Further Evidence Suggestive of a Solar Influence on Nuclear Decay Rates
arXiv:1105.1335 · doi:10.1007/s11207-011-9807-5
Abstract
Recent analyses of nuclear decay data show evidence of variations suggestive of a solar influence. Analyses of datasets acquired at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) both show evidence of an annual periodicity and of periodicities with sidereal frequencies in the neighborhood of 12.25 year^{-1} (at a significance level that we have estimated to be 10^{-17}). It is notable that this implied rotation rate is lower than that attributed to the solar radiative zone, suggestive of a slowly rotating solar core. This leads us to hypothesize that there may be an "inner tachocline" separating the core from the radiative zone, analogous to the "outer tachocline" that separates the radiative zone from the convection zone. The Rieger periodicity (which has a period of about 154 days, corresponding to a frequency of 2.37 year^{-1}) may be attributed to an r-mode oscillation with spherical-harmonic indices l=3, m=1, located in the outer tachocline. This suggests that we may test the hypothesis of a solar influence on nuclear decay rates by searching BNL and PTB data for evidence of a "Rieger-like" r-mode oscillation, with l=3, m=1, in the inner tachocline. The appropriate search band for such an oscillation is estimated to be 2.00-2.28 year^{-1}. We find, in both datasets, strong evidence of a periodicity at 2.11 year^{-1}. We estimate that the probability of obtaining these results by chance is 10^{-12}.
arXiv comment12 pages, 6 figures, v2 has a color corrected Fig 6, a corrected reference, and a corrected typo
References in corpus (16)
- Evidence for Correlations Between Nuclear Decay Rates and Earth-Sun Distance
- Magnetic Rossby waves in the solar tachocline and Rieger-type periodicities
- Searching for modifications to the exponential radioactive decay law with the Cassini spacecraft
- Analysis of environmental influences in nuclear half-life measurements exhibiting time-dependent decay rates
- Rotational Signature and Possible R-Mode Signature in the GALLEX Solar Neutrino Data
- Power Spectrum Analyses of Nuclear Decay Rates
- Power-Spectrum Analyses of Super-Kamiokande Solar Neutrino Data: Variability and its Implications for Solar Physics and Neutrino Physics
- Power Spectrum Analysis of BNL Decay-Rate Data
- Combined and Comparative Analysis of Power Spectra
- Power Spectrum Analysis of Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Decay-Rate Data: Evidence for Solar Rotational Modulation
- False-alarm probability in relation to over-sampled power spectra, with application to Super-Kamiokande solar neutrino data
- Comparative analysis of Gallex and GNO solar neutrino data
- Power-spectrum analysis of Super-Kamiokande solar neutrino data, taking into account asymmetry in the error estimates
- Power Spectrum Analysis of Mount-Wilson Solar Diameter Measurements: Evidence for Solar Internal R-mode Oscillations
- Combined analysis of solar neutrino and solar irradiance data: further evidence for variability of the solar neutrino flux and its implications concerning the solar core
- Solar neutrino variability and its implications for solar physics and neutrino physics
Cited by in corpus (10)
- An Analysis of Apparent r-Mode Oscillations in Solar Activity, the Solar Diameter, the Solar Neutrino Flux, and Nuclear Decay Rates, with Implications Concerning the Solar Internal Structure and Rotation, and Neutrino Processes
- 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
- Searches for solar-influenced radioactive decay anomalies using Spacecraft RTGs
- Absence of a self-induced decay effect in 198Au
- Solar Influence on Nuclear Decay Rates: Constraints from the MESSENGER Mission
- Search for Possible Solar Influences in Ra-226 Decays
- Test of Nuclear Decay Rate Variation due to an Antineutrino Flux