Why Are Statistical Significance Maps Used in Cosmic Ray Anisotropy Studies?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the use of statistical significance maps in the study of cosmic ray anisotropy. Participants seek to understand the role and interpretation of these maps in relation to relative intensity maps, particularly in the context of cosmic ray observations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the purpose of statistical significance maps in cosmic ray studies, noting their frequent use alongside relative intensity maps.
  • Another participant requests a reference to a specific map to facilitate understanding.
  • A third participant provides a link to a paper that discusses the maps, mentioning a specific figure that may clarify the concept.
  • One participant speculates that the significance level may relate to the intensity of radiation and observation time, suggesting that a higher significance indicates a greater likelihood that a signal is genuine rather than a background fluctuation. They express uncertainty about the implications of negative significance levels.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion remains unresolved, with participants expressing varying levels of understanding and uncertainty regarding the significance maps and their interpretation.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference specific papers and figures but do not reach a consensus on the interpretation of statistical significance maps or their relationship to relative intensity maps.

vaart
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Dear All,

I have a question regarding the understanding of anisotropy of cosmic rays and how to understand them better. To determine the anisotropy I have seen a lot of papers where they use maps that have a Relative Intensity map and a Statistical significance map of the sky.

I understand the relative intensity map, but I don't understand why the statistical significance maps are used, could some one explain this to me?

Thanks,

caart
 
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Hmmm... do you happen to have a link to one of the maps?
 
Sure, here is a paper that I have been recently reading.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1105.2326
It's figure 3 at page 15.
At section 3.2, they are explained but I don't really understand it yet, they say that they use the Li and Ma paper:
http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1983ApJ...272..317L&defaultprint=YES&filetype=.pdf
 
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I'm actually not certain. At first glance I would think that the significance level depends on the intensity of the radiation and the observation time, with a higher significance corresponding to a higher chance that the signal is real and not a background fluctuation, but I'm not sure why the significance level goes into the negative.
 

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