Multivariate Methods in Particle Physics: Today and Tomorrow
Harrison Bertrand Prosper · 2009
Multivariate methods are used routinely in particle physics research to classify objects or to discriminate signal from background.They have also been used successfully to approximate multivariate functions.Moreover, as is evident from this conference, excellent easy-to-use implementations of these methods exist, making it easy to deploy these methods in data analysis.However, these methods are sophisticated.Therefore, from time to time, it is helpful to step back and reflect on what is being done.That is the aim of this paper.I begin with a review that places these (supervised learning) methods into a broader context and follow this with a survey of a few of the most promising recent developments.I end with an enumeration of what I consider to be the most pressing issues.