Theoretical Analysis of Resource-Induced Phase Transitions in Estimation Strategies

TL;DR

This paper provides an analytical framework to understand how resource limitations cause phase transitions in optimal estimation strategies in biological systems, revealing mechanisms behind nonmonotonic and discontinuous behaviors.

Contribution

It offers the first analytical characterization of resource-induced phase transitions in estimation strategies, identifying conditions and mechanisms for these phenomena.

Findings

Resource limitations can cause nonmonotonic phase transitions.

Analytical conditions for when resource constraints alter strategies.

Mechanistic explanation for discontinuous and scaling behaviors.

Abstract

Organisms adapt to volatile environments by integrating sensory information with internal memory, yet their information processing is constrained by resource limitations. Such limitations can fundamentally alter optimal estimation strategies in biological systems. For example, recent experiments suggest that organisms exhibit nonmonotonic phase transitions between memoryless and memory-based estimation strategies depending on sensory reliability. However, an analytical understanding of these resource-induced phase transitions is still missing. This Letter presents an analytical characterization of resource-induced phase transitions in optimal estimation strategies. Our result identifies the conditions under which resource limitations alter estimation strategies and analytically reveals the mechanism underlying the emergence of discontinuous, nonmonotonic, and scaling behaviors. These results provide a theoretical foundation for understanding how limited resources shape information processing in biological systems.