Do nuclear decay rates depend on our distance from the sun?

The Physics Arxiv Blog ^ | August 29th, 2008 | KFC

[B-Chan]

Here’s an interesting conundrum involving nuclear decay rates.

We think that the decay rates of elements are constant regardless of the ambient conditions (except in a few special cases where beta decay can be influenced by powerful electric fields).

So that makes it hard to explain the curious periodic variations in the decay rates of silicon-32 and radium-226 observed by groups at the Brookhaven National Labs in the US and at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesandstalt in Germany in the 1980s.

Today, the story gets even more puzzling. Jere Jenkins and pals at Purdue University in Indiana have re-analysed the raw data from these experiments and say that the modulations are synchronised with each other and with Earth’s distance from the sun. (Both groups, in acts of selfless dedication, measured the decay rates of silicon-32 and radium-226 over a period of many years.)

In other words, there appears to be an annual variation in the decay rates of these elements.

Jenkins and co put forward two theories to explain why this might be happening.

First, they say a theory developed by John Barrow at the University of Cambridge in the UK and Douglas Shaw at the University of London, suggests that the sun produces a field that changes the value of the fine structure constant on Earth as its distance from the sun varies during each orbit. Such an effect would certainly cause the kind of an annual variation in decay rates that Jenkins and co highlight.

[B-Chan]

The physics blogs are abuzz with discussion of this paper. I don't know enough about physics to have more than a tenuous grasp of this topic, but from what I've read the furor is based upon the fact that recent observations are calling into question some of the basic concepts of physics. Essentially, the reference data collected by scientists at both the Brookhaven National Labs in the US and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesandstalt (the National Institute for Physics and Technology in Germany) suggest that \alpha \, the fine structure constant — the fundamental physical constant characterizing the strength of the electromagnetic interaction as measured on Earth — varies according to the distance of Earth from the sun. If the Sun produces a scalar field capable of modulating the terrestrial value of the electromagnetic fine structure constant, this would be a significant discovery; \alpha \ is a so-called magic number in physics, a number "written by the Hand of God" according to Richard P. Feynman; it characterizes, among other things, the rate at which radioactive elements decay. If the fine structure constant proves to be variable based upn Earth's distance from the sun, then a great many 'settled questions" of physics (including radiocarbon dating) will become unsettled again.

What does this all mean to our daily lives? Not much in the short term, but it could cause some significant revisions across the board in terms of physics if the theory espoused in the paper proves to be accurate. (As far as the possible implications for radiocarbon dating, I don't think that variations in the fine structure constant would be large enough to have any revolutionary effect on current estimates of the age of the Earth, however.) If this research leads to a new model of radioactive decay and quantum electrodynamics, however, we could see some real fireworks in the applied sciences over the long term.

Cite:

Jere H. Jenkins, Ephraim Fischbach, John B. Buncher, John T. Gruenwald, Dennis E. Krause and Joshua J. Mattes

Physics Department, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, 47933, USA

Physics Department, Purdue University, 525 Northwestern Avenue, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA

Received. 25 August 2008 Last updated. 25 August 2008

Abstract. Unexplained periodic fluctuations in the decay rates of Si-32 and Ra-226 have been reported by groups at Brookhaven National Laboratory (Si-32), and at the Physikalisch-Technische-Bundesandstalt in Germany (Ra-226). We show from an analysis of the raw data in these experiments that the observed fluctuations are strongly correlated in time, not only with each other, but also with the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Some implications of these results are also discussed, including the suggestion that discrepancies in published half-life determinations for these and other nuclides may be attributable in part to differences in solar activity during the course of the various experiments, or to seasonal variations in fundamental constants.

[JRandomFreeper]

There's a lot of material in space probes. Should be able to draw a base-line from that.

/johnny

[null and void]

OK, is the power level from the radioisotope thermoelectric generators on the Voyagers dropping off at the expected rate?

[null and void]

If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?

[Flavius]

[doc1019]

Mayhap he is, and slumming? ;-)

[JRandomFreeper]

I have been, but because I kept getting married, I blew it. I'm not doing that this cycle. ;)

/johnny

[FreeAtlanta]

That would really mess up our scientific thought on the rest of the universe. I think this is funny. sorry. It is funny. :-)

[JRandomFreeper]

Nope. Broke AND ugly.

Helps with staying single.

/johnny

[Scutter]

Wow! This is a big deal, folks.

[beezdotcom]

because I kept getting married, I blew it.

Thought you said you were smart?

[uglybiker]

Dunno about that, but I know that Rice Krispies stuck higher on the bowl dry out faster.

I think it's because they are closer to the sun. :-P

(Thank you, George Carlin)

[JRandomFreeper]

And I'm a culinary school graduate. I can cook circles around Chefs that don't understand how acids react with the rest of the world. Especially in fats.

Life is good when you get old and don't give a sh&%.

/johnny

[Gondring]

(Both groups, in acts of selfless dedication, measured the decay rates of silicon-32 and radium-226 over a period of many years.)

No research grants?

[JRandomFreeper]

He claimed I was smart. I'm just sitting here.

/johnny

[StormEye]

Probabilty Sun

Anybody interested in the article should try out this novel. It's strangely similiar. I know, I'm reading it now.

[JasonC]

No, the fine structure constant isn't going to change. But it is perfectly believable the neutrino flux from all the nuclear reactions in the sun, slightly influences some sensitive decay rates, and varies with distance.

[Coyoteman]

(As far as the possible implications for radiocarbon dating, I don't think that variations in the fine structure constant would be large enough to have any revolutionary effect on current estimates of the age of the Earth, however.)

Minor correction: Radiocarbon dating only goes back some 50,000 to 60,000 years. It is other forms of radiometric dating that are used to determine the age of the earth.

[KoRn]

As with Obama and the question of at what time it comes to when a HUMAN being should have human rights, this thread is “above my pay grade”....