Related papers: Statistical Issues in Searches for New Physics
A problem of a new physical model test given observed experimental data is a typical one for modern experiments of high energy physics (HEP). A solution of the problem may be provided with two alternative statistical formalisms, namely…
High energy physics aims to understand the fundamental laws of particles and their interactions at both the largest and smallest scales of the universe. This typically means probing very high energies or large distances or using…
We discuss the traditional criterion for discovery in Particle Physics of requiring a significance corresponding to at least 5 sigma; and whether a more nuanced approach might be better.
This paper attempts to classify various blinding strategies used in particle physics. It argues that the blinding technique is not used consistently throughout searches for new physics. More importantly, the blinding technique, in its…
We propose a method to estimate the probability of new physics discovery in future high energy physics experiments. Physics simulation gives both the average numbers $<N_b>$ of background and $<N_s>$ of signal events. We find that the…
We propose a new test statistic based on a score process for determining the statistical significance of a putative signal that may be a small perturbation to a noisy experimental background. We derive the reference distribution for this…
We describe a method for estimation of the discovery potential on new physics in planned experiments. The effective significance of signal for given probability of observation is proposed for planned experiments instead of the usual…
Model-independent searches in particle physics aim at completing our knowledge of the universe by looking for new possible particles not predicted by the current theories. Such particles, referred to as signal, are expected to behave as a…
The answer to the question in the title is: in search of new physics beyond the Standard Model, for which there are many motivations, including the likely instability of the electroweak vacuum, dark matter, the origin of matter, the masses…
At present a number of current or proposed experiments are directed towards a search for a `new physics' by detecting variations of fundamental physical constants or violations of certain basic symmetries. Various problems related to the…
An analytical relationship between the statistical significance of an observed signal and the signal width in case of a large background was obtained. It can help to explain why high-energy experiments may have different conclusions on the…
In Nuclear Physics numerous possibilities exist to investigate fundamental symmetries and interactions. In particular, the precise measurements of properties of fundamental fermions, searches for new interactions in $\beta$-decays, and…
If the quantum mechanical description of reality is not complete and a hidden variable theory is possible, what arises is the problem to explain where the rates of the outcomes of statistical experiments come from, as already noticed by…
These lectures deal with the problem of inductive inference, that is, the problem of reasoning under conditions of incomplete information. Is there a general method for handling uncertainty? Or, at least, are there rules that could in…
Particle physics experiments rely on the (generalised) likelihood ratio test (LRT) for searches and measurements, which consist of composite hypothesis tests. However, this test is not guaranteed to be optimal, as the Neyman-Pearson lemma…
The cleanest way to discover a new particle is generally the "bump-hunt" methodology: looking for a localised excess in a mass (or related) distribution. However, if the mass of the particle being discovered is not known the procedure of…
In high Energy Physics, it is common to look for a localized deviation in data with respect to a given reference. For this task, the well known BumpHunter algorithm allows for a model-independent deviation search with the advantage of…
In almost every scientific field, an experiment involves collecting data and then analysing it. The analysis stage will often consist in trying to extract some physical parameter and estimating its uncertainty; this is known as Parameter…
The experimental issue of the search for new particles of unknown mass poses the challenge of exploring a wide interval to look for the usual signatures represented by excess of events above the background. A side effect of such a broad…
Technological innovations have revolutionized the process of scientific research and knowledge discovery. The availability of massive data and challenges from frontiers of research and development have reshaped statistical thinking, data…