ML-PWS: Estimating the Mutual Information Between Experimental Time Series Using Neural Networks

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Reinhardt, Manuel, Tkačik, Gašper, Wolde, Pieter Rein ten
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Reinhardt, Manuel
Tkačik, Gašper
Wolde, Pieter Rein ten
author_facet Reinhardt, Manuel
Tkačik, Gašper
Wolde, Pieter Rein ten
contents The ability to quantify information transmission is crucial for the analysis and design of natural and engineered systems. The information transmission rate is the fundamental measure for systems with time-varying signals, yet computing it is extremely challenging. In particular, the rate cannot be obtained directly from experimental time-series data without approximations, because of the high dimensionality of the signal trajectory space. Path Weight Sampling (PWS) is a computational technique that makes it possible to obtain the information rate exactly for any stochastic system. However, it requires a mathematical model of the system of interest, be it described by a master equation or a set of differential equations. Here, we present a technique that employs Machine Learning (ML) to develop a generative model from experimental time-series data, which is then combined with PWS to obtain the information rate. We demonstrate the accuracy of this technique, called ML-PWS, by comparing its results on synthetic time-series data generated from a non-linear model against ground-truth results obtained by applying PWS directly to the same model. We illustrate the utility of ML-PWS by applying it to neuronal time-series data.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_16509
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle ML-PWS: Estimating the Mutual Information Between Experimental Time Series Using Neural Networks
Reinhardt, Manuel
Tkačik, Gašper
Wolde, Pieter Rein ten
Biological Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Information Theory
Machine Learning
Neurons and Cognition
The ability to quantify information transmission is crucial for the analysis and design of natural and engineered systems. The information transmission rate is the fundamental measure for systems with time-varying signals, yet computing it is extremely challenging. In particular, the rate cannot be obtained directly from experimental time-series data without approximations, because of the high dimensionality of the signal trajectory space. Path Weight Sampling (PWS) is a computational technique that makes it possible to obtain the information rate exactly for any stochastic system. However, it requires a mathematical model of the system of interest, be it described by a master equation or a set of differential equations. Here, we present a technique that employs Machine Learning (ML) to develop a generative model from experimental time-series data, which is then combined with PWS to obtain the information rate. We demonstrate the accuracy of this technique, called ML-PWS, by comparing its results on synthetic time-series data generated from a non-linear model against ground-truth results obtained by applying PWS directly to the same model. We illustrate the utility of ML-PWS by applying it to neuronal time-series data.
title ML-PWS: Estimating the Mutual Information Between Experimental Time Series Using Neural Networks
topic Biological Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Information Theory
Machine Learning
Neurons and Cognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.16509