1. An operational information decomposition via synergistic disclosure
- Author
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Fernando Rosas, Pedro A. M. Mediano, Borzoo Rassouli, Adam B. Barrett, Rosas, Fernando E [0000-0001-7790-6183], Mediano, Pedro A M [0000-0003-1789-5894], Rassouli, Borzoo [0000-0002-1171-8507], Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository, Rosas, FE [0000-0001-7790-6183], Mediano, PAM [0000-0003-1789-5894], and Rassouli, B [0000-0002-1171-8507]
- Subjects
FOS: Computer and information sciences ,Statistics and Probability ,Paper ,Information privacy ,Computer science ,Computer Science - Information Theory ,Complex system ,FOS: Physical sciences ,General Physics and Astronomy ,synergy ,Information theory ,01 natural sciences ,010305 fluids & plasmas ,physics.data-an ,cs.IT ,0103 physical sciences ,Decomposition (computer science) ,math.IT ,010306 general physics ,complex systems ,01 Mathematical Sciences ,Mathematical Physics ,information theory ,partial information decomposition ,02 Physical Sciences ,Interpretation (logic) ,Information Theory (cs.IT) ,Statistical and Nonlinear Physics ,Probability and statistics ,Data science ,Range (mathematics) ,Physics - Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability ,Modeling and Simulation ,high-order statistics ,Statistical physics ,Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability (physics.data-an) - Abstract
Multivariate information decompositions hold promise to yield insight into complex systems, and stand out for their ability to identify synergistic phenomena. However, the adoption of these approaches has been hindered by there being multiple possible decompositions, and no precise guidance for preferring one over the others. At the heart of this disagreement lies the absence of a clear operational interpretation of what synergistic information is. Here we fill this gap by proposing a new information decomposition based on a novel operationalisation of informational synergy, which leverages recent developments in the literature of data privacy. Our decomposition is defined for any number of information sources, and its atoms can be calculated using elementary optimisation techniques. The decomposition provides a natural coarse-graining that scales gracefully with the system's size, and is applicable in a wide range of scenarios of practical interest., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures
- Published
- 2020
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