D. Javorsek

Power spectrum analyses of nuclear decay rates

Abstract We provide the results from a spectral analysis of nuclear decay data displaying annually varying periodic fluctuations. The analyzed data were obtained from three distinct data sets: 32 Si and 36 Cl decays reported by an experiment performed at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), 56 Mn decay reported by the Children’s Nutrition Research Center (CNRC), but also performed at BNL, and 226 Ra decay reported by an experiment performed at the Physikalisch–Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Germany. All three data sets exhibit the same primary frequency mode consisting of an annual period. Additional spectral comparisons of the data to local ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, Earth–Sun distance, and their reciprocals were performed. No common phases were found between the factors investigated and those exhibited by the nuclear decay data. This suggests that either a combination of factors was responsible, or that, if it was a single factor, its effects on the decay rate experiments are not a direct synchronous modulation. We conclude that the annual periodicity in these data sets is a real effect, but that further study involving additional carefully controlled experiments will be needed to establish its origin.

Additional experimental evidence for a solar influence on nuclear decay rates

Abstract Additional experimental evidence is presented in support of the recent hypothesis that a possible solar influence could explain fluctuations observed in the measured decay rates of some isotopes. These data were obtained during routine weekly calibrations of an instrument used for radiological safety at The Ohio State University Research Reactor using 36 Cl. The detector system used was based on a Geiger–Muller gas detector, which is a robust detector system with very low susceptibility to environmental changes. A clear annual variation is evident in the data, with a maximum relative count rate observed in January/February, and a minimum relative count rate observed in July/August, for seven successive years from July 2005 to June 2011. This annual variation is not likely to have arisen from changes in the detector surroundings, as we show here.

Concerning the Time Dependence of the Decay Rate of 137Cs

The decay rates of eight nuclides ((85)Kr, (90)Sr, (108)Ag, (133)Ba, (137)Cs, (152)Eu, (154)Eu, and (226)Ra) were monitored by the standards group at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, Germany, over the time frame June 1999 to November 2008. We find that the PTB measurements of the decay rate of (137)Cs show no evidence of an annual oscillation, in agreement with the recent report by Bellotti et al. However, power spectrum analysis of PTB measurements of a (133)Ba standard, measured in the same detector system, does show such evidence. This result is consistent with our finding that different nuclides have different sensitivities to whatever external influences are responsible for the observed periodic variations.In a recent posting to the arXiv, Norman [1] raises an interes ting question relating to the phase of the annually varying 36Cl measured decay rate as reported by two independent groups [2, 3]. He correctly notes that the apparent phases reported in [2, 3] are not identical, as might be expected in a model in which the annual decay-rate variation is attributed simply to the varying Earth-Sun distance R. These determined phases are discussed in Javorsek II et al. [4] for the Alburger et al. [2] dat a, and in Jenkins et al. [3] for the second data set. (By conventi on the phase of the annual variation is the calendar day on which the decay rate is a maximum.) In this note we address the question raised by Norman [1]. If the Sun were a uniform, homogeneous sphere producing energy and emitting particles (e.g. neutrinos) at a constan t, uniform rate, and the observed periodicities were due solel y to the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, then the expected phase of decay data would be either perihelion (∼January 4) or aphelion ( ∼July 4) depending on the (as yet unknown) dynamics of the decay progress. However, most of the nuclides for which measured decay data are currently ava ilable exhibit a phase closer to mid-February, rather than Jan uary 4. Hence our first task is to understand the origin of the midFebruary phase. In Ref. [5] we propose that this phase arises from a combination of two annually varying e ff cts: the 1/R2 variation arising from the ellipticity of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, and a North-South (latitudinal) asymmetry in neutr ino production or propagation occurring in the Sun itself, for w hich there is considerable independent evidence [6–11]. This ph a e shift from perihelion has been seen in the phase determinati ons of two major solar neutrino observatories, as described in R efs. [12–15]. As we note in Ref.[5] the North-South asymmetry e ffect alone would yield a phase ∼March 10 (or September 10) due to the 7 tilt of the solar axis of rotation relative to the ecliptic. In this picture the mid-February phase would then resul t by combining the 1/R2 effect (∼ January 4) and the North-South asymmetry (March 10) with appropriate relative weights. Si nce any North-South asymmetry would be expected to be a variable

Velocity Pointing Errors Associated with Spinning Thrusting Spacecraft

Because of the imperfection of spacecraft assembly, there always exist misalignment and offset torques during thrust maneuvers. In the case of an axially thrusting spin-stabilized spacecraft, these torques disturb the angular momentum vector in inertial space causing a velocity pointing error. Much insight can be gained by analytically solving the problem of time-varying torques and time-varying moments of inertia. We use approximate analytic solutionstosuggesthowthevelocitypointingerrorcan bereducedforsomepracticalassumptionsbasedoncurrent technology. For example, in the case of solid rocket motors, a signie cant improvement in velocity pointing can be realized by judicious distribution of the propellant.

Spectral content of 22Na/44Ti decay data: implications for a solar influence

We report a reanalysis of data on the measured decay rate ratio 22Na/44Ti which were originally published by Norman et al., and interpreted as supporting the conventional hypothesis that nuclear decay rates are constant and not affected by outside influences. We find upon a more detailed analysis of both the amplitude and the phase of the Norman data that they actually favor the presence of an annual variation in 22Na/44Ti, albeit weakly. Moreover, this conclusion holds for a broad range of parameters describing the amplitude and phase of an annual sinusoidal variation in these data. The results from this and related analyses underscore the growing importance of phase considerations in understanding the possible influence of the Sun on nuclear decays. Our conclusions with respect to the phase of the Norman data are consistent with independent analyses of solar neutrino data obtained at Super-Kamiokande-I and the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO).

New Experimental Bounds on the Contributions to the Cosmological Density Parameter Ω from Strongly Interacting Massive Particles

Strongly interacting neutral massive particles (SIMPs) have been proposed as candidates for dark matter, as the lightest supersymmetric particle, as a possible explanation for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, and as a dark matter solution to galactic structure problems. If bound to nuclei, SIMPs could manifest themselves as anomalously heavy isotopes of known elements. We analyze the results from a recent experimental search for SIMPs in a collection of gold and iron samples with various exposures to cosmic rays and to a SIMP component of dark matter. The samples included gold flown on the NASA Long-Duration Exposure Facility, as well as geological samples and an iron meteorite. We show that the bounds on SIMPs from that experiment can be used to set nontrivial constraints on the SIMP contribution to the cosmological density parameter Ω.

EVIDENCE FOR SOLAR INFLUENCES ON NUCLEAR DECAY RATES

Abstract : Recent reports of periodic fluctuations in nuclear decay data of certain isotopes have led to the suggestion that nuclear decay rates are being influenced by the Sun, perhaps via neutrinos. Here we present evidence for the existence of an additional periodicity that appears to be related to the Rieger periodicity well known in solar physics.

Testing the atomic structure of beryllium with AMS

Abstract If the Pauli exclusion principle were violated, the electronic structure of Be could be 1s 4 (denoted by Be ′ ) rather than 1s 2 2s 2 . This paper describes the results of an experimental search for Be ′ , carried out at PRIME Lab, the Purdue Rare Isotope Measurement Laboratory. In the process of setting stringent constraints on Be ′ using samples of metallic Be, Be ore, natural gas, and air, we made several modifications to the PRIME Lab facility. These included a new Be-free source and the construction of a gas introduction system which coupled to the existing ion source. The modifications permitted us to reach limits which are a factor of nearly 300 better than those obtained in previous experiments.

Probing Uncertainty, Complexity, and Human Agency in Intelligence

Geopolitical dynamics associated with nuclear proliferation, the Arab Spring, the rapid rise of Chinese power, an oil-fueled Russian resurgence, and the post-Afghan and Iraq eras will demand significant changes in intelligence focus, processes, and resources. Nearly a decade after intelligence failures required a restructuring of the Intelligence Community with mandates for a scientific approach to intelligence analysis, current efforts continue to focus on overly deterministic individual analyst methods. We argue for a process-oriented approach to analysis resembling the collaborative scientific process successful in other professions that is built on shared theory and models. After demonstrating that events in the real world are path dependent and contingent on deterministic and random elements, we highlight the role of uncertainty in intelligence analysis with specific emphasis on intelligence failures. We then describe how human agency in an interconnected and interdependent system leads to a landscape of dancing strategies as agents dynamically modify their responses to events. Unfortunately, the consequences of the present deterministic intelligence mindset are significant time delays in adjusting to emerging adversaries leading to an increased susceptibility to intelligence failures. In contrast with the existing analyst-centric methods, we propose a risk management approach enhanced by outside collaboration on theory and models that embrace lessons from the twentieth-century science of uncertainty, human agency, and complexity.

Exotic Particle Searches using the Purdue AMS Facility

Two exotic particle searches are being performed using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) at the Purdue Rare Isotope Measurement Laboratory (PRIME Lab). Recent theoretical developments allow for the possibility of small violations of the symmetrization postulate, which may lead in turn to detectable violations of the Pauli exclusion principle. We report the results of a new experimental search for paronic (Pauli-violating) Be, denoted by Be′, in samples where Be′ retention would be highest. Our limits represent an improvement by a factor of approximately 300 over a previous search for Be′. There are also several recent cosmological motivations for strongly interacting massive particles (SIMPs). We present results from our current search for anomalous heavy isotopes of Au in samples of Australian and laboratory gold with a limit on SIMP abundance ratios as low as 10−12. This experiment provides significant constraints on the existence of such particles in high Z nuclei.