On the theory of fluorescence decay experiments. II. Statistics

Abstract

Emission data is assumed to be obtained by monophoton equipment, and analyzed by the method of moments. It is assumed that the random errors result from fluctuations in the number of counts and that the fluctuations are governed by a multinomial distribution. Expressions are obtained for the variance of a decay time, the total number of counts needed to bring the error below a given value, and the total number of counts needed to resolve two closely spaced decays in the presence of other decays.