For a normal sample of variance , define . The exact chi-squared distribution identity and the central limit theorem for independent squared standard normal random variables implyThe delta method for , with derivative , therefore gives the displayed limit for . Exact independence of the normal sample mean and sample variance also makes independent of . The resulting joint limit supports combining location and scale estimates when a model relates their parameters.
If , the Bartlett-corrected statistic has mean . It is commonly calibrated against a chi-squared distribution with degrees of freedom. Equivalently, to the displayed order, one may multiply by .
Beta sampling by gamma ratios 2026-10-14
Independent gamma distributions and with a common rate yield a Beta distribution . The change of variables , has Jacobian determinant , and factors the joint probability density function into a Beta distribution density in and a gamma distribution density in . In particular, independent chi-squared distributions with and degrees of freedom give the required ratio.
For independent groups each containing independent Bernoulli trials with common probability , the group count has a binomial distribution. If groups have count , the maximum-likelihood estimate is . Form the Pearson chi-squared statistic using . With all categories retained, an interior true parameter, and sufficiently large expected counts, its null limit is a chi-squared distribution with statistical degrees of freedom: one degree is removed by the fixed total and another by fitting . Small expected counts require care with this approximation. If categories are pooled, the fitted parameter and calibration should correspond to the pooled statistical model; simply pooling a statistic after fitting the unpooled model does not automatically give the usual chi-squared limit.
Charge lattice inference from oil drops 2026-10-18
An integer pattern must survive the stated measurement uncertainty. For an original simulated example, choose a reference electric charge , define , and stipulate state meansHere each is an independent standard uncertainty of a state mean, before shared calibration effects. The generator constructs repeated noisy observations with these means; the numbers are deliberately chosen, not historical data. There is no conversion of to coulombs and no measured value of the elementary charge in this example.
For a candidate spacing in units of and proposed integers , use weighted least squares:The last two expressions follow by differentiating the quadratic in and propagating the independent errors. They are conditional on fixed, correct integer assignments and the stated error model. They do not include uncertainty from choosing those assignments. For , they give , , and . Such a small residual is compatible with this chosen error scale; it is not evidence that the errors vanish. A chi-squared distribution interpretation additionally needs the appropriate normal distribution error model and allowance for the fitted parameter; searching many assignments changes that interpretation.
Finite noisy electric charges fit a candidate unit and its subdivisions
. Original calculation for the simulated state means above. Horizontal bars show one standard uncertainty. Both spacings and have exactly the same fitted locations and residuals when the integer labels double. The lower curve minimizes over integers separately at every candidate spacing; a low residual alone cannot identify the elementary charge. Details.The obstruction is identifiability: replacing by for any positive integer leaves every predicted reading unchanged. In particular, an -spaced pattern also fits an lattice using even indices. Even the coarsest well-fitting spacing need not be the physical unit: a dataset containing only even charge states can have twice that unit. Worse, if arbitrarily fine spacings and unrestricted integers are allowed, rounding each givesConsequently a finite fit cannot prove a minimal transferable electric charge. Reproducible smallest observed jumps supply additional evidence; interpreting them as single-carrier transfers requires independent physical support. One visibly abrupt transition could contain several unresolved transfers. In the simulation the successive differences are , , and , each with standard uncertainty . These support changes near conditional on that unit; they equally support units of . Neighboring differences share a state reading and are therefore correlated, even though the state means were stipulated independent.
A shared scale error can preserve every apparent integer relation. To first order, an independent fractional scale standard uncertainty adds to the covariance matrix of the . For the simulation, stipulating changes the conditional uncertainty of to approximately , despite the same residual pattern. Repeating timings cannot average away this common scale contribution. In the uncorrected continuum model in elementary charge, holding the other measured inputs fixed gives , so a small fractional error in air dynamic viscosity causes times that fractional error in inferred electric charge. The gas slip correction to Stokes drag requires its own propagation. Pattern agreement, drop-stability controls and absolute measurement calibration together make the inference persuasive within resolution.
Chi-squared asymptotic approximation 2026-09-29
Many quadratic and likelihood-ratio statistics converge under a regular null hypothesis to a chi-squared distribution. Using its quantiles for a finite sample is accurate when the sample is large relative to the model dimension and expected category counts are not too small.
Suppose is independently calibrated and counts have predicted means under a specified candidate . For independent sufficiently large Poisson counts, the Pearson chi-squared statistic is . With no parameters fitted to these test counts, its approximate reference chi-squared distribution has one degree of freedom per observation. Fitting a continuous to the same data instead removes one residual degree of freedom. Replacing the denominators by observed counts is a common estimated-error approximation but can behave badly at small counts.
Calibration uncertainty also induces correlated prediction errors. First-order propagation of uncertainty givesA generalized quadratic form uses this covariance matrix. For sparse counts use the Poisson deviance or the full count likelihood, with simulation if a calibrated goodness-of-fit probability is required. Choosing a range after inspecting residuals also affects formal test calibration; a physically specified signal-dominated range is preferable when applying a pure attenuation model.
Cochran's Q statistic 2026-10-06
With fixed inverse-variance weights and weighted mean , . Under a common-effect normal model with independent estimates and known variances it has a chi-squared distribution with degrees of freedom. Estimated variances make this calibration approximate.
For a continuous predictor and a categorical factor, an additive Poisson regression with log link has . The log-mean curves are parallel and is constant in . Adding a predictor-by-factor interaction gives , so this ratio becomes . With factor levels, the common-slope restriction has independent constraints. A likelihood-ratio test compares the two deviances with an asymptotic chi-squared distribution on degrees of freedom. Evidence against common slopes establishes varying effects on the log scale; it does not by itself determine their signs or the ordering of the mean curves.
If two independent approximately Gaussian mean lifetime estimates have known standard deviations , equality of their true lifetimes implies that their difference has mean zero and variance . Its squared standardized difference therefore has a one-degree-of-freedom chi-squared distribution, giving the statistic in the title. A chosen significance threshold converts its upper-tail P-value into a compatibility decision.
Testing a fitted decay curve against a fixed numerical lifetime is a different question: that test does not include the external measurement uncertainty. Comparing the two experiments requires both uncertainties or a joint likelihood with a common lifetime. Correlated estimates replace the denominator by .
Confidence ellipsoid Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-14
An ellipsoidal confidence region defined by a positive-definite matrix and a calibrated threshold . For a known-covariance multivariate normal distribution sample, and the quantile of the chi-squared distribution with degrees of freedom give exact coverage for the -dimensional mean.
Deviance goodness-of-fit test Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
For a suitably regular generalized linear model, a residual deviance can be compared approximately with a chi-squared distribution on degrees of freedom to assess fit relative to the saturated model. Sparse or very small expected cell counts can invalidate this reference distribution. A large p-value means no detected lack of fit, not proof of correctness; dependence, wrong mean structure or overdispersion still require diagnostics.
In a normal linear model with residual degrees of freedom , an internally studentized residual satisfies and , provided its leverage is less than one. Choose an orthonormal basis of the residual space with its first direction proportional to the projection of the th coordinate vector. The Gaussian coordinates in this basis are independent standard normal random variables , and . The beta distribution follows from the independent chi-squared distributions of and . The bounded residual is not exactly distributed according to Student's t-distribution; it approaches the standard normal distribution as .
Write . Against an exponential distribution proposal of mean , the chi-squared distribution density has envelope constant . The density ratio divided by is . Thus generate and accept when for independent uniform distributions. The inequality validates the acceptance probability. The accepted probability density function is the target because rejection sampling weights the proposal by its target-to-envelope ratio.
Fixed-mean normal variance test 2026-10-31
For independent observations, testing a fixed variance against larger variances uses the sum of squares . The likelihood ratio for any simple larger variance is strictly increasing in . The Neyman-Pearson lemma therefore gives the displayed rejection rule, where is the chi-squared distribution function with degrees of freedom. Its threshold is independent of the selected larger variance, so it is a uniformly most powerful test for the one-sided composite alternative. Its power function is , increasing continuously from zero to one and equaling at the null. A known nonzero mean is handled by replacing each observation by its difference from that mean.
FPCA mean test 2026-09-24
For covariance eigenpairs , the -coordinate FPCA mean statistic is . Under a zero-mean null and standard estimation conditions, its plug-in version converges to a chi-squared distribution with degrees of freedom.
Grouped Poisson likelihood 2026-10-31
When a Poisson distribution is observed in cells , the last cell probability is a tail sum, not the probability of exactly . With and , telescoping derivatives give . Thus an interior maximum-likelihood estimate solves . Substitution of the estimate into these cell probabilities supplies fitted expected counts for a likelihood-ratio test. With cells and one regular fitted parameter, the asymptotic chi-squared distribution has degrees of freedom. Replacing every grouped tail observation by changes the data model and generally does not give the grouped maximum likelihood estimate.
For independent strata, each containing an contingency table, test independence of the two table variables within every stratum. Under adequate expected counts and the usual multinomial distribution sampling assumptions, each stratum's Pearson chi-squared statistic has asymptotic chi-squared distribution with statistical degrees of freedom. Their sum has asymptotic chi-squared distribution with statistical degrees of freedom, by the additivity of independent chi-squared distributions. This is a test of conditional independence, not of equality of a common effect across strata; the latter needs an interaction contrast or another specified homogeneity test.
Let for independent and identically distributed observations, with having an exponential distribution of unknown scale . Test the null hypothesis within . For nondegenerate data, the likelihood function isMaximizing over the scale gives , and the resulting profile likelihood increases with . Thus the unrestricted maximum-likelihood estimates are and , while the null estimate is . The likelihood ratio is consequently
Under the null, put and . The memoryless property gives independent gamma distributions of shapes and and common scale . For a direct verification, fix which observation is the minimum and write its value as and the other observations as . Their joint density is proportional to , which factors into an exponential density for the minimum and independent exponential densities for the excesses. The minimum's index does not affect the resulting laws of .
By beta sampling by gamma ratios, . ThereforeAn exact test size is obtained by rejecting for . Equivalently,Although the alternative adds one endpoint parameter, a regular one-parameter Wilks theorem calibration is incorrect: the support depends on the endpoint, and the null lies on its boundary. In particular, tends to a chi-squared distribution with two statistical degrees of freedom, not one.
Likelihood-ratio test statistic 2026-09-29
For nested null and alternative parameter spaces, the likelihood-ratio test statistic isUnder the regularity conditions of Wilks theorem, its null limit is a chi-squared distribution whose degrees of freedom equal the difference in model dimensions.
