Work

Statistical Dark Matter: Synergy is everywhere but is hard to capture

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: The information-theoretic construct of synergy refers to the statistical structure that is contained in three or more variables, but not in any subset of them. Here we leverage recent advances in multivariate information theory to show that synergy is far more prevalent in complex systems than previously thought. In particular, we show that many-body systems tend to become strongly dominated by synergy as the number of subcomponents grows. At the same time, our results also reveal that commonly used tools for statistical modelling severely underestimate synergistic structures. These findings imply that synergy constitutes a prevalent, yet often invisible, informational component of complex systems. With a certain poetic licence, we interpret these results as suggesting that synergy is the dark matter of statistics - interdependencies that we know exist, but standard instruments fail to detect.

Source: arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2610.03764

Authors: Liardi, Alberto, Rosas, Fernando E., Marinazzo, Daniele, Varley, Thomas F., Gastpar, Michael, Mediano, Pedro A. M.

Institutions: Imperial College London, Ghent University, University of Vermont, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, University College London

Language: English

Topic: Complex Systems and Dynamics

Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: European Commission, Ad Astra Chandaria Foundation, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme

Award: Developments on the relevance of SYNERGistic INFOrmation sharing modes

OpenAlex ID: W7220686317

Cites: 7

Cited by: 1

Related to: 10