Anomalies in the Decay of Particular Nuclear Isotopes (Briefing charts)

Abstract

It is extremely challenging to measure the half-life of long lived isotopes. A USAFA-Purdue- Stanford- CCHEN collaboration has documented experiments in which small, unexplained fluctuations were found in the half-lives of select radioisotopes. Since the fluctuation was small in each case (on the order of 0.5%), the effect usually had only a relatively minor impact on the determination of the half-life. A comparison of the periodic behavior of the data from several of the experiments indicated that the periods of the primary mode of oscillation are remarkably similar. While the systematic effects are certainly possible, the group notes the anomalies are similar in nature to some experimental Dark Matter searches that may indicate new physics. The group has gained access to daily calibration data for the IAEA s International Monitoring System.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 08, 2014
Accession Number
ADA608760

Entities

People

  • Brent Morris
  • Jere Jenkins
  • Juan Klein
  • R. Lee

Organizations

  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Calibration
  • Detectors
  • Isotopes
  • Laboratory Procedures
  • Measurement
  • Monitoring
  • Oscillation
  • Periodic Variations
  • Power Spectra
  • Radioactive Decay
  • Teamwork
  • United States Air Force Academy

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Systems Analysis and Design