An adaptive-binning method for generating constant-uncertainty/constant-significance light curves with Fermi-LAT data

Autor: Lott, B., Escande, L., Larsson, S., Ballet, J.
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Druh dokumentu: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201218873
Popis: We present a method enabling the creation of constant-uncertainty/constant-significance light curves with the data of the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT). The adaptive-binning method enables more information to be encapsulated within the light curve than with the fixed-binning method. Although primarily developed for blazar studies, it can be applied to any sources. This method allows the starting and ending times of each interval to be calculated in a simple and quick way during a first step. The reported mean flux and spectral index (assuming the spectrum is a power-law distribution) in the interval are calculated via the standard LAT analysis during a second step. The absence of major caveats associated with this method has been established by means of Monte-Carlo simulations. We present the performance of this method in determining duty cycles as well as power-density spectra relative to the traditional fixed-binning method.
Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to A&A
Databáze: arXiv