Survival analysis approach to account for non-exponential decay rate effects in lifetime experiments

Survival analysis approach to account for non-exponential decay rate effects in lifetime experiments

In experiments that measure the lifetime of trapped particles, in addition to loss mechanisms with exponential survival probability functions, particles can be lost by mechanisms with non-exponential survival probability functions. Failure to account for such loss mechanisms produces systematic meas...

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Published in:Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Vol. 813; no. C; pp. 84 - 95
Main Authors: Coakley, K.J., Dewey, M.S., Huber, M.G., Huffer, C.R., Huffman, P.R., Marley, D.E., Mumm, H.P., O׳Shaughnessy, C.M., Schelhammer, K.W., Thompson, A.K., Yue, A.T.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 21-03-2016
Elsevier
Subjects:
Competing risks
Decay
Decay rate
Error analysis
Formalism
Magnetic trapping
Marginally trapped neutrons
Neutron lifetime
Survival
Survival analysis
Symplectic integration
Trapped particles
Uncertainty
Walls
Marginally trapped neutrons
Survival analysis
Symplectic integration
Competing risks
Magnetic trapping
Neutron lifetime
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Summary:In experiments that measure the lifetime of trapped particles, in addition to loss mechanisms with exponential survival probability functions, particles can be lost by mechanisms with non-exponential survival probability functions. Failure to account for such loss mechanisms produces systematic measurement error and associated systematic uncertainties in these measurements. In this work, we develop a general competing risks survival analysis method to account for the joint effect of loss mechanisms with either exponential or non-exponential survival probability functions, and a method to quantify the size of systematic effects and associated uncertainties for lifetime estimates. As a case study, we apply our survival analysis formalism and method to the Ultra Cold Neutron lifetime experiment at NIST. In this experiment, neutrons can escape a magnetic trap before they decay due to a wall loss mechanism with an associated non-exponential survival probability function.
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USDOE
FG02-97ER41042
ISSN:0168-9002
1872-9576
DOI:10.1016/j.nima.2015.12.064