A precise calculation of delayed coincidence selection efficiency and accidental coincidence rate**Supported by Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2013CB834302), National Natural Science Foundation of China (11235006, 11475093), Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program (2012Z02161), and Key Laboratory of Particle & Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education.

Abstract

A precise background evaluation model is proposed to address the complex data structure of the delayed coincidence method, which is widely used in reactor electron-antineutrino oscillation experiments. In this model, effects from the muon veto, uncorrelated random background, and background are all studied analytically, simplifying the estimation of the systematic uncertainties of signal efficiency and accidental background rate. The results of the calculations are validated numerically with a number of simulation studies and also applied and validated in the recent Daya Bay hydrogen-capture based oscillation measurement.