학술논문
LBVs and Statistical Inference
Document Type
Working Paper
Source
Subject
Language
Abstract
Smith and Tombleson (2015) asserted that statistical tests disprove the standard view of LBVs, and proposed a far more complex scenario to replace it. But Humphreys et al. (2016) showed that Smith and Tombleson's Magellanic "LBV" sample was a mixture of physically different classes of stars, and genuine LBVs are in fact statistically consistent with the standard view. Smith (2016) recently objected at great length to this result. Here we note that he misrepresented some of the arguments, altered the test criteria, ignored some long-recognized observational facts, and employed inadequate statistical procedures. This case illustrates the dangers of uncareful statistical sampling, as well as the need to be wary of unstated assumptions.