infomeasure: a comprehensive Python package for information theory measures and estimators

Information theory, i.e. the mathematical analysis of information and of its processing, has become a tenet of modern science; yet, its use in real-world studies is usually hindered by its computational complexity, the lack of coherent software frameworks, and, as a consequence, low reproducibility. We here introduce infomeasure, an open-source Python package designed to provide robust tools for calculating a wide variety of information-theoretic measures, including entropies, mutual information, transfer entropy and divergences. It is designed for both discrete and continuous variables; implements state-of-the-art estimation techniques; and allows the calculation of local measure values, p-values and t-scores. By unifying these approaches under one consistent framework, infomeasure aims to mitigate common pitfalls, ensure reproducibility, and simplify the practical implementation of information-theoretic analyses. In this contribution, we explore the motivation and features of infomeasure; its validation, using known analytical solutions; and exemplify its utility in a case study involving the analysis of human brain time series.

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Publication Details

Journal
Scientific Reports
Published
2025-08-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14053-5
Citations
5
Primary Topic
Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
15.66

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article

infomeasure: a comprehensive Python package for information theory measures and estimators

Carlson Moses Büth, Massimiliano Zanin, Kishor Acharya
5 citations
Scientific Reports
Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis
15.66
article

infomeasure: a comprehensive Python package for information theory measures and estimators

Carlson Moses Büth, Massimiliano Zanin, Kishor Acharya
article en
5 citations

Abstract

Information theory, i.e. the mathematical analysis of information and of its processing, has become a tenet of modern science; yet, its use in real-world studies is usually hindered by its computational complexity, the lack of coherent software frameworks, and, as a consequence, low reproducibility. We here introduce infomeasure, an open-source Python package designed to provide robust tools for calculating a wide variety of information-theoretic measures, including entropies, mutual information, transfer entropy and divergences. It is designed for both discrete and continuous variables; implements state-of-the-art estimation techniques; and allows the calculation of local measure values, p-values and t-scores. By unifying these approaches under one consistent framework, infomeasure aims to mitigate common pitfalls, ensure reproducibility, and simplify the practical implementation of information-theoretic analyses. In this contribution, we explore the motivation and features of infomeasure; its validation, using known analytical solutions; and exemplify its utility in a case study involving the analysis of human brain time series.

Scientific ReportsVol. 15(1)
Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems (ES)
European Commission, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, H2020 European Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis
15.66
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