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The MAP test for multimodality

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We introduce a test for detecting multimodality in distributions based on minimal constrained spanning trees. We define a Minimal Ascending Path Spanning Tree (MAPST) on a set of points as a spanning tree that has the minimal possible sum of lengths of links with the constraint that starting from any link, the lengths of the links are non-increasing towards a root node. We define similarly MAPSTs with more than one root. We present some algorithms for finding such trees. Based on these trees, we devise a test for multimodality, called the MAP Test (for Minimal Ascending Path). Using simulations, we estimate percentage points of the MAP statistic and assess the power of the test. Finally, we illustrate the use of MAPSTs for determining the number of modes in a distribution of positions of galaxies on photographic plates from a rich galaxy cluster.

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  1. Gregory Paul M. Rozál & J. A. Hartigan

    Present address: Department of Statistics, Yale University, 24 Hillhouse Avenue, 06520-2179, New Haven, CT

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    1. Gregory Paul M. Rozál
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    2. J. A. Hartigan
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    Rozál, G.P.M., Hartigan, J.A. The MAP test for multimodality. Journal of Classification 11, 5–36 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01201021

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01201021

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