The applicability of anisotropic flow measurement techniques and their extension for detectors with nonuniform azimuthal acceptance are discussed. Considering anisotropic flow measurements with two and three (mixed harmonic) azimuthal correlations we introduce a set of observables based on the $x$ and $y$ components of the event flow vector. These observables provide independent measures of anisotropic flow and can be used to test the self-consistency of the analysis. Based on these observables we propose a technique that explicitly takes into account the effects of nonuniform detector acceptance. Within this approach the acceptance corrections, as well as parameters that define the method applicability, can be determined directly from experimental data. For practical purposes a brief summary of the method is provided at the end.

• Received 2 August 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.77.034904