A milestone in the description of complex processes -- for example the ups and downs of share prices -- has been reached by mathematicians at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Holger Dette (stochastics) have developed a new method in spectral analysis, which allows a classical mathematical model assumption, so-called stationarity, to be precisely measured and determined for the first time.

The approach also makes it possible to construct statistical tests that are considerably better and more accurate than previous methods.

The researchers report on their results in the Journal of the American Statistical Association.

Read the full eScience article here: