Editing Dead time (section)

{{Short description|Time after an event when a detector can't record another event}}
{{Other uses|Dead Time (disambiguation)}}
For detection systems that record discrete events, such as [[particle physics|particle]] and [[nuclear physics|nuclear]] [[particle detector|detectors]], the '''dead time''' is the time after each event during which the system is not able to record another event.<ref name="Leo">{{cite book | author=W. R. Leo | title=Techniques for Nuclear and Particle Physics Experiments |pages=122–127| publisher=Springer | year=1994 |isbn=3-540-57280-5}}</ref>
An everyday life example of this is what happens when someone takes a photo using a flash – another picture cannot be taken immediately afterward because the flash needs a few seconds to recharge. In addition to lowering the detection efficiency, dead times can have other effects, such as creating possible exploits in [[quantum cryptography]].<ref>{{cite journal
 |first1=H.
 |last1=Weier
 |first2=H.
 |last2=Krauss
 |display-authors=1
 |journal=New Journal of Physics
 |volume=13
 |issue=7
 |year=2011
 |pages=073024
 |title=Quantum eavesdropping without interception: an attack exploiting the dead time of single-photon detectors
 |doi=10.1088/1367-2630/13/7/073024|bibcode = 2011NJPh...13g3024W |arxiv = 1101.5289 }}</ref>