Nuclear Instruments and Methods. Vol. 161 pp. 141-145

Estimation for the Parameters of the TOF Spectrum and Measures for the Gain of Correlation Method

Laszlo Cser and Laszlo J. Naszodi

Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, U.S.S.R.

Abstract: A straightforward method is introduced for the data evaluation of correlation measurements. Its advantages over the usual two-step procedure (decorrelation and fitting) are discussed. With the help of the obtained variance-covariance matrix new measures are proposed for the gain of the correlation time-of-flight method compared to the conventional one. These measures are related to the relative accuracy of the final estimated parameters of the spectrum. The optimization of parameters of the chopping sequence is also discussed. Since the problem involves calculations of determinants of large matrices, a new analytical solution is provided which eliminates time consuming computations.