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Detection Thresholds and Bias Correction in Polarized Intensity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2013

Samuel J. George ,
Jeroen M. Stil  and
Ben W. Keller
Samuel J. George*
Affiliation:
Institute for Space Imaging Science & Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
Jeroen M. Stil
Affiliation:
Institute for Space Imaging Science & Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
Ben W. Keller
Affiliation:
Institute for Space Imaging Science & Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
*
BCorresponding author. Email: samuel@ras.ucalgary.ca
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Abstract

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Detection thresholds in polarized intensity and polarization bias correction are investigated for surveys where the polarization information is obtained from rotation measure (RM) synthesis. Considering unresolved sources with a single RM, a detection threshold of 8 σQU applied to the Faraday spectrum will retrieve the RM with a false detection rate less than 10−4, but polarized intensity is more strongly biased than Ricean statistics suggest. For a detection threshold of 5 σQU, the false detection rate increases to ∼4%, depending also on λ2 coverage and the extent of the Faraday spectrum. Non-Gaussian noise in Stokes Q and U due to imperfect imaging and calibration can be represented by a distribution that is the sum of a Gaussian and an exponential. The non-Gaussian wings of the noise distribution increase the false detection rate in polarized intensity by orders of magnitude. Monte Carlo simulations assuming non-Gaussian noise in Q and U give false detection rates at 8 σQU similar to Ricean false detection rates at 4.9 σQU.

Keywords

polarizationmethods: statisticalmethods: data analysis
Type
Research Article
Information
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , Volume 29 , Special Issue 3: Source Finding and Visualisation , 2012 , pp. 214 - 220
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2012

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