Related papers: Is the bump significant? An axion-search example
For decades researchers have studied the On/Off counting problem, where a measured rate consists of two parts. One due to a signal process and another due to a background process, of which both magnitudes are unknown. While most frequentist…
Bayesian, classical, and extended maximum likelihood approaches to estimation of upper limits in experiments with small numbers of signal events are surveyed. The discussion covers only experiments whose outcomes are well described by a…
Background properties in experimental particle physics are typically estimated using control samples corresponding to large numbers of events. This can provide precise knowledge of average background distributions, but typically does not…
Under standard assumptions including stationary and serially uncorrelated Gaussian gravitational wave stochastic background signal and noise distributions, as well as homogenous detector sensitivities, the standard cross-correlation…
Unexpected structure in images of astronomical sources often presents itself upon visual inspection of the image, but such apparent structure may either correspond to true features in the source or be due to noise in the data. This paper…
Extensive time-series encoding the position of particles such as viruses, vesicles, or individual proteins are routinely garnered in single-particle tracking experiments or supercomputing studies. They contain vital clues on how viruses…
In this paper we propose a procedure to evaluate Bayesian confidence intervals in counting experiments where both signal and background fluctuations are described by the Poisson statistics. The results obtained when the method is applied to…
A quantum system subjected to a strong continuous monitoring undergoes quantum jumps. This very well known fact hides a neglected subtlety: sharp scale-invariant fluctuations invariably decorate the jump process even in the limit where the…
World record setting has long attracted public interest and scientific investigation. Extremal records summarize the limits of the space explored by a process, and the historical progression of a record sheds light on the underlying…
This document presents the statistical methods used to process low-level measurements in the presence of noise. These methods can be classical or Bayesian. The question is placed in the general framework of the problem of nuisance…
Axion-like particles are an important part of the spectrum of anomalous gauge theories involving modified mechanisms of cancellation of the gauge anomalies. Among these are intersecting brane models, which are characterized by the presence…
The fluctuation in electric current in nonequilibrium steady states is investigated by molecular dynamics simulation of macroscopically uniform conductors. At low frequencies, appropriate decomposition of the spectral intensity of current…
The axion is a well-motivated and generic extension of the Standard Model. If produced in the early universe, axions may still be relativistic today, forming a Cosmic Axion Background (C$a$B) potentially detectable in direct detection…
Despite having been studied for decades, first passage processes remain an active area of research. In this contribution we examine a particle diffusing in an annulus with an inner absorbing boundary and an outer reflective boundary. We…
It is generally known that counting statistics is not correctly described by a Gaussian approximation. Nevertheless, in neutron scattering, it is common practice to apply this approximation to the counting statistics; also at low counting…
Aperiodic variability is a characteristic feature of young stars, massive stars, and active galactic nuclei. With the recent proliferation of time domain surveys, it is increasingly essential to develop methods to quantify and analyze…
Quantum physics holds the promise of enabling certain tasks with better performance than possible when only classical resources are employed. The quantum phenomena present in many experiments signify nonclassical behavior, but do not always…
We study the trajectories followed by a particle subjected to weak noise when escaping from the domain of attraction of a stable fixed point. If detailed balance is absent, a _focus_ may occur along the most probable exit path, leading to a…
Randomized experiments are the gold standard for evaluating the effects of changes to real-world systems. Data in these tests may be difficult to collect and outcomes may have high variance, resulting in potentially large measurement error.…
The Standard Model of particle physics is a $SU(3)_c\times SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y$ gauge theory that can explain the strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions between the particles. The gravitational interaction is described by…