 Covariance of count-conserving rebinned Raman channels

The covariance of count-conserving rebinned Raman channels records the shared noise created when one measured channel contributes to several output channels. For a fixed deterministic rebinning matrix $A$ and an input count vector $\mathbf{N}$ with covariance matrix $C$, the output is ${\mathbf{N}}^{\prime }=A\mathbf{N}$ andThis identity needs finite second moments, not a Gaussian approximation. Raman spectral rebinning with conserved integrated counts describes the count-preserving map; retaining its full covariance matrix is necessary for uncertainties of sums and fitted spectral features.^[ref]

Consider independent input counts with means $100$ and $300$ and Poisson distribution variances equal to those means. Split them deterministically usingThe three output means are $50,200,150$. Their total has variance $1^T{C}^{\prime }1=400$, exactly the original total variance, and standard deviation $20$. Keeping only diagonal entries would give variance $200$ and standard deviation about $14.14$, understating the uncertainty of the conserved total.

The rank deficiency from deterministic spectral upsampling is visible without matrix inversion: the vector $(1,-1,1{)}^T$ has zero output contrast for every possible input. Three displayed channels therefore contain at most two independent degrees of freedom in this model. Fractional redistribution creates correlated numerical channels; it is different from physically assigning each detected photon randomly to one new channel.

The primary stimulated-Raman apparatus records spectra with array detectors and calibrates their spectral coordinates.^[ref] When those data are placed on a new spectral grid, the original detector counts remain the source of statistical information. Additional interpolation points do not supply independent photon measurements.