Detecting regularity in point processes generated by humans

Abstract

Detecting minefields in the presence of clutter is an important challenge for the Navy. Mine-fields have point patterns that tend to be regular for a variety of reasons including strategic doctrine, safety, tactical efficiency, and perhaps most intriguing the human element. For example, humans have a tendency to make lottery number selections, a one-dimensional discrete point process, in a non-uniform manner. In this paper, we introduce several simple procedures to detect regularity in point processes.