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In the natural sciences, especially in atmospheric and Earth sciences involving applied statistics, an anomaly is a persisting deviation in a physical quantity from its expected value, e.g., the systematic difference between a measurement and a trend or a model prediction. [1]
Mean anomaly, a measure of time in the study of orbital dynamics Pioneer anomaly , the observed deviation of the trajectories of some uncrewed space probes, and especially Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 South Atlantic Anomaly , an area where the Earth's inner Van Allen radiation belt comes closest to the Earth's surface
Henry Bauer, emeritus professor of science studies at Virginia Tech, writes that anomalistics is "a politically correct term for the study of bizarre claims", [5] while David J. Hess of the Department of Science and Technology Studies at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute describes it as being "the scientific study of anomalies defined as ...
Many attempts have been made in the statistical and computer science communities to define an anomaly. The most prevalent ones include the following, and can be categorised into three groups: those that are ambiguous, those that are specific to a method with pre-defined thresholds usually chosen empirically, and those that are formally defined:
Normal science – In this stage, which Kuhn sees as most prominent in science, a dominant paradigm is active. This paradigm is characterized by a set of theories and ideas that define what is possible and rational to do, giving scientists a clear set of tools to approach certain problems.
A global anomaly is the quantum violation of a global symmetry current conservation. A global anomaly can also mean that a non-perturbative global anomaly cannot be captured by one loop or any loop perturbative Feynman diagram calculations—examples include the Witten anomaly and Wang–Wen–Witten anomaly.
Anomalies represent challenges to be puzzled out and solved within the prevailing paradigm. Only if an anomaly or series of anomalies resists successful deciphering long enough and for enough members of the scientific community will the paradigm itself gradually come under challenge during what Kuhn deems a crisis of normal science. [12]
Temperature anomaly is the difference, positive or negative, of a temperature from a base or reference value, normally chosen as an average of temperatures over a certain reference or base period. In atmospheric sciences , the average temperature is commonly calculated over a period of at least 30 years over a homogeneous geographic region, or ...