Method of identification of a fluctuating emitter under the conditions of inadequate statistical coverage of measurements

Abstract

The natural fluctuations of a radiation field have an amplitude that stands at the limit of the sensitivity of modern detectors; it is therefore necessary to enhance the statistical coverage of the detection process. This is usually accomplished by counting over a sufficiently large column of the phase space of the field. The statistical coverage of measurements in such intervals is extremely low, however, and the solution of the identification problem thus requires that the most representative parameter of the appearance of fluctuations be selected and that it be optimally averaged over the entire volume of the phase space. In this paper, such a parameter is chosen on the basis of the principle of synchronous manifestation of fluctuations in phase space. As an example the authors identify, using this parameter, natural fluctuations of the cosmic and bismuth components of gamma radiation of the atmosphere over water, carried out using NaI detectors. A similar method is employed for K 40, Be 7, and Cs 137.