Event weighting vs. Event Counting

Abstract

Goal of these proceedings is to introduce a method based on event weighting in particle physics experiments. Weighting means that events are not just counted as integer numbers but are assigned a weight factor according to their importance in the analysis. This method has a close connection to the maximum likelihood method known to reach the smallest statistical error. The purpose of this document is to give a more educational overview on the subject. As an example the extraction of a beam polarization from scattered particles is discussed.

Authors 1

1. Jörg Pretz corresponding Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University · Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Forschungszentrum Jülich , Jülich , Germany

   RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany

   Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany

   RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany