Tests of fit for the von Mises distribution

Abstract

Critical points for the asymptotic distribution of Watson's U 2 statistic are given for testing the hypothesis that a sample comes from the two-parameter von Mises distribution on the circle when one or more of the parameters is unknown. Monte Carlo results show that convergence to the asymptotic distribution is quick. Dependence of the points on the shape parameter is discussed and seen not to cause any problems.