Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Apr 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003mnras.340.1269e&link_type=abstract
Monthly Notice of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 340, Issue 4, pp. 1269-1278.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
8
Methods: Numerical, Methods: Statistical
Scientific paper
We present improved numerical approximations to the exact Poissonian confidence limits for small numbers n of observed events following the approach of Gehrels. Analytic descriptions of all parameters used in the approximations are provided to allow their straightforward inclusion in computer algorithms for processing of large data sets. Our estimates of the upper (lower) Poisson confidence limits are accurate to better than 1 per cent for n<= 100 and values of S, the derived significance in units of Gaussian standard deviations, of up to 7 (5). In view of the slow convergence of the commonly used Gaussian approximations towards the correct Poissonian values, in particular for higher values of S, we argue that, for n<= 40, Poissonian statistics should be used in most applications, unless errors of the order of, or exceeding, 10 per cent are acceptable.
No associations
LandOfFree
Improved approximations of Poissonian errors for high confidence levels 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 Improved approximations of Poissonian errors for high confidence levels, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Improved approximations of Poissonian errors for high confidence levels will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1540742