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Is It Safe to Use Poisson Statistics in Nuclear Spectrometry?

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Abstract

The boundary conditions in which Poisson statistics can be applied in nuclear spectrometry are investigated. Improved formulas for the uncertainty of nuclear counting with deadtime and pulse pileup are presented. A comparison is made between the expected statistical uncertainty for loss-free counting, fixed live-time and fixed real-time measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SCK·CEN, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Boeretang 200, B-2400, Mol, Belgium

    S. Pommé

  2. Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Retieseweg, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, B-2440, Geel, Belgium

    P. Robouch, G. Arana, M. Eguskiza & M. I. Maguregui

Authors
  1. S. Pommé
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  2. P. Robouch
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  3. G. Arana
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  4. M. Eguskiza
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  5. M. I. Maguregui
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Pommé, S., Robouch, P., Arana, G. et al. Is It Safe to Use Poisson Statistics in Nuclear Spectrometry?. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 244, 501–506 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006770612213

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006770612213

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