44,164 research outputs found
Approximations of Algorithmic and Structural Complexity Validate Cognitive-behavioural Experimental Results
We apply methods for estimating the algorithmic complexity of sequences to
behavioural sequences of three landmark studies of animal behavior each of
increasing sophistication, including foraging communication by ants, flight
patterns of fruit flies, and tactical deception and competition strategies in
rodents. In each case, we demonstrate that approximations of Logical Depth and
Kolmogorv-Chaitin complexity capture and validate previously reported results,
in contrast to other measures such as Shannon Entropy, compression or ad hoc.
Our method is practically useful when dealing with short sequences, such as
those often encountered in cognitive-behavioural research. Our analysis
supports and reveals non-random behavior (LD and K complexity) in flies even in
the absence of external stimuli, and confirms the "stochastic" behaviour of
transgenic rats when faced that they cannot defeat by counter prediction. The
method constitutes a formal approach for testing hypotheses about the
mechanisms underlying animal behaviour.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures and 2 table
Correlation of Automorphism Group Size and Topological Properties with Program-size Complexity Evaluations of Graphs and Complex Networks
We show that numerical approximations of Kolmogorov complexity (K) applied to
graph adjacency matrices capture some group-theoretic and topological
properties of graphs and empirical networks ranging from metabolic to social
networks. That K and the size of the group of automorphisms of a graph are
correlated opens up interesting connections to problems in computational
geometry, and thus connects several measures and concepts from complexity
science. We show that approximations of K characterise synthetic and natural
networks by their generating mechanisms, assigning lower algorithmic randomness
to complex network models (Watts-Strogatz and Barabasi-Albert networks) and
high Kolmogorov complexity to (random) Erdos-Renyi graphs. We derive these
results via two different Kolmogorov complexity approximation methods applied
to the adjacency matrices of the graphs and networks. The methods used are the
traditional lossless compression approach to Kolmogorov complexity, and a
normalised version of a Block Decomposition Method (BDM) measure, based on
algorithmic probability theory.Comment: 15 2-column pages, 20 figures. Forthcoming in Physica A: Statistical
Mechanics and its Application
Counting dependent and independent strings
The paper gives estimations for the sizes of the the following sets: (1) the
set of strings that have a given dependency with a fixed string, (2) the set of
strings that are pairwise \alpha independent, (3) the set of strings that are
mutually \alpha independent. The relevant definitions are as follows: C(x) is
the Kolmogorov complexity of the string x. A string y has \alpha -dependency
with a string x if C(y) - C(y|x) \geq \alpha. A set of strings {x_1, \ldots,
x_t} is pairwise \alpha-independent if for all i different from j, C(x_i) -
C(x_i | x_j) \leq \alpha. A tuple of strings (x_1, \ldots, x_t) is mutually
\alpha-independent if C(x_{\pi(1)} \ldots x_{\pi(t)}) \geq C(x_1) + \ldots +
C(x_t) - \alpha, for every permutation \pi of [t]
Estimating the Algorithmic Complexity of Stock Markets
Randomness and regularities in Finance are usually treated in probabilistic
terms. In this paper, we develop a completely different approach in using a
non-probabilistic framework based on the algorithmic information theory
initially developed by Kolmogorov (1965). We present some elements of this
theory and show why it is particularly relevant to Finance, and potentially to
other sub-fields of Economics as well. We develop a generic method to estimate
the Kolmogorov complexity of numeric series. This approach is based on an
iterative "regularity erasing procedure" implemented to use lossless
compression algorithms on financial data. Examples are provided with both
simulated and real-world financial time series. The contributions of this
article are twofold. The first one is methodological : we show that some
structural regularities, invisible with classical statistical tests, can be
detected by this algorithmic method. The second one consists in illustrations
on the daily Dow-Jones Index suggesting that beyond several well-known
regularities, hidden structure may in this index remain to be identified
Applying MDL to Learning Best Model Granularity
The Minimum Description Length (MDL) principle is solidly based on a provably
ideal method of inference using Kolmogorov complexity. We test how the theory
behaves in practice on a general problem in model selection: that of learning
the best model granularity. The performance of a model depends critically on
the granularity, for example the choice of precision of the parameters. Too
high precision generally involves modeling of accidental noise and too low
precision may lead to confusion of models that should be distinguished. This
precision is often determined ad hoc. In MDL the best model is the one that
most compresses a two-part code of the data set: this embodies ``Occam's
Razor.'' In two quite different experimental settings the theoretical value
determined using MDL coincides with the best value found experimentally. In the
first experiment the task is to recognize isolated handwritten characters in
one subject's handwriting, irrespective of size and orientation. Based on a new
modification of elastic matching, using multiple prototypes per character, the
optimal prediction rate is predicted for the learned parameter (length of
sampling interval) considered most likely by MDL, which is shown to coincide
with the best value found experimentally. In the second experiment the task is
to model a robot arm with two degrees of freedom using a three layer
feed-forward neural network where we need to determine the number of nodes in
the hidden layer giving best modeling performance. The optimal model (the one
that extrapolizes best on unseen examples) is predicted for the number of nodes
in the hidden layer considered most likely by MDL, which again is found to
coincide with the best value found experimentally.Comment: LaTeX, 32 pages, 5 figures. Artificial Intelligence journal, To
appea
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