Power Spectrum Analysis of Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Decay-Rate Data: Evidence for Solar Rotational Modulation

Abstract

Evidence for an anomalous annual periodicity in certain nuclear decay data has led to speculation concerning a possible solar influence on nuclear processes. We have recently analyzed data concerning the decay rates of Cl-36 and Si-32, acquired at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), to search for evidence that might be indicative of a process involving solar rotation. Smoothing of the power spectrum by weighted-running-mean analysis leads to a significant peak at frequency 11.18/yr, which is lower than the equatorial synodic rotation rates of the convection and radiative zones. This article concerns measurements of the decay rates of Ra-226 acquired at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Germany. We find that a similar (but not identical) analysis yields a significant peak in the PTB dataset at frequency 11.21/yr, and a peak in the BNL dataset at 11.25/yr. The change in the BNL result is not significant since the uncertainties in the BNL and PTB analyses are estimated to be 0.13/yr and 0.07/yr, respectively. Combining the two running means by forming the joint power statistic leads to a highly significant peak at frequency 11.23/yr. We comment briefly on the possible implications of these results for solar physics and for particle physics.

arXiv comment15 pages, 13 figures

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• Additional experimental evidence for a solar influence on nuclear decay rates
• Concerning the Phase of the Time-Variation in the Cl-36 Decay Rate
• Power Spectrum Analysis of LMSU (Lomonosov Moscow State University) Nuclear Decay-Rate Data: Further Indication of r-Mode Oscillations in an Inner Solar Tachocline
• Spectral Content of 22Na/44Ti Decay Data: Implications for a Solar Influence
• Further Evidence Suggestive of a Solar Influence on Nuclear Decay Rates
• Concerning the Phases of Annual Variations of Nuclear Decay Rates
• Experimental test of the time stability of the half-life of alpha-decay Po-214 nuclei
• Absence of a self-induced decay effect in 198Au
• Solar Influence on Nuclear Decay Rates: Constraints from the MESSENGER Mission
• Anomalies in Radioactive Decay Rates: A Bibliography of Measurements and Theory
• Search for Possible Solar Influences in Ra-226 Decays
• The Case for a Solar Influence on Certain Nuclear Decay Rates