Li and Ma, 1983, Estimating Significance

A python implementation of the equations 9, and 17 proposed by Li and Ma in 1983.

@article{lima1983analysis,
    title={Analysis methods for results in gamma-ray astronomy},
    author={Li, Ti-Pei and Ma, Yu-Qian},
    journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
    volume={272},
    pages={317--324},
    year={1983}
}

The names of the variables are adopted from Li and Ma.

Install

pip install lima1983analysis_sebastian-achim-mueller

Significance S

Estimate the significance S of a detection.

estimate_S_eq9(N_on, N_off, alpha)
estimate_S_eq17(N_on, N_off, alpha)

Signal-Counts N_s

Estimate how much signal-counts N_s are required to claim a detection.

estimate_N_s_eq9(N_off, alpha, S)
estimate_N_s_eq17(N_off, alpha, S, margin=1e-6, max_num_iterations=1000, N_s_start=None)