Score-Based Causal Discovery with Temporal Background Information (2502.06232v2)

Abstract: Temporal background information can improve causal discovery algorithms by orienting edges and identifying relevant adjustment sets. We develop the Temporal Greedy Equivalence Search (TGES) algorithm and terminology essential for score-based causal discovery with tiered background knowledge. TGES learns a restricted Markov equivalence class of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) using observational data and tiered background knowledge. To construct TGES we formulate a scoring criterion that accounts for tiered background knowledge. We establish theoretical results for TGES, stating that the algorithm always returns a tiered maximally oriented partially directed acyclic graph (tiered MPDAG) and that this tiered MPDAG contains the true DAG in the large sample limit. We present a simulation study indicating a gain from using tiered background knowledge and an improved precision-recall trade-off compared to the temporal PC algorithm. We provide a real-world example on life-course health data.