http://arxiv.org/abs/1807.01595
The detection of signals hidden in noise is one of the oldest and common problems in astronomy. Various solutions have been proposed such as the parametric approaches based on the least-squares fit of theoretical templates or the non-parametric techniques as the phase-folding method. Most of them, however, are suited only for signals with specific time evolution. For generic signals the spectral approach, based on the periodogram, is potentially the most effective. In astronomy the main problem in adopting such an approach is that often the sampling time grid of the signals is irregular. This complicates the efficient computation of the periodogram (the fast Fourier transform cannot be used) and the determination of its statistical characteristics. The Lomb-Scargle periodogram (LSP) solves this last important issue. However, the weakness of this technique is that it is neither intuitive nor transparent. Moreover, the LSP provides a distorted version of the true periodogram. This results in theoretical as well practical issues with no easy solution. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach which has the advantage to work with the true periodograms and hence it is easier to deal with from both the theoretical and the practical point of view.
R. Vio and P. Andreani
Thu, 5 Jul 18
45/60
Comments: Three pages and three figures, comments are welcome