PyPhi: A toolbox for integrated information theory

• Published in: PLoS computational biology Vol. 14; no. 7; p. e1006343
• Main Authors: Mayner, William G. P., Marshall, William, Albantakis, Larissa, Findlay, Graham, Marchman, Robert, Tononi, Giulio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.07.2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Algorithms; Biology; Computer and Information Sciences; Computer programs; Computer Simulation; Consciousness; Documentation; Dynamical systems; Engineering and Technology; Information Theory; Markov Chains; Mathematical software; Neurosciences; Physical Sciences; Psychiatry; Research and Analysis Methods; Software; Software Design; Source code; Supervision; Technology application; User-Computer Interface; United States > US; Wisconsin
• ISSN: 1553-7358; 1553-734X; 1553-7358
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006343

Integrated information theory provides a mathematical framework to fully characterize the cause-effect structure of a physical system. Here, we introduce PyPhi, a Python software package that implements this framework for causal analysis and unfolds the full cause-effect structure of discrete dynamical systems of binary elements. The software allows users to easily study these structures, serves as an up-to-date reference implementation of the formalisms of integrated information theory, and has been applied in research on complexity, emergence, and certain biological questions. We first provide an overview of the main algorithm and demonstrate PyPhi's functionality in the course of analyzing an example system, and then describe details of the algorithm's design and implementation. PyPhi can be installed with Python's package manager via the command 'pip install pyphi' on Linux and macOS systems equipped with Python 3.4 or higher. PyPhi is open-source and licensed under the GPLv3; the source code is hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/wmayner/pyphi. Comprehensive and continually-updated documentation is available at https://pyphi.readthedocs.io. The pyphi-users mailing list can be joined at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/pyphi-users. A web-based graphical interface to the software is available at http://integratedinformationtheory.org/calculate.html.