CDF Statistics Web Page

Who We Are Software Examples Wisdom & Techniques CDF Notes on Statistics Minutes Other Statistical References

We encourage input from members of the collaboration. Feel free to email the Statistics Committee with any comments or suggestions you may have.

We also welcome any questions (no matter how large or small) on statistical issues related to High Energy Physics Analyses.

Software Examples

• POILIM is the "standard" tool used by the CDF Exotics group to set confidence level limits in single-channel counting experiments. It is described in CDF Note 4476 and the FORTRAN code, poilim.f, is readily available. A companion programme, bayes.f, calculates similar upper limits using a flat prior probability.

• POISSON is a program found in the P_U area of the Run I Offline code (use Version_7_12). It calculates upper limits assuming poisson statistics and folding in systematic uncertainties. It can accommodate background estimates, uncertainties on backgrounds (assuming Gaussian distributions), and uncertainties on overall normalization factors (such as efficiency and acceptance).

• CALCCL is a program found in the P_U area of the Run I Offline code (user Version_7_12). It calculates 90 and 95% upper limit confidence level limits on likelihood distributions, folding in any additional Gaussian uncertainties on normalization factors. This was the code used to set the upper limits on ttbar production and decay to the electron+jets final state in the 1988-89 CDF data sample.

Wisdom and Recommended Techniques

• Systematic Uncertainties:

  • Craig Blocker's draft note on systematic uncertainties (March 2001) [ps] [pdf]
  • Systematic Uncertainties in the CDF Sin(2 beta) Measurement, Craig Blocker (May 2001) [ps] [pdf]
  • What is Systematics, Giovanni Punzi (March 2001).
  • Roger Barlow's SLAC User's Organization talk on Systematic Uncertainties

• Selecting Hypotheses:

  • Comparing Two Hypotheses, Louis Lyons (August 1999).

• Planned Future Contributions:

  • Setting Limits
    • A review for Rev. Mod. Phys. being written by Louis Lyons will be shortly available.
  • Significance of Signals
  • Unsmearing Techniques
  • Likelihoods
    • A note by Luc Demortier and Louis Lyons will shortly be available.
  • Pulls

CDF Notes on Statistical Issues

There are a variety of CDF Notes on statistical issues. Please contact us if you have additions to this list.

Committee Presentations and Meeting Minutes

• John Conway's presentation on possible committee recommendations (14 Jun 01)

Other Statistical References

• A introductory statistics course given by Dean Karlen, Carleton University.

• The Particle Data Book

• The BaBar Statistics Working Group

• The CERN Confidence Limits Workshop, January 2000

• John Conway's talk and proceedings contribution to the CERN Confidence Limits Workshop

• The FNAL Confidence Limits Workshop, March 2000

• The Data Analysis Briefbook, a good glossary of statistical terms

• The SLAC User's Organization Lectures on Statistics, Aug-Sep 2000

This site is maintained by Pekka Sinervo.
Last updated 11 June 2001.