The Search for signals of technological activities in the galaxy

TL;DR

This paper reviews the fundamentals of searching for extraterrestrial signals, emphasizing the importance of civilizations' lifetimes and estimating the likelihood of detecting signals based on the Principle of Mediocrity.

Contribution

It introduces a framework for understanding the success factors in SETI, focusing on civilization lifetimes and probabilistic estimations of signal detection.

Findings

Civilizations' lifetimes are crucial for detection success

Estimated minimum number of co-existing civilizations

Probability of detecting extraterrestrial signals

Abstract

In this article an analysis of the fundamentals used to search for extraterrestrial artificial signals in the galaxy, which have been developing for more than five decades, is presented. It is shown that the key factor for the success of these research projects is given by the technological civilizations lifetimes. Assuming the Principle of Mediocrity, estimations are made to determine the minimum number of civilizations that may co-exist in the galaxy and the probability of detecting a signal from them.