Polar polarization: a new method for polarimetry analysis

We present a novel analysis method for polarization transferred in A((e)over-right-arrow, e'(N)over-right-arrow) experiments, which can be applied to other kinds of polarization measurements as well. In this method the polarization transfer components are presented in spherical coordinates using an efficient likelihood numerical maximization based on an analytic derivation. We also propose a formalism that accounts for multi-parameter models, and which yields a smooth and continuous parameterization of the data (rather than standard binning). The method reduces the statistical and uncorrelated systematic uncertainties. It may further reduce certain parts of correlated systematic uncertainties. Applying this method to simulated data reduces the uncertainties, in particular in cases of poor statistics. In addition the analysis method reveals physical information that is lost in standard binning of the data. The obtained results can be compared easily to theoretical models and other measurements. Furthermore, CPU time is significantly reduced using this method.