Study of variance and covariance terms in linear attenuation coefficient measurements of irregular samples through the two media method by gamma-ray transmission

The two media method permits the application of Beerʹs law (Thesis (Master Degree), Universidade Estadual de Londrina, PR, Brazil, pp. 23) for the linear attenuation coefficient determination of irregular thickness samples by gamma-ray transmission. However, the use of this methodology introduces experimental complexity due to the great number of variables to be measured. As consequence of this complexity, the uncertainties associated with each of these variables may be correlated. In this paper, we examine the covariance terms in the uncertainty propagation, and quantify the correlation among the uncertainties of each of the variables in question.