A genuine test for hyperuniformity

Abstract: We devise the first rigorous significance test for hyperuniformity with sensitive results, even for a single sample. Our starting point is a detailed study of the empirical Fourier transform of a stationary point process on $\mathbb{R}^d$. For large system sizes, we derive the asymptotic covariances and prove a multivariate central limit theorem (CLT). The scattering intensity is then used as the standard estimator of the structure factor. The above CLT holds for a preferably large class of point processes, and whenever this is the case, the scattering intensity satisfies a multivariate limit theorem as well. Hence, we can use the likelihood ratio principle to test for hyperuniformity. Remarkably, the asymptotic distribution of the resulting test statistic is universal under the null hypothesis of hyperuniformity. We obtain its explicit form from simulations with very high accuracy. The novel test precisely keeps a nominal significance level for hyperuniform models, and it rejects non-hyperuniform examples with high power even in borderline cases. Moreover, it does so given only a single sample with a practically relevant system size.