Issue |
A&A
Volume 616, August 2018
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A25 | |
Number of page(s) | 9 | |
Section | Numerical methods and codes | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201832641 | |
Published online | 07 August 2018 |
Matched filter in low-number count Poisson noise regime: Efficient and effective implementation
1
Chip Computers Consulting s.r.l.,
Viale Don L. Sturzo 82,
S. Liberale di Marcon,
30020
Venice,
Italy
e-mail: robertovio@tin.it
2
ESO,
Karl Schwarzschild strasse 2,
85748
Garching,
Germany
e-mail: pandrean@eso.org
Received:
14
January
2018
Accepted:
15
April
2018
The matched filter (MF) is widely used to detect signals hidden within the noise. If the noise is Gaussian, its performances are well-known and can be described in an elegant analytical form. The treatment of non-Gaussian noises is often cumbersome as in most cases there is no analytical framework. This is true also for Poisson noise which, especially in the low-number count regime, presents the additional difficulty to be discrete. For this reason in the past methods have been proposed based on heuristic or semi-heuristic arguments. Recently, an analytical form of the MF has been introduced but the computation of the probability of false detection or false alarm (PFA) is based on numerical simulations. To overcome this inefficient and time-consuming approach, we propose here an effective method to compute the PFA based on the saddle point approximation (SA). We provide the theoretical framework and support our findings by means of numerical simulations. We also discuss the limitations of the MF in practical applications.
Key words: methods: data analysis / methods: statistical / methods: numerical
© ESO 2018
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