Robust Lifetime Estimation from HPGe Radiation-Sensor Time Series Using Pairwise Ratios and MFV Statistics
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866915745920712704 |
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| author | Golovko, Victor V. |
| author_facet | Golovko, Victor V. |
| contents | High-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray detectors are core instruments in nuclear physics and astrophysics experiments, where long-term stability and reliable extraction of decay parameters are essential. However, the standard exponential decay analyses of the detector time-series data are often affected by the strong correlations between the fitted parameters and the sensitivity to detector-related fluctuations and outliers. In this study, we present a robust analysis framework for HPGe detector decay data based on pairwise ratios and the Steiner's most frequent value (MFV) statistic. By forming point-to-point ratios of background-subtracted net counts, the dependence on the absolute detector response is eliminated, removing the amplitude-lifetime correlation inherent to conventional regression. The resulting pairwise lifetime estimates exhibit heavy-tailed behavior, which is efficiently summarized using the MFV, a robust estimator designed for such distributions. For the case study, a long and stable dataset from an HPGe detector was used. This data was gathered during a low-temperature nuclear physics experiment focused on observing the 216 keV gamma-ray line in 97-Ru. Using measurements spanning approximately 10 half-lives, we obtain a mean lifetime of tau = 4.0959 +/- 0.0007 (stat) +/- 0.0110 (syst) d, corresponding to a half-life of T1/2 = 2.8391 +/- 0.0005 (stat) +/- 0.0076 (syst) d. These results demonstrate that the pairwise-MFV approach provides a robust and reproducible tool for analyzing long-duration HPGe detector data in nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics experiments, particularly for precision decay measurements, detector-stability studies, and low-background monitoring. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_00872 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Robust Lifetime Estimation from HPGe Radiation-Sensor Time Series Using Pairwise Ratios and MFV Statistics Golovko, Victor V. Instrumentation and Detectors Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability High-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray detectors are core instruments in nuclear physics and astrophysics experiments, where long-term stability and reliable extraction of decay parameters are essential. However, the standard exponential decay analyses of the detector time-series data are often affected by the strong correlations between the fitted parameters and the sensitivity to detector-related fluctuations and outliers. In this study, we present a robust analysis framework for HPGe detector decay data based on pairwise ratios and the Steiner's most frequent value (MFV) statistic. By forming point-to-point ratios of background-subtracted net counts, the dependence on the absolute detector response is eliminated, removing the amplitude-lifetime correlation inherent to conventional regression. The resulting pairwise lifetime estimates exhibit heavy-tailed behavior, which is efficiently summarized using the MFV, a robust estimator designed for such distributions. For the case study, a long and stable dataset from an HPGe detector was used. This data was gathered during a low-temperature nuclear physics experiment focused on observing the 216 keV gamma-ray line in 97-Ru. Using measurements spanning approximately 10 half-lives, we obtain a mean lifetime of tau = 4.0959 +/- 0.0007 (stat) +/- 0.0110 (syst) d, corresponding to a half-life of T1/2 = 2.8391 +/- 0.0005 (stat) +/- 0.0076 (syst) d. These results demonstrate that the pairwise-MFV approach provides a robust and reproducible tool for analyzing long-duration HPGe detector data in nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics experiments, particularly for precision decay measurements, detector-stability studies, and low-background monitoring. |
| title | Robust Lifetime Estimation from HPGe Radiation-Sensor Time Series Using Pairwise Ratios and MFV Statistics |
| topic | Instrumentation and Detectors Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.00872 |