A GM tube is operated with a counting system whose threshold

A GM tube is operated with a counting system whose threshold requires that a full Geiger discharge must take place to register a count. Is its dead time behavior likely to be better described by the paralyzable of nonparalyzable model? EXPLAIN.

Solution

Yes it is dead time behavior likely to be better described by the paralyzable of nonparalyzable model.

A detector, or detection system, can be characterized by a paralyzable or non-paralyzable behaviour. In a non-paralyzable detector, an event happening during the dead time is simply lost, so that with an increasing event rate the detector will reach a saturation rate equal to the inverse of the dead time. In a paralyzable detector, an event happening during the dead time will not just be missed, but will restart the dead time, so that with increasing rate the detector will reach a saturation point where it will be incapable of recording any event at all. A semi-paralyzable detector exhibits an intermediate behaviour, in which the event arriving during dead time does extend it, but not by the full amount, resulting in a detection rate that decreases when the event rate approaches saturation