Kolmogorov complexity spectrum for use in analysis of UV-B radiation time series

We have used the Kolmogorov complexity and sample entropy measures to estimate the complexity of the UV-B radiation time series in the Vojvodina region (Serbia) for the period 1990-2007. We defined the Kolmogorov complexity spectrum and have introduced the Kolmogorov complexity spectrum highest value (KLM). We have established the UV-B radiation time series on the basis of their daily sum (dose) for seven representative places in this region using (i) measured data, (ii) data calculated via a derived empirical formula and (iii) data obtained by a parametric UV radiation model. We have calculated the Kolmogorov complexity (KL) based on the Lempel-Ziv Algorithm (LZA), KLM and Sample Entropy (SE) values for each time series. We have divided the period 1990-2007 into two sub-intervals: (a) 1990-1998 and (b)1999-2007 and calculated the KL, KLM and SE values for the various time series in these sub-intervals. It is found that during the period 1999-2007, there is a decrease in the KL, KLM and SE, comparing to the period 1990-1998. This complexity loss may be attributed to (i) the increased human intervention in the post civil war period causing increase of the air pollution and (ii) the increased cloudiness due to climate changes.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, 1 table. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1301.2039; This paper has been accepted in Modern Physics Letters B on Aug 14, 201

Structural Information in Two-Dimensional Patterns: Entropy Convergence and Excess Entropy

We develop information-theoretic measures of spatial structure and pattern in more than one dimension. As is well known, the entropy density of a two-dimensional configuration can be efficiently and accurately estimated via a converging sequence of conditional entropies. We show that the manner in which these conditional entropies converge to their asymptotic value serves as a measure of global correlation and structure for spatial systems in any dimension. We compare and contrast entropy-convergence with mutual-information and structure-factor techniques for quantifying and detecting spatial structure.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, http://www.santafe.edu/projects/CompMech/papers/2dnnn.htm

Statistical Mechanics and Information-Theoretic Perspectives on Complexity in the Earth System

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Factorization and escorting in the game-theoretical approach to non-extensive entropy measures

The game-theoretical approach to non-extensive entropy measures of statistical physics is based on an abstract measure of complexity from which the entropy measure is derived in a natural way. A wide class of possible complexity measures is considered and a property of factorization investigated. The property reflects a separation between the system being observed and the observer. Apparently, the property is also related to escorting. It is shown that only those complexity measures which are connected with Tsallis entropy have the factorization property.Comment: 7 pages, revtex4. For NEXT2005 proceeding

The Ambiguity of Simplicity

A system's apparent simplicity depends on whether it is represented classically or quantally. This is not so surprising, as classical and quantum physics are descriptive frameworks built on different assumptions that capture, emphasize, and express different properties and mechanisms. What is surprising is that, as we demonstrate, simplicity is ambiguous: the relative simplicity between two systems can change sign when moving between classical and quantum descriptions. Thus, notions of absolute physical simplicity---minimal structure or memory---at best form a partial, not a total, order. This suggests that appeals to principles of physical simplicity, via Ockham's Razor or to the "elegance" of competing theories, may be fundamentally subjective, perhaps even beyond the purview of physics itself. It also raises challenging questions in model selection between classical and quantum descriptions. Fortunately, experiments are now beginning to probe measures of simplicity, creating the potential to directly test for ambiguity.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, http://csc.ucdavis.edu/~cmg/compmech/pubs/aos.ht

Spectral Simplicity of Apparent Complexity, Part I: The Nondiagonalizable Metadynamics of Prediction

Virtually all questions that one can ask about the behavioral and structural complexity of a stochastic process reduce to a linear algebraic framing of a time evolution governed by an appropriate hidden-Markov process generator. Each type of question---correlation, predictability, predictive cost, observer synchronization, and the like---induces a distinct generator class. Answers are then functions of the class-appropriate transition dynamic. Unfortunately, these dynamics are generically nonnormal, nondiagonalizable, singular, and so on. Tractably analyzing these dynamics relies on adapting the recently introduced meromorphic functional calculus, which specifies the spectral decomposition of functions of nondiagonalizable linear operators, even when the function poles and zeros coincide with the operator's spectrum. Along the way, we establish special properties of the projection operators that demonstrate how they capture the organization of subprocesses within a complex system. Circumventing the spurious infinities of alternative calculi, this leads in the sequel, Part II, to the first closed-form expressions for complexity measures, couched either in terms of the Drazin inverse (negative-one power of a singular operator) or the eigenvalues and projection operators of the appropriate transition dynamic.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables; current version always at http://csc.ucdavis.edu/~cmg/compmech/pubs/sdscpt1.ht