Utilizing time-series measurements for entropy production estimation in partially observed systems

Abstract

Estimating the dissipation, or the entropy production rate (EPR), can provide insights into the underlying mechanisms of nonequilibrium driven processes. Experimentally, however, only partial information can be accessed, and the ability to estimate the EPR varies depending on the available data. Here, we test different degrees of observed information stemming from coarse-grained time-series trajectory data, and apply several EPR estimators. Given increasing amount of information, we show a hierarchy of lower bounds on the total EPR. Further, we present a novel approach for utilizing waiting times in hidden states to provide a tighter lower bound on the total EPR.