Fluctuations in measured radioactive decay rates inside a modified Faraday cage: Correlations with space weather

Variability of coil inductance measurements inside an interleaving structure

The present article is a continuation of our previous works on the anomalies in the decay rates and the capacitance measurements inside a modified Faraday cage. Here we present the anomalous variations in the measurements of inductance when a coil is placed inside an interleaving structure of metal and organic material. The fluctuation in the inductance values was found to be in the range − 0.007 to 0.018 mH. Additionally, it was observed that the temperature coefficient which was 0.0062 mH/°C initially jumped to two distinct levels, 0.0095 mH/°C and 0.0145 mH/°C, respectively. A multiple factor analysis of our results revealed a very strong correlation (R² = 95.2%) between the inductance and the combination of the temperature and the relative humidity both measured inside the cage, next to the inductor.

On the randomness and correlation in the trajectories of alpha particle emitted from 241Am: statistical inference based on information entropy

Most particle detectors are based on the hypothesis that particles are emitted randomly upon nuclear decay. In the present work, we tested the hypothesis of the existence of correlation in the random trajectories of alpha particles emitted from \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${}^{241}$$\end{document}241Am source and the null hypothesis of random trajectories. The trajectories were clued through the registration of track in a solid-state nuclear track detector. The experimental parameters were optimized to identify the possible sources of correlation in the track registration and the detector conditions upon exposure and etching to avoid misleading results. The optimization included authentication of linearity in registration efficiency with exposure time to prevent coalescence of registered tracks. The statistical inference processes were based upon adaptive quadrates analysis of the spatial data, and entropy and divergence analysis of the quadrate data together with the null hypothesis of Poisson distribution of random trajectories. The clustering and dispersion analysis were performed with central deviation tendency, empirical K-function, radial distribution analysis, and proximity Analysis. Results showed a pattern of gained information within the registered tracks that may be attributed to the alteration in the alpha particles’ trajectories induced by the strong electric field due to atoms in the source compound and encapsulation film.

Air humidity and annual oscillations in 90Sr/90Y and 60Co decay rate measurements

Parkhomov published decay rate measurements of ⁹⁰Sr/⁹⁰Y and ⁶⁰Co beta decay sources with Geiger-Müller counters which showed annual cyclic deviations with less than 0.2% amplitude from a purely exponential slope. He investigated instrument instability induced by environmental parameters, yet did not find a clear coincidence with local temperature, atmospheric pressure, and relative humidity. Parkhomov hypothesised that gravitationally-focussed 'slow' cosmic neutrinos influenced beta decay. In the current work, environmental conditions in the Moscow area at the time of the experiment are presented. There appears to be a resemblance of the shape of the annual ⁹⁰Sr/⁹⁰Y decay rate anomalies with the inverse of the absolute air humidity, albeit with an apparent time shift of 0.05-0.15 year. Humidity may have influenced the range of beta particles in air, as well as geometric and electronic properties of the detection set-up, however causality could not be unambiguously demonstrated. The instabilities in the ⁶⁰Co data were more difficult to correlate with environmental data, except for some similarities with temperature and external dew point.