Work

Broadcast Channel Cooperative Gain: An Operational Interpretation of Partial Information Decomposition

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Partial information decomposition has recently found applications in biological signal processing and machine learning. Despite its impacts, the decomposition was introduced through an informal and heuristic route, and its exact operational meaning is unclear. In this work, we fill this gap by connecting partial information decomposition to the capacity of the broadcast channel, which has been well studied in the information theory literature. We show that the synergistic information in the decomposition can be rigorously interpreted as the cooperative gain, or a lower bound of this gain, on the corresponding broadcast channel. This interpretation can help practitioners to better explain and expand the applications of the partial information decomposition technique.

Source: Entropy

DOI: 10.3390/e27030310

Authors: Chao Tian, Shlomo Shamai (Shitz)

Institutions: Texas A&M University, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Complex Systems and Dynamics

Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,137

Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft