SINBAD automation of scientific discovery: From factor analysis to theory synthesis

  • Authors:
  • Olcay Kurşun;Oleg V. Favorov

  • Affiliations:
  • School of Computer Science, University of Central Florida, P.O. Box 162362, Orlando, FL 32816-2362, USA (E-mail: kursun@cs.ucf.edu);Department of Biomedical Engineering, CB #7575, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7575, USA (E-mail: favorov@bme.unc.edu)

  • Venue:
  • Natural Computing: an international journal
  • Year:
  • 2004

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Abstract

Modern science is turning to progressively morecomplex and data-rich subjects, whichchallenges the existing methods of dataanalysis and interpretation. Consequently,there is a pressing need for development ofever more powerful methods of extracting orderfrom complex data and for automation of allsteps of the scientific process. VirtualScientist is a set of computational proceduresthat automate the method of inductive inferenceto derive a theory from observational datadominated by nonlinear regularities. Theprocedures utilize SINBAD – a novelcomputational method of nonlinear factoranalysis that is based on the principle ofmaximization of mutual information amongnon-overlapping sources, yielding higher-orderfeatures of the data that reveal hidden causalfactors controlling the observed phenomena. Theprocedures build a theory of the studiedsubject by finding inferentially useful hiddenfactors, learning interdependencies among itsvariables, reconstructing its functionalorganization, and describing it by a concisegraph of inferential relations among itsvariables. The graph is a quantitative model ofthe studied subject, capable of performingelaborate deductive inferences and explainingbehaviors of the observed variables bybehaviors of other such variables anddiscovered hidden factors. The set of Virtual Scientist procedures is a powerfulanalytical and theory-building tool designed tobe used in research of complex scientificproblems characterized by multivariate andnonlinear relations.