Statistics · χ² ↔ p-value ↔ σ

Confidence Levels & Significance

Convert between Δχ², confidence level / p-value (for a chosen number of degrees of freedom), and Gaussian significance in σ. All computed instantly in your browser — no dependencies.

1 · Δχ² for a confidence region

Δχ² ↔ confidence level, for a given number of degrees of freedom

For a χ² fit, the Δχ² above the minimum that encloses a confidence region depends on the number of free parameters (degrees of freedom).

LevelConfidence levelp-valueΔχ²

2 · p-value ↔ σ (Gaussian)

Significance in standard deviations

Convert a p-value (or confidence level) to a Gaussian σ, and back. One-sided is the usual significance / discovery convention (5σ ≈ 2.9×10⁻⁷); two-sided is symmetric about the mean.

Tip: enter a p-value of 2.8665e-7 (one-sided) to recover the 5σ discovery threshold.

Numerics: regularised incomplete gamma (Numerical Recipes) for the χ² CDF, inverse via Wilson–Hilferty + Newton; normal tail and inverse via Acklam's algorithm. Self-tested against canonical values on load (see browser console).