Noise on photon correlation data. I. Autocorrelation functions

An adequate analysis of photon correlation data requires knowledge about the statistical accuracy of the measured data. For the model of gamma-distributed intensities, that is including the effect of a finite intercept, the full covariance matrix is calculated for all the channels of the photon autocorrelation functions. A thorough discussion of multiple sample time correlation illuminates the importance of temporal averaging effects at large lag times. A practical estimation scheme is given for the noise in photon correlation data from a multiple sample time measurement.

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