Searching γ-ray coincidence cubes for independent decay sequences

A computational technique has been developed to search γ-ray coincidence-data cubes for new spectroscopic structures. The computer program produces a set of one-dimensional spectra which are characteristic of the different decay sequences contained within the data set, irrespective of whether these structures produce “regular” or “irregular” sequences of γ rays. By treating the spectra as vectors in an abstract vector space, the algorithm creates a set of (nearly) mutually orthogonal basis spectra which are sufficiently different from each other as to constitute “independent” decay paths. The method has been used on two data sets taken with large germanium-detector arrays and has been shown not only to isolate all of the structures found using conventional techniques, but also to produce candidates for new structures.