Nonlinear independent component analysis and multivariate time series analysis

We derive an information-theory-based unsupervised learning paradigm for nonlinear independent component analysis (NICA) with neural networks. We demonstrate that under the constraint of bounded and invertible output transfer functions the two main goals of unsupervised learning, redundancy reduction and maximization of the transmitted information between input and output (Infomax-principle), are equivalent. No assumptions are made concerning the kind of input and output distributions, i.e. the kind of nonlinearity of correlations. An adapted version of the general NICA network is used for the modeling of multivariate time series by unsupervised learning. Given time series of various observables of a dynamical system, our net learns their evolution in time by extracting statistical dependencies between past and present elements of the time series. Multivariate modeling is obtained by making present value of each time series statistically independent not only from their own past but also from the past of the other series. Therefore, in contrast to univariate methods, the information lying in the couplings between the observables is also used and a detection of higher-order cross correlations is possible. We apply our method to time series of the two-dimensional Henon map and to experimental time series obtained from the measurements of axial velocities in different locations in weakly turbulent Taylor-Couette flow.