Physics:Time resolution

Time resolution is the criterion for the quality of a time measurement, e.g. in a fast trigger scintillator. In general, the standard deviation is used to describe the resolution, i.e. the root of the variance. It plays a role in fast triggering, particularly for time-of-flight measurements. The time resolution can be influenced by the material, the size and the surface of the scintillation counter, the properties of the light guide, the fluctuation in gain and the spread in transit time of the photomultiplier, and the threshold of the discriminator. In the case of large scintillation counters, a ``meantimer circuit averaging over the arriving time of the light signals at either end of the scintillator can correct for the delay due to the distance the light has to travel in the scintillator. Typically the time resolution in time of flight measurements varies from 0.1 to 1 ns for high-quality scintillators.

drift chambers, spatial resolution and time resolution are closely connected; the term resolution there is used in a double sense: it describes the effective resolution achieved on measuring points on an isolated track, and the resolution of two points from two nearby tracks.