Correcting the Minimization Bias in Searches for Small Signals
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
2009-11-07 v1
Abstract
We discuss a method for correcting the bias in the limits for small signals if those limits were found based on cuts that were chosen by minimizing a criterion such as sensitivity. Such a bias is commonly present when a "minimization" and an "evaluation" are done at the same time. We propose to use a variant of the bootstrap to adjust the limits. A Monte Carlo study shows that these new limits have correct coverage.
Cite
@article{arxiv.hep-ph/0206139,
title = {Correcting the Minimization Bias in Searches for Small Signals},
author = {Wolfgang A. Rolke and Angel M. Lopez},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-ph/0206139},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
14 pages, 5 figues