Search for correlated fluctuations in the β ⁺ decay of Na-22

Abstract

PACS 24.80.+y -Nuclear tests of fundamental interactions and symmetries PACS 23.40.-s -β decay; double β decay; electron and muon capture PACS 02.50.Ey -Stochastic processes Abstract -Claims for a "cosmogenic" force that correlates otherwise independent stochastic processes have been made for at least 10 years, based on visual inspection of histograms whose shapes were interpreted as suggestive of recurrent patterns. Building on our earlier work to test nuclear alpha, beta, and electron-capture decay processes for non-randomness, we searched for correlations in the time series of e + e − annihilations deriving from the β + decay of 22 Na. Coincident gamma photons were counted within narrow time and energy windows over a period of 167 hours leading to a time series of more than 1 million events. Statistical tests for correlated fluctuations in the time series and its histograms were in all cases consistent with statistical control, giving no evidence of a "cosmogenic" force.

Search for anomalies in the decay of radioactive Mn-54

“…Figure 8 shows spectrum S (FFT) j as an example. The frothy appearance is characteristic of white noise in which the sample standard deviation of the spectrum is comparable to the mean [2].…”

“…The exponential fit is visually perfect and satisfies a chi-square test with p(χ 2 18 ) = 0.147. To determine whether the four power spectra contained any statistically significant frequencies, a Walker-Fisher (WF) test was applied [2,13]. The WF test, based on order statistics [19], determines the probability that at least one element of the set {S j } exceeds the largest observed value S max…”

“…These reports are controversial; there is no consensus among physicists regarding the existence of such phenomena. For example, a comprehensive search for correlated fluctuations in the decay of β + emitter 22 Na led to no evidence for such correlations, but to excellent agreement with standard nuclear physics [2]. Likewise, a study of the power output of the Cassini spacecraft radioisotope thermoelectric generators led to no significant deviations in the exponential decay law [3].…”

Statistical Analysis of Subsurface Diffusion of Solar Energy with Implications for Urban Heat Stress

“…Applied to the plots of Figure 4, Equations (23) and (24) led respectively to a mean diffusivity The empirical (solid blue) and predicted (dashed black) time series agree very closely in amplitude and phase. The evidence supports the hypothesis that the observed subterranean temperature time series are the result of predominantly one-dimensional solar heat diffusion and that only this solar energy diffusion contributes to the trendline of…”

Numerical Procedures for Calculating the Probabilities of Recurrent Runs

“…Despite their random occurrence-indeed, precisely because of it-the outcomes of a stochastic process will display ordered patterns which a statistically naïve observer may mistakenly interpret as predictively useful information. In recent years, controversial issues over the information content of time series have arisen in a variety of disciplines such as nuclear physics [1] and econophysics (i.e. dynamics of the stock market) [2].…”