{
  "abstract": "Photopic luminous efficacy (lm/W) weights optical power strictly against human eye sensitivity V (lambda), creating a systemic metrological penalty for electric light sources engineered with broad spectral output in the ultraviolet (280-380 nm) or infrared (780-4000 nm) bands. Similarly, metrics evaluating chromaticity, color quality, or melanopic pathways assess photoreceptor responses strictly within the visual band, offering no measure of broad-spectrum physical radiant power conversion. To resolve this limitation, we introduce Daylight-Referenced Efficiency (eta_DRE), a radiometric framework that evaluates how efficiently an electric light source converts electrical power into an optical spectrum matching natural terrestrial daylight across domain Omega = [280 nm, 4000 nm]. The framework factorizes performance into primary physical quantities: domain-restricted Wall-Plug Efficiency (eta_wall [W_optical/W_elec]), measuring unweighted electrical-to-optical conversion, and Daylight Spectral Fidelity (eta_spec [unitless, 0-1]), quantifying geometric shape match to the ASTM G173 AM1.5G solar reference via total variation distance (1 - TVD). Multiplying total optical power by spectral fidelity yields the absolute Daylight-Referenced Output Power (P_dr [W]), establishing a direct physical flux quantity for lighting specification. Dividing by electrical drive power gives the summary metric Daylight-Referenced Efficiency (eta_DRE = eta_wall * eta_spec [W/W_elec]), measuring net reference-conforming radiant output per electrical Watt consumed. The mathematical architecture is reference-agnostic, domain-extensible, and maintains provable lower-bound monotonicity for eta_wall and eta_DRE under spectral truncation. Open-source reference software is provided to facilitate deployment and standardized rating of broad-spectrum light sources.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.35746",
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Peter Veto"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f7zb43syy3p9f.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.35746",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "f7zb43syy3p9f",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.35746",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.optics"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Color Science and Applications"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223956200",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.35746",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-26",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f7zb43syy3p9f.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:35:35Z",
      "native_id": "2610.35746",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.35746"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.optics",
      "subfield": "optics-photonics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Daylight-Referenced Efficiency (DRE): A Radiometric Measure of Electric Light Source Efficiency",
  "title_text": "Daylight-Referenced Efficiency (DRE): A Radiometric Measure of Electric Light Source Efficiency",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:35:35Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f7zb43syy3p9f",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}