Minuit is conceived as a tool to find the minimum value of a multi-parameter function and analyze the shape of the function around the minimum. The principal application is foreseen for statistical analysis, working on chisquare or log-likelihood functions, to compute the best-fit parameter values and uncertainties, including correlations between the parameters. It is especially suited to handle difficult problems, including those which may require guidance in order to find the correct solution.
Although Minuit will of course solve easy problems faster than complicated ones, it is not intended for the repeated solution of identically parametrized problems (such as track fitting in a detector) where a specialized program will in general be much more efficient.
In this manual examples are in monotype face and strings to be input by the user are underlined. In the index the page where a routine is defined is in bold, page numbers where a routine is referenced are in normal type. In the description of the routines a * following the name of a parameter indicates that this is an output parameter. If another * precedes a parameter in the calling sequence, the parameter in question is both an input and output parameter.
This document has been produced using LaTeX [1] with the cernman style option, developed at CERN. A compressed PostScript file minuit.ps.gz, containing a complete printable version of this manual, can be obtained from any CERN machine by anonymous ftp as follows (commands to be typed by the user are underlined):
ftp asis01.cern.ch
Trying 128.141.201.136...
Connected to asis01.cern.ch.
220 asis01 FTP server (Version 6.10 ...) ready.
Name (asis01:username): anonymous
Password: your_mailaddress
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> cd cernlib/doc/ps.dir
ftp> get minuit.ps
ftp> quit