Applying Prediction Analysis to the Measurement of Half-Life

Abstract

Prediction analysis is applied to the design of experiments for measuring the half-life of a radioactive species. The half-life is assumed to be determined by fitting the exponential-plus-background function to the data points. Results can predict the experimental accuracy to which the half-life will be determined in a proposed experiment. The predicted accuracy is a function of the number of data points, the range of time values, the initial count rate, the amplitude-to-background ratio, and the uncertainties (in the time value as well as in the counts per channel) associated with each data point.