The Asymptotic Distribution of the Scan Statistic Under Uniformity

Abstract

The problem of testing uniformity on [0, 1] against a clustering alternative, is considered. Naus has shown that the generalized likelihood ratio test yields the scan statistic $N(d)$. The asymptotic distribution of $N(d)$ under the null hypothesis of uniformity is considered herein, and related to the version of the scan statistic defined for points from a Poisson process. An application of the above yields distributional results for the supremum of a stationary Gaussian process with a correlation function that is tent-like in shape, until it flattens out at a constant negative value.