Disproof of solar influence on the decay rates of 90Sr/90Y

Abstract

A custom-built liquid scintillation counter was used for long-term measurements of 90Sr/90Y sources. The detector system is equipped with an automated sample changer and three photomultiplier tubes, which makes the application of the triple-to-double coincidence ratio (TDCR) method possible. After decay correction, the measured decay rates were found to be stable and no annual oscillation could be observed. Thus, the findings of this work are in strong contradiction to those of Parkhomov [1] who reported on annual oscillations when measuring 90Sr/90Y with a Geiger-Müller counter. Sturrock et al. [2] carried out a more detailed analysis of the experimental data from Parkhomov and claimed to have found correlations between the decay rates and processes inside the Sun. These findings are questionable, since they are based on inappropriate experimental data as is demonstrated in this work. A frequency analysis of our activity data does not show any significant periodicity.

arXiv comment11 pages, 9 figures, 1 table

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• Search for the time dependence of the 137Cs decay constant
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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Analysis of beta-decay data acquired at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt: evidence of a solar influence
• Comment on 'Comparative study of beta-decay data for eight nuclides measured at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt' [Astropart. Phys., 50, 47-58]
• Precision long-term measurements of beta-decay-rate ratios in a controlled environment
• Search for Possible Solar Influences in Ra-226 Decays
• Generalized Lomb-Scargle analysis of ${}^{90}\mathrm{Sr}{/}^{90}\mathrm{Y}$ decay rate measurements from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
• Generalized Lomb-Scargle analysis of ${}^{36}\mathrm{Cl}$ decay rate measurements at PTB and BNL
• Planck's Constant as a Dynamical Field & Path Integral
• Test of Nuclear Decay Rate Variation due to an Antineutrino Flux
• Generalized Lomb-Scargle analysis of ${}^{123}\mathrm{I}$ and ${}^{99m}\mathrm{Tc}$ decay rate measurements
• Neutrino-Flux Variability, Nuclear-Decay Variability, and Their Apparent Relationship