Maximum-likelihood regression with systematic errors for astronomy and the physical sciences: I. Methodology and goodness-of-fit statistic of Poisson data

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bonamente, Max, Chen, Yang, Zimmerman, Dale
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Bonamente, Max
Chen, Yang
Zimmerman, Dale
author_facet Bonamente, Max
Chen, Yang
Zimmerman, Dale
contents The paper presents a new statistical method that enables the use of systematic errors in the maximum-likelihood regression of integer-count Poisson data to a parametric model. The method is primarily aimed at the characterization of the goodness-of-fit statistic in the presence of the over-dispersion that is induced by sources of systematic error, and is based on a quasi-maximum-likelihood method that retains the Poisson distribution of the data. We show that the Poisson deviance, which is the usual goodness-of-fit statistic and that is commonly referred to in astronomy as the Cash statistics, can be easily generalized in the presence of systematic errors, under rather general conditions. The method and the associated statistics are first developed theoretically, and then they are tested with the aid of numerical simulations and further illustrated with real-life data from astronomical observations. The statistical methods presented in this paper are intended as a simple general-purpose framework to include additional sources of uncertainty for the analysis of integer-count data in a variety of practical data analysis situations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_12132
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Maximum-likelihood regression with systematic errors for astronomy and the physical sciences: I. Methodology and goodness-of-fit statistic of Poisson data
Bonamente, Max
Chen, Yang
Zimmerman, Dale
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Methodology
The paper presents a new statistical method that enables the use of systematic errors in the maximum-likelihood regression of integer-count Poisson data to a parametric model. The method is primarily aimed at the characterization of the goodness-of-fit statistic in the presence of the over-dispersion that is induced by sources of systematic error, and is based on a quasi-maximum-likelihood method that retains the Poisson distribution of the data. We show that the Poisson deviance, which is the usual goodness-of-fit statistic and that is commonly referred to in astronomy as the Cash statistics, can be easily generalized in the presence of systematic errors, under rather general conditions. The method and the associated statistics are first developed theoretically, and then they are tested with the aid of numerical simulations and further illustrated with real-life data from astronomical observations. The statistical methods presented in this paper are intended as a simple general-purpose framework to include additional sources of uncertainty for the analysis of integer-count data in a variety of practical data analysis situations.
title Maximum-likelihood regression with systematic errors for astronomy and the physical sciences: I. Methodology and goodness-of-fit statistic of Poisson data
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.12132