioning it as a robust and versatile framework for non-stationary time series analysis.

因果发现时间序列非平稳状态识别

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