Confidence Intervals for Orbital Parameters Determined Polarimetrically

Details Confidence Intervals for Orbital Parameters Determined Polarimetrically Confidence Intervals for Orbital Parameters Determined Polarimetrically

Mar 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994mnras.267....5w&link_type=abstract

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 267, NO. 1/MAR1, P. 5, 1994

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

17

Polarization - Scattering - Techniques: Polarimetric - Binaries: General

Scientific paper

Aspin, Simmons & Brown and Simmons, Aspin & Brown have shown that the estimate of the inclination of a binary system derived from polarimetric observations becomes increasingly biased with decreasing statistical precision of the data. These authors have also calculated the statistical uncertainty associated with the value of the inclination derived from polarimetric observations for certain binary inclinations. We calculate the light curves of the two normalized Stokes parameters q and u produced by scattering in a binary star system at every 5° in inclination i, equally spaced from 0° to 90°. For each value of i, Gaussian-distributed noise with variance σ-2p and mean zero is added to the calculated q and u, and the resulting Stokes parameters with noise, q′ and u′, are used to determine the statistical distribution of the estimates i′, λ′2 (related to the orbital longitude of the scattering region) and Ω′ (related to the orientation of the major axis of the binary orbit on the plane of the sky). We find that λ′2 and Ω′ are not biased at any value of σp/A (where A is the amplitude of the polarimetric variability) or i, and are the best estimates of λ2 and Ω. For each value of σp/A, we then invert these results to estimate the confidence intervals on the derived parameters in the initial parameter space in which the calculations were done without noise, i.e. in the parameter space of the binary system observed with infinite precision. We present our findings graphically, showing confidence intervals on i, λ2 and Ω given i′ for several values of σp/A ranging from 0.01 to 0.70. These results are then applied to previously published results derived from polarimetric observations.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Confidence Intervals for Orbital Parameters Determined Polarimetrically does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Confidence Intervals for Orbital Parameters Determined Polarimetrically, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Confidence Intervals for Orbital Parameters Determined Polarimetrically will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1585302