A Variation of the Algorithm to Achieve the Maximum Entropy for Belief Functions

Abstract

Evidence theory (TE), based on imprecise probabilities, is often more appropriate than the classical theory of probability (PT) to apply in situations with inaccurate or incomplete information. The quantification of the information that a piece of evidence involves is a key issue in TE. Shannon’s entropy is an excellent measure in the PT for such purposes, being easy to calculate and fulfilling a wide set of properties that make it axiomatically the best one in PT. In TE, a similar role is played by the maximum of entropy (ME), verifying a similar set of properties. The ME is the unique measure in TE that has such axiomatic behavior. The problem of the ME in TE is its complex computational calculus, which makes its use problematic in some situations. There exists only one algorithm for the calculus of the ME in TE with a high computational cost, and this problem has been the principal drawback found with this measure. In this work, a variation of the original algorithm is presented. It is shown that with this modification, a reduction in the necessary steps to attain the ME can be obtained because, in each step, the power set of possibilities is reduced with respect to the original algorithm, which is the key point of the complexity found. This solution can provide greater applicability of this measure.