R. Kilg et Hc. Smit, THE QUALITY OF QUANTITATION IN CHROMATOGRAPHY .1. INFORMATION THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS, Analytica chimica acta, 333(1-2), 1996, pp. 3-10
An extension to Shannon's information theory, permitting to calculate
the channel capacity of a chromatographic column, is proposed. The cha
nnel capacity determines the maximum amount of information passing thr
ough the column and with that the uncertainty (error) of the peak area
estimation. The possibility to calculate the efficiency of a chromato
graphic system in terms of information theory is proposed. The propert
ies of signal and noise have to be described by the power spectral den
sity function. Knowing that the properties of a peak are dependent on
the retention time, the change of the information rate can be calculat
ed as a function of the retention time of the peak.