Unfolding for HEP experiments - Introduction to inverse problems

Volker BLOBEL
U Hamburg

Unfolding is required, due to migration effects, for the measurement of
distributions in HEP, where the quantity of interest is often measured
indirectly. Unfolding is a linear inverse problem with a coefficient
matrix, which is usually ill-conditioned. Techniques of standard linear
algebra no longer apply and the numerical treatment becomes more
difficult. Available additional information can be used to
stabilize the solution, without introducing a significant bias.
The use of these regularization methods requires some insight
into statistical behavior and mathematical operations.