Abstract
Some experiments seem to yield strong evidence of variability of beta-decay rates, but other experiments may show little or no such evidence. Some recent experiments help clarify the situation. In particular, a certain oscillation appears in neutrino measurements made at the Super-Kamiokande Neutrino Observatory and in radon beta-decay measurements made at the Geological Survey of Israel, with identical frequency (9.43 years−1), amplitude and phase, strengthening the case for an influence of neutrinos on beta decays. A review of current experimental information leads us to suggest that 1) beta-decay rates do not change, but 2) the angular distribution of decay products may be anisotropic, and 3) the angular distribution of decay products may be influenced by the ambient neutrino flux. It appears that experiments at standards laboratories tend to be insensitive to direction, and this may be the reason that they tend not to exhibit evidence of variability.
Highlights
Reviewed by: Giuseppe Verde, Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, Italy Pasquale Migliozzi, National Institute of Nuclear Physics of Naples, Italy
A certain oscillation appears in neutrino measurements made at the Super-Kamiokande Neutrino Observatory and in radon beta-decay measurements made at the Geological Survey of Israel, with identical frequency (9.43 years−1), amplitude and phase, strengthening the case for an influence of neutrinos on beta decays
Whether or not the solar neutrino flux is variable is important to solar physicists, and to physicists for whom solar-neutrino measurements yield a test of our comprehension of nuclear physics
Summary
A review of current experimental information leads us to suggest that 1) beta-decay rates do not change, but 2) the angular distribution of decay products may be anisotropic, and 3) the angular distribution of decay products may be influenced by the ambient neutrino flux It appears that experiments at standards laboratories tend to be insensitive to direction, and this may be the reason that they tend not to exhibit evidence of variability. Siegert et al [2], at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), reported the results of a 20year study of the beta decays of 152Eu and 154Eu, using 226Ra as a standard They noted annual oscillations in the measured decay rates of both 152Eu and 226Ra. Falkenberg [3] claimed to find evidence of an annual oscillation in the beta decay rate of tritium, which he attributed to the annual variation of the Earth-Sun distance, suggesting a possible role of neutrinos.
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