Solar-Terrestrial radioactive decay link

Yup. It was only armchair speculation that made the link in the first place.

The words "armchair speculation" are not appropriate when used to describe hypothesis formation and testing against evidence. My point was that you should not derate this process: and, yes, it is identical to the (speculative) suggestions that solar neutrino flux affected decay rates.

Those suggestions were a typical example if an apparent experimental anomaly that proved on inspection to be something else. That is the way science works. No shame in suggesting way out mechanisms, no surprise in discovering a more mundane solution.

Recent replication of annual decay rate variation measurement (with much better eqpt) finds nothing:

https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.09373

A whole load of historic papers relating to this, some claimimg (with less bomb-proof methodology) that annual rate variation has been found.

http://web.mit.edu/redingtn/www/netadv/XperDecRat.html

This idea never looked likely - which did not prevent its very thorough exploration. With arguments for and against significance of the early data. Note how the better more recent experiments tend to have null results.

Quote from bocijn

On the claim of modulations in radon decay and their association with solar rotation"

The sun definitely has a high influence on "natural" radioactivity. Daily geiger rates are following the sun. This could also be one reason that solar radiation induces decay's inside the measurement instruments. Thus the only reliable way to do such research is by using a gamma spectrometer what finally certifies the origin of the count(s).

Shielding can reduce some effects but also can increase it (muons..).

For me just using a gamma counter is bachelor science.

Rain (wet ground) can dampen the ground-sourced radioactive background levels, compared to dry ground. In radon-elevated areas, wind can blow radon around, making spurious increases in gamma counts, when using sensitive devices.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1505.01752

Quote

The maximal values of amplitude are observed at the moments when the projections of the installation Earth location velocity vectors toward the source of possible variation achieve its maximal magnitudes.

This indicates a possible Doppler shift effect as a mechanism for inducing maximal decay rates.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1705.03010

Analysis of Radon-Chain Decay Measurements: Evidence of Solar Influences and Inferences

Concerning Solar Internal Structure and the Role of Neutrinos

Quote

Abstract

An analysis of 85,000 measurements of gamma radiation associated with the decay of radon and its

progeny in a sealed container located in the yard of the Geological Survey of Israel (GSI) in Jerusalem,

between February 15, 2007 and November 7, 2016, reveals variations in both time of day and time of year

with amplitudes of 4% and 2%, respectively. The phase of maximum of the annual oscillation occurs in

June, suggestive of a galactic influence. Measurements made at midnight show strong evidence of an

influence of solar rotation, but measurements made at noon do not. We find several pairs of oscillations

with frequencies separated by 1 year-1, indicative of an influence of rotation that is oblique with respect to

the normal to the ecliptic, notably a pair at approximately 12.7 year-1 and 13.7 year-1 that match the

synodic and sidereal rotation frequencies of the solar radiative zone as determined by helioseismology.

Another notable pair (approximately 11.4 year-1 and 12.4 year-1) may correspond to an obliquely rotating

inward extension of the radiative zone. We also find a triplet of oscillations with approximate frequencies

7.4 year-1, 8.4 year-1 and 9.4 year-1 which, in view of the fact that the principal oscillation in Super-

Kamiokande measurements is at 9.4 year-1, may have their origin in an obliquely rotating core. We

propose, as a hypothesis to be tested, that neutrinos can stimulate beta decays and that, when this

occurs, the secondary products of the decay tend to travel in the same direction as the stimulating

neutrino. The effective cross-section of this process is estimated to be of order 10-18 cm2. The striking

diurnal asymmetry appears to be attributable to a geometrical asymmetry in the experiment. Since we are

here analyzing only gamma radiation, our analysis does not argue for or against an intrinsic variability of

alpha-decays. Nighttime data show a number of curious “pulses” of duration 1 - 3 days.

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