entropyRate: Entropy rate of a Markov chain

In markovchain: Easy Handling Discrete Time Markov Chains

Entropy rate of a Markov chain

Description

Computes the entropy rate of a finite, irreducible discrete-time Markov chain from its stationary distribution and transition matrix.

Usage

entropyRate(object, base = 2)

## S4 method for signature 'markovchain'
entropyRate(object, base = 2)

Arguments

object	A markovchain object representing a finite, irreducible discrete-time Markov chain.
base	A finite numeric scalar strictly greater than one. The default, 2, returns entropy in bits per transition. Use exp(1) for nats per transition.

Details

For a row-stochastic transition matrix P and stationary distribution \pi, the entropy rate is

H = -\sum_i \pi_i \sum_j p_{ij}\log_b(p_{ij}),

with zero-probability transitions contributing zero by continuity.

For a stationary first-order Markov chain, the entropy rate equals the conditional entropy H(X_{t+1}\mid X_t). Irreducibility guarantees a unique stationary distribution; aperiodicity is not required.

Reducible chains may admit multiple stationary distributions and therefore different entropy rates. This method rejects them rather than silently selecting one stationary distribution.

Transitions with probability zero are ignored, implementing the standard convention 0\log(0)=0 without evaluating log(0).

The stationary-distribution computation dominates the running time. Once the stationary distribution is available, evaluating the entropy rate takes O(n^2) time and O(n^2) temporary memory for a dense n-state transition matrix.

Value

A non-negative numeric scalar containing the entropy rate in units determined by base.

References

Cover, T. M. and Thomas, J. A. (2006). Elements of Information Theory, 2nd edition. Wiley.

Strelioff, C. C., Crutchfield, J. P. and Huebler, A. W. (2007). Inferring Markov chains: Bayesian estimation, model comparison, entropy rate, and out-of-class modeling. Physical Review E, 76, 011106.

See Also

steadyStates, is.irreducible

Examples

statesNames <- c("a", "b")
mc <- new("markovchain",
  states = statesNames,
  transitionMatrix = matrix(c(0.7, 0.3, 0.1, 0.9),
    byrow = TRUE, nrow = 2,
    dimnames = list(statesNames, statesNames)))
entropyRate(mc)
entropyRate(mc, base = exp(1))

markovchain documentation built on Oct. 10, 2026, 9:07 a.m.