Signal Significance in Particle Physics
High Energy Physics - Experiment
2007-05-23 v1
Abstract
The concept of the "statistical significance" of an observation, and how it is used in particle physics experiments is reviewed. More properly known as a "p-value," the statistical foundations for this concept are reviewed from a freqentist perspective. The discovery of the top quark at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider and a more recent analysis of data recorded at Fermilab are used to illustrate practical applications of these concepts.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.hep-ex/0208005,
title = {Signal Significance in Particle Physics},
author = {Pekka K. Sinervo},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-ex/0208005},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
To be published in the proceedings of the conference "Advanced Statistical Techniques in Particle Physics", Durham, England (18-22 Mar 2002)