MED In the literature: partially resolved

Fundamental bound on scintillation timing

In plain words

Light arrives at the sensor at random times, which sets a floor on how precisely the arrival can be timed. The exact floor for realistic detectors is not established.

Precise statement

Derive the Cramer-Rao lower bound (the minimum variance any unbiased estimator can reach) on timing precision for a scintillation detector including non-exponential rise and decay, position-dependent light transport inside the crystal, photodetector single-photon time response and dark counts, and construct an estimator reaching it. An answer is the bound as a function of photon yield, rise time, decay time and transit-time spread, plus a realizable estimator.

What would settle it

A derivation with an estimator demonstrated in simulation and on bench data to approach the bound.

Status in the literature

Unverified note

Bounds exist for simplified emission models since Seifert, van Dam and Schaart (2012); the realistic transport case was not closed as of 2025.