R. H. Lee

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.

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

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).

Preliminary Results from Nuclear Decay Experiments Performed During the Solar Eclipse of August 1, 2008

Recent developments in efforts to determine the cause of anomalous experimental nuclear decay fluctuations suggest a possible solar influence. Here we report on the preliminary results from several nuclear decay experiments performed at Thule Air Base in Greenland during the Solar Eclipse that took place on 1 August 2008. Because of the high northern latitude and time of year, the Sun never set and thereby provided relatively stabilized conditions for nearly all environmental factors. An exhaustive list of relevant factors were monitored during the eclipse to help rule out possible systematic effects due to external influences. In addition to the normal temperature, pressure, humidity, and cloud cover associated with the outside ambient observations, we included similar measurements within the laboratory along with monitoring of the power supply output, local neutron count rates, and the Earth’s local magnetic and electric fields.

Investigation of Periodic Nuclear Decay Data with Spectral Analysis Techniques

We provide the results from a spectral analysis of nuclear decay experiments displaying unexplained periodic fluctuations. The analyzed data was from 56Mn decay reported by the Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston, 32Si decay reported by an experiment performed at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and 226Ra decay reported by an experiment performed at the Physikalisch‐Technische‐Bundesanstalt in Germany. All three data sets possess the same primary frequency mode consisting of an annual period. Additionally a spectral comparison of the local ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, Earth‐Sun distance, and the plasma speed and latitude of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) was performed. Following analysis of these six possible causal factors, their reciprocals, and their linear combinations, a possible link between nuclear decay rate fluctuations and the linear combination of the HCS latitude and 1/R motivates searching for a possible mechanism with such properties.