THE MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS OF TRIPLE CORRELATIONS

Abstract

The measurement and analysis of the intensity–direction correlation of gamma rays emitted in cascade following heavy-particle capture are treated. A procedure is discussed which is based upon the expansion of the triple-correlation intensity in terms of the set of angular functions orthogonal over the space of the emission (or absorption) directions. This is in contrast to the usual method which expresses the correlation in terms of Legendre polynomials. In the analysis procedure proposed, the population parameters are found directly from the original data, with the gamma-radiation mixing ratios assigned. The least-squares equations representing the best fit to the data contain the population parameters linearly and are solved by a standard computer program which also gives the value of χ2. The true solution is then found by varying the mixing ratios until a minimum in χ2 is reached. In addition to the determination of the population parameters of the decaying state and the mixing ratios of the gamma rays in the cascade, the calculation of the error matrix of these quantities, and the calculation of the formation parameters in simple capture, are described.