arXiv subjects

Conor Finn

Publications and source records attributed to Conor Finn.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Quantifying synergy and redundancy in multiplex networks

Understanding how different networks relate to each other is key for obtaining a greater insight into complex systems. Here, we introduce an intuitive yet powerful framework to characterise the relationship between two networks comprising the same nodes. We showcase our framework by decomposing the shortest paths between nodes as being contributed uniquely by one or the other source network, or redundantly by either, or synergistically by the two together. Our approach takes into account the networks' full topology, and it also provides insights at multiple levels of resolution: from global statistics, to individual paths of different length. We show that this approach is widely applicable, from brains to the London public transport system. In humans and across 123 other mammalian species, we demonstrate that reliance on unique contributions by long-range white matter fibers is a conserved feature of mammalian structural brain networks. Across species, we also find that efficient communication relies on significantly greater synergy between long-range and short-range fibers than expected by chance, and significantly less redundancy. Our framework may find applications to help decide how to trade-off different desiderata when designing network systems, or to evaluate their relative presence in existing systems, whether biological or artificial.

cs.SI↗

arXiv2021

SherLOCKED: A Detective-themed Serious Game for Cyber Security Education

Gamification and Serious Games are progressively being used over a host of fields, particularly to support education. Such games provide a new way to engage students with content and can complement more traditional approaches to learning. This article proposes SherLOCKED, a new serious game created in the style of a 2D top-down puzzle adventure. The game is situated in the context of an undergraduate cyber security course, and is used to consolidate students' knowledge of foundational security concepts (e.g. the CIA triad, security threats and attacks and risk management). SherLOCKED was built based on a review of existing serious games and a study of common gamification principles. It was subsequently implemented within an undergraduate course, and evaluated with 112 students. We found the game to be an effective, attractive and fun solution for allowing further engagement with content that students were introduced to during lectures. This research lends additional evidence to the use of serious games in supporting learning about cyber security.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2019

Generalised Measures of Multivariate Information Content

The entropy of a pair of random variables is commonly depicted using a Venn diagram. This representation is potentially misleading, however, since the multivariate mutual information can be negative. This paper presents new measures of multivariate information content that can be accurately depicted using Venn diagrams for any number of random variables. These measures complement the existing measures of multivariate mutual information and are constructed by considering the algebraic structure of information sharing. It is shown that the distinct ways in which a set of marginal observers can share their information with a non-observing third party corresponds to the elements of a free distributive lattice. The redundancy lattice from partial information decomposition is then subsequently and independently derived by combining the algebraic structures of joint and shared information content.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2019

IDTxl: The Information Dynamics Toolkit xl: a Python package for the efficient analysis of multivariate information dynamics in networks

The Information Dynamics Toolkit xl (IDTxl) is a comprehensive software package for efficient inference of networks and their node dynamics from multivariate time series data using information theory. IDTxl provides functionality to estimate the following measures: 1) For network inference: multivariate transfer entropy (TE)/Granger causality (GC), multivariate mutual information (MI), bivariate TE/GC, bivariate MI 2) For analysis of node dynamics: active information storage (AIS), partial information decomposition (PID) IDTxl implements estimators for discrete and continuous data with parallel computing engines for both GPU and CPU platforms. Written for Python3.4.3+.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2018

Pointwise Partial Information Decomposition using the Specificity and Ambiguity Lattices

What are the distinct ways in which a set of predictor variables can provide information about a target variable? When does a variable provide unique information, when do variables share redundant information, and when do variables combine synergistically to provide complementary information? The redundancy lattice from the partial information decomposition of Williams and Beer provided a promising glimpse at the answer to these questions. However, this structure was constructed using a much criticised measure of redundant information, and despite sustained research, no completely satisfactory replacement measure has been proposed. In this paper, we take a different approach, applying the axiomatic derivation of the redundancy lattice to a single realisation from a set of discrete variables. To overcome the difficulty associated with signed pointwise mutual information, we apply this decomposition separately to the unsigned entropic components of pointwise mutual information which we refer to as the specificity and ambiguity. This yields a separate redundancy lattice for each component. Then based upon an operational interpretation of redundancy, we define measures of redundant specificity and ambiguity enabling us to evaluate the partial information atoms in each lattice. These atoms can be recombined to yield the sought-after multivariate information decomposition. We apply this framework to canonical examples from the literature and discuss the results and the various properties of the decomposition. In particular, the pointwise decomposition using specificity and ambiguity satisfies a chain rule over target variables, which provides new insights into the so-called two-bit-copy example.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2018

Probability Mass Exclusions and the Directed Components of Pointwise Mutual Information

This paper examines how an event from one random variable provides pointwise mutual information about an event from another variable via probability mass exclusions. We start by introducing probability mass diagrams, which provide a visual representation of how a prior distribution is transformed to a posterior distribution through exclusions. With the aid of these diagrams, we identify two distinct types of probability mass exclusions---namely informative and misinformative exclusions. Then, motivated by Fano's derivation of the pointwise mutual information, we propose four postulates which aim to decompose the pointwise mutual information into two separate informational components: a non-negative term associated with the informative exclusion and a non-positive term associated with the misinformative exclusions. This yields a novel derivation of a familiar decomposition of the pointwise mutual information into entropic components. We conclude by discussing the relevance of considering information in terms of probability mass exclusions to the ongoing effort to decompose multivariate information.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2018

An interview based study of pioneering experiences in teaching and learning Complex Systems in Higher Education

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of complex systems as a field, students studying complex systems at University level have diverse disciplinary backgrounds. This brings challenges (e.g. wide range of computer programming skills) but also opportunities (e.g. facilitating interdisciplinary interactions and projects) for the classroom. However, there is little published regarding how these challenges and opportunities are handled in teaching and learning Complex Systems as an explicit subject in higher education, and how this differs in comparison to other subject areas. We seek to explore these particular challenges and opportunities via an interview-based study of pioneering teachers and learners (conducted amongst the authors) regarding their experiences. We compare and contrast those experiences, and analyse them with respect to the educational literature. Our discussions explored: approaches to curriculum design, how theories/models/frameworks of teaching and learning informed decisions and experience, how diversity in student backgrounds was addressed, and assessment task design. We found a striking level of commonality in the issues expressed as well as the strategies to handle them, for example a significant focus on problem-based learning, and the use of major student-led creative projects for both achieving and assessing learning outcomes.

physics.ed-ph↗