On integrating the techniques of direct methods and SIRAS: the probabilistic theory of doublets and its applications

The mathematical formalism of direct methods is here applied to the SIRAS (single-isomorphous replacement combined with anomalous scattering) case. Specifically, the joint probability distribution of three structure factors, which plays the central role in the probabilistic theory of the two-phase structure invariants (doublets), is derived. This distribution leads directly to the conditional probability distribution of the two-phase structure invariants, given the values of selected sets of magnitudes. Furthermore, a probabilistic formula for estimating individual phases of the derivative structure is derived, provided that the heavy-atom substructure is assumed to be known. The formulas were tested for experimental SIRAS data and results are reported.