Information Content of Particle Tracks
- 1 November 1961
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review B
- Vol. 124 (3), 897-903
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrev.124.897
Abstract
The information content of a track is analyzed with respect to the prime track-variable and to the particle velocity on which depends. Quantities are operationally defined that are applicable to emulsion, bubble-chamber or cloud-chamber tracks inclined with arbitrary dip angles. The theory is developed of the projected linear structure of such particle tracks. Previously derived connections between the true value of and measurable track features are reviewed. A new and independent estimate of based on the mean blob length is introduced. The two independent quantities, mean gap length and mean blob length, each yield measurements of . These are combined into an estimate of maximum likelihood. It is argued that in a practical sense this exhausts the information content of the track. The statistical error of this result is evaluated. It is found that correct utilization of the information in the measured blob lengths greatly reduces the error. Suggestions are made regarding technique for the reduction of error in and in particle masses estimated from grain-density measurements.
Keywords
This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Velocity dependence of track density in propane and hydrogen bubble chambersIl Nuovo Cimento (1869-1876), 1961
- Comparison of the mean gap length in Ilford G-5 emulsion with theoryIl Nuovo Cimento (1869-1876), 1960
- Bubble Density in a Propane Bubble ChamberPhysical Review B, 1957
- LXVIII. Measurement of ionization in nuclear emulsionsJournal of Computers in Education, 1955
- The effect of processing on the estimation of ionization by blob-countingIl Nuovo Cimento (1869-1876), 1954
- Theory of Statistical EstimationMathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1925
- A mathematical Examination of the Methods of determining the Accuracy of Observation by the Mean Error, and by the Mean Square ErrorMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1920