Separation of mass spectra of mixtures by factor analysis

A method for the separation of mass spectra of mixtures is developed utilizing a factor analysis approach. It is shown to be possible, under certain conditions, to separate the data from mass spectra of mixtures into the mass spectra of the pure components and to give their respective concentrations. The technique is evaluated on an artifical data set and on data from mass spectra of mixtures previously reported in the literature. 6 tables