Mixture Models in Astronomy

Understand

Mixture models combine multiple components into a single probability density function.

• They are a natural statistical model for many situations in astronomy, such as surveys containing multiple types of objects, cluster analysis in various data spaces, and complicated distribution functions.
• This chapter in the CRC Handbook of Mixture Analysis is concerned with astronomical applications of mixture models for cluster analysis, classification, and semi-parametric density estimation.
• We present several classification examples from the literature, including identification of a new class, analysis of contaminants, and overlapping populations.