Probability distributions for Poisson processes with pile-up

TLDR: In this article, two parametric probability distributions capable to describe the statistics of X-ray photon detection by a CCD are presented, formulated from simple models that account for the pile-up phenomenon, in which two or more photons are counted as one.

Abstract: In this paper, two parametric probability distributions capable to describe the statistics of X-ray photon detection by a CCD are presented. They are formulated from simple models that account for the pile-up phenomenon, in which two or more photons are counted as one. These models are based on the Poisson process, but they have an extra parameter which includes all the detailed mechanisms of the pile-up process that must be fitted to the data statistics simultaneously with the rate parameter. The new probability distributions, one for number of counts per time bins (Poisson-like), and the other for waiting times (exponential-like) are tested fitting them to statistics of real data, and between them through numerical simulations, and their results are analyzed and compared. The probability distributions presented here can be used as background statistical models to derive likelihood functions for statistical methods in signal analysis.