Fig. 4

Approach can obtain input values in the presence of 10% noise. a Optimal photoconversion cross-sections (lines, denoted ‘Opt’) compared to the input photoconversion cross-sections used to create the test data (circles, denoted ‘Input’). b Search spaces calculated for the extinction coefficients using the Verméglio method as a function of the scalar constants, X ₁ and X ₂. c Comparison of optimal quantum yields (denoted ‘Opt’) compared to the target values (denoted ‘Input’). d Simulated absorption spectra (red lines) compared to the synthetic data (black lines). For the time-points of each measurement see Additional file 1: Table S1. e Profile likelihoods for the parameters obtained from our optimisation algorithm [42]. f The search space for the optimal quantum yields. The space shows a clear global minimum at the optimal values