Constrained Linear Algebraic Deconvolution of Poisson Data

D. D. Dixon, D. Bhattacharya, T. J. O'Neill, O. T. Tümer, R. S. White, A. D. Zych, and Wm. A. Wheaton

Astrophysical Journal, 457, 789 (1996)


Abstract

A new method is demonstrated for the deconvolution of Poisson data from an associated linear instrument response. Building on the method of Direct Linear Algebraic Deconvolution (DLAD, Wheaton et al 93), the technique is extended by including the additional physical constraint that the deconvolved source fluxes be non-negative. This constraint stabilizes the solution against fluctuations that appear due to noisy data, and greatly lowers the variances in the computed fluxes. The uncertainties in the deconvolved fluxes are directly computable. The algorithm is demonstrated for deconvolution of Compton double-scatter gamma-ray telescope data.