English

Generalized Measures of Information Transfer

Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability 2011-02-09 v1 Information Theory Dynamical Systems math.IT

Abstract

Transfer entropy provides a general tool for analyzing the magnitudes and directions---but not the \emph{kinds}---of information transfer in a system. We extend transfer entropy in two complementary ways. First, we distinguish state-dependent from state-independent transfer, based on whether a source's influence depends on the state of the target. Second, for multiple sources, we distinguish between unique, redundant, and synergistic transfer. The new measures are demonstrated on several systems that extend examples from previous literature.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1102.1507,
  title  = {Generalized Measures of Information Transfer},
  author = {Paul L. Williams and Randall D. Beer},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1102.1507},
  year   = {2011}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-21T17:23:06.192Z