A new test of uniformity for object orientations in astronomy

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new coordinate-invariant statistical test designed to analyze the uniformity of object orientations, such as polarization vectors or spin-axes, in astronomical data on the celestial sphere.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel statistical test that is coordinate-invariant and specifically tailored for studying the distribution of orientations in astronomical sources.

Findings

Test effectively detects non-uniformity in orientations.

Applicable to polarization vectors and spin-axes.

Enhances analysis of celestial source distributions.

Abstract

We briefly present a new coordinate-invariant statistical test dedicated to the study of the orientations of transverse quantities of non-uniformly distributed sources on the celestial sphere. These quantities can be projected spin-axes or polarization vectors of astronomical sources.