Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Galaxy Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2011-07-14
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Galaxy Astrophysics
astro-ph version added upon publication in proceedings of IAU270; 2011IAUS..270..511G
Scientific paper
10.1017/S1743921311000901
We review an approach to observation-theory comparisons we call "Taste-Testing." In this approach, synthetic observations are made of numerical simulations, and then both real and synthetic observations are "tasted" (compared) using a variety of statistical tests. We first lay out arguments for bringing theory to observational space rather than observations to theory space. Next, we explain that generating synthetic observations is only a step along the way to the quantitative, statistical, taste tests that offer the most insight. We offer a set of examples focused on polarimetry, scattering and emission by dust, and spectral-line mapping in starforming regions. We conclude with a discussion of the connection between statistical tests used to date and the physics we seek to understand. In particular, we suggest that the "lognormal" nature of molecular clouds can be created by the interaction of many random processes, as can the lognormal nature of the IMF, so that the fact that both the "Clump Mass Function" (CMF) and IMF appear lognormal does not necessarily imply a direct relationship between them.
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