Abstract:
The statistics of detected pulses is considered when recording optical radiation. On the basis of Mandel's formula for the probability $P(n)$ to detect $n$ photons during an observation time interval, it is shown that the probability distribution $P(n)$ is unimodal provided the radiation field is Gaussian. The unimodality property makes it possible to apply the theory of statistical decisions that makes use of a unique threshold to the design of optical information transmission systems.