Multiple Facets of the Poisson Distribution Applicable to Health Physics Measurements.

This paper discusses several ways to view the standard Poisson distribution as applied to health physics scaler counts. The intent is not so much to present calculational details but rather to present some underlying concepts. Examples are provided that illustrate the various concepts for several types of specific measurements. The concepts presented involve purely Poisson-based contributions to variance; extra-Poisson variance is presently ignored, and any counting system would be presumed to function properly and without counting loss.