Superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs) carried by x-ray telescopes are powerful tools for the study of neutron stars and black holes. Several methods, such as optimal filtering or principal component analysis, have already been developed to analyze x-ray data from these sensors. However, these techniques may be hard to implement in space. Our goal is to develop a lower-computational-cost technique that optimizes energy and time resolution when x-ray photons are detected by a TES. Current pulses, in TESs, exhibit a non-linear response to photon energy. Therefore, at low energies, we focus on the current-pulse height, whereas at high energies, we consider the current-pulse width, to retrieve energy and arrival time of x-ray photons. For energies between 0.1 and 30 keV and with a sampling rate of 195 kHz, we obtain an energy resolution (full-width at half-maximum) between 1.32 and 2.98 eV. We also get an arrival-time resolution (full-duration at half-maximum) between 163 and 3.85 ns. To improve the accuracy of these results, it will be essential to get a thorough description of non-stationary noise in a TES and develop a robust on-board identification method of pile-up events.

中文翻译：

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通过模拟X射线光子事件，使用过渡边缘传感器优化能量和到达时间分辨率方面的进展

X射线望远镜携带的超导过渡边缘传感器（TES）是研究中子星和黑洞的有力工具。已经开发了几种方法，例如最佳滤波或主成分分析，以分析来自这些传感器的X射线数据。但是，这些技术可能很难在太空中实现。我们的目标是开发一种计算成本较低的技术，该技术可在TES检测到X射线光子时优化能量和时间分辨率。在TES中，电流脉冲表现出对光子能量的非线性响应。因此，在低能量时，我们关注电流脉冲的高度，而在高能量时，我们考虑电流脉冲的宽度，以获取能量和X射线光子的到达时间。对于介于0.1和30 keV之间的能量以及195 kHz的采样率，我们获得的能量分辨率（最大宽度为全角）在1.32和2.98 eV之间。我们还获得了163到3.85 ns的到达时间分辨率（半小时全时）。为了提高这些结果的准确性，必须对TES中的非平稳噪声进行详尽的描述，并开发出一种可靠的车载识别堆积事件的方法。