Systematic Errors in High-Energy Astrophysics

Abstract

Systematic errors are a crucial component of astronomical inference. In high-energy astrophysics, a great deal of effort is spent to minimize their effect, and analysis methods have matured over the years to automatically include high-quality calibration. However, calibration products are generally used as perfect representations of the instruments, and inherent uncertainties in their generation, both statistical and systematic, are ignored. We have developed a methodology by which such errors can be incorporated into analyses, via a modification of the MCMC process. Here we describe some recent developments by the Chandra calibration team to define, construct, and communicate the magnitude and characteristics of systematic calibration uncertainties. Our procedure can be generalized to incorporate different methods of defining the uncertainties.