Statistical Methodology in Astronomy

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ABSTRACTProfessor Rice proposes research on statistical problems arising in two large astronomical projects: the variable star database of the MACHO project (a search for dark matter in the halo of our galaxy) and Taiwanese American Occultation Survey (TAOS), a search for comets in the Kuiper belt. The first involves statistical characterization and modeling of tens of thousands of light curves from variable stars. He proposes to approach these problems from the viewpoint of functional data analysis, further developing and extending the methodology of this rapidly growing area of statistical research. The TAOS project will monitor star fields for occultations by objects in the Kuiper belt, using dedicated telescopes in the interior mountains of Taiwan. The primary statistical problems center around designing image processing and signal detection procedures that will operate in real time at high sampling rates to detect rare and faint signals. Both projects are anticipated to make valuable contributions to both advancement of knowledge in astronomy and to the development of statistical methodology.This is an interdisciplinary proposal involving mathematical statistics and astronomy, centering around two projects in astronomy: (1) The analysis of a large database of variable stars. These are stars whose light is not constant, but changes in a periodic fashion. Better understanding of this population of stars is important for models of stellar evolution and also for determining distances to remote objects in the universe. (2) The TAOS project will probe our solar system in the remote region beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is thought that there may well be hundreds of millions of objects such as comets there, but because of their relatively small size and remoteness, they are very difficult to detect. Computationally intensive statistical methodology will play a key role in detecting these objects. Partial funding for this project was provided by the Stellar Astronomy and Astrophysics (SAA) Program.