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Frank C. Porter

Publications and source records attributed to Frank C. Porter.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Confidence intervals for the Poisson distribution

The Poisson probability distribution is frequently encountered in physical science measurements. In spite of the simplicity and familiarity of this distribution, there is considerable confusion among physicists concerning the description of results obtained via Poisson sampling. The goal of this paper is to mitigate this confusion by examining and comparing the properties of both conventional and popular alternative techniques. We concern ourselves in particular with the description of results, as opposed to interpretation. After considering performance with respect to several desirable properties we recommend summarizing the results of Poisson sampling with confidence intervals proposed by Garwood. We note that the p-values obtained from these intervals are well-behaved and intuitive, providing for consistent treatment. We also find that averaging intervals can be problematic if the underlying Poisson distributions are not used.

physics.data-an↗
arXiv2016

Experimental Status of the CKM Matrix

The CKM matrix, V, relates the quark mass and flavor bases. In the standard model, V is unitary 3X3, and specified by four arbitrary parameters, including a phase allowing for $CP$ violation. We review the experimental determination of V, including the four parameters in the standard model context. This is an active field; the precision of experimental measurements and theoretical inputs continues to improve. The consistency of the determination with the standard model unitarity is investigated. While there remain some issues the overall agreement with standard model unitarity is good.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2013

Global CKM Fits with the Scan Method

We present results of a unitary triangle fit based on the scan method. This frequentist approach employs Gaussian uncertainties for experimental quantities, but makes no arbitrary assumptions about the distribution of theoretical errors. Instead, we perform a large number of fits, scanning over regions of plausible theory errors for each quantity, and retain those fits meeting a specific confidence level criterion, thereby constraining the $\bar ρ- \bar η$ plane using the standard input measurements (CKM matrix elements, $\sin2 β, B^0_{d,s}$ mixing, $ε_K$) as well as branching fraction and \CP asymmetry measurements of B decays to $PP, PV, VV$, and $a_1 P$ final states to determine $α$, $D^{(*)}K^{(*)}$ modes to determine $γ$, and $D^{(*)}π$ and $Dρ$ modes to determine $2β+γ$. We parameterize individual decay amplitudes in terms of color-allowed tree, color-suppressed tree, penguin, singlet penguin, electroweak penguin, as well as $W$-exchange and $W$-annihilation amplitudes. With this parameterization, we obtain a good fit to the measured branching fractions and \CP asymmetries within the Standard Model {\it ansatz}, with no new physics contributions. This simultaneous fit allows us to determine the correlation between $α$ and $β$ as well as between $γ$ and $β$.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2013

Hadron production in e+e- annihilation at BaBar, and implication for the muon anomalous magnetic moment

The BaBar collaboration has an extensive program of studying hadronic cross sections in low-energy e+e- collisions, accessible via initial-state radiation. Our measurements allow significant improvements in the precision of the predicted value of the muon anomalous magnetic moment. These improvements are necessary for illuminating the current ~3.6 sigma difference between the predicted and the experimental values. We have published results on a number of processes with two to six hadrons in the final state. We report here the results of recent studies with final states that constitute the main contribution to the hadronic cross section in the energy region between 1 and 3 GeV, as e+e- to K+K-, pi+pi-, and e+e- to 4 hadrons.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2008

Testing Consistency of Two Histograms

Several approaches to testing the hypothesis that two histograms are drawn from the same distribution are investigated. We note that single-sample continuous distribution tests may be adapted to this two-sample grouped data situation. The difficulty of not having a fully-specified null hypothesis is an important consideration in the general case, and care is required in estimating probabilities with ``toy'' Monte Carlo simulations. The performance of several common tests is compared; no single test performs best in all situations.

physics.data-an↗
arXiv2003

The New Narrow "D_s" States -- A Minireview

The experimental status concerning the two new narrow states with charm-strange content is reviewed. The states have masses of 2317 and 2460 MeV, widths less than 10 MeV, isospin consistent with zero, and spin-parities consistent with being 0^+ and 1^+, respectively. Although the masses are lower than the conventional expectation, these states appear to be the j=1/2 P-wave levels of the D_s system, where j is the light quark angular momentum; there may be mixing with the j=3/2 level for the 1^+ state.

hep-ex↗