title: Evidence against solar influence on nuclear decay constants.
abstract: The hypothesis that proximity to the Sun causes variation of decay constants at permille level has been tested and disproved. Repeated activity measurements of mono-radionuclide sources were performed over periods from 200 days up to four decades at 14 laboratories across the globe. Residuals from the exponential nuclear decay curves were inspected for annual oscillations. Systematic deviations from a purely exponential decay curve differ from one data set to another and are attributable to instabilities in the instrumentation and measurement conditions. The most stable activity measurements of alpha, beta-minus, electron capture, and beta-plus decaying sources set an upper limit of 0.0006% to 0.008% to the amplitude of annual oscillations in the decay rate. Oscillations in phase with Earth's orbital distance to the Sun could not be observed within a 10-6to 10-5range of precision. There are also no apparent modulations over periods of weeks or months. Consequently, there is no indication of a natural impediment against sub-permille accuracy in half-life determinations, renormalisation of activity to a distant reference date, application of nuclear dating for archaeology, geo- and cosmochronology, nor in establishing the SI unit becquerel and seeking international equivalence of activity standards.
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Retieseweg 111, B-2440Geel, Belgium.
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authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Retieseweg 111, B-2440Geel, Belgium.
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authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Retieseweg 111, B-2440Geel, Belgium.
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authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Retieseweg 111, B-2440Geel, Belgium.
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authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Retieseweg 111, B-2440Geel, Belgium.
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authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Retieseweg 111, B-2440Geel, Belgium.
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authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Retieseweg 111, B-2440Geel, Belgium.
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authors.affiliation: Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany.
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authors.affiliation: Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany.
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authors.affiliation: Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany.
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authors.lastname: Schrader
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radiophysique, Lausanne (IRA), Switzerland.
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authors.affiliation: Institut de Radiophysique, Lausanne (IRA), Switzerland.
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authors.affiliation: Institut de Radiophysique, Lausanne (IRA), Switzerland.
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authors.affiliation: Institut de Radiophysique, Lausanne (IRA), Switzerland.
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authors.affiliation: Institut de Radiophysique, Lausanne (IRA), Switzerland.
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authors.affiliation: Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Pavillon de Breteuil, 92310 Sèvres, France.
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authors.affiliation: Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Pavillon de Breteuil, 92310 Sèvres, France.
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authors.affiliation: Radioactivity Standards Laboratory (NMISA), 15 Lower Hope Road, Rosebank 7700, Cape Town, South Africa.
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authors.initials: MW
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authors.affiliation: Radioactivity Standards Laboratory (NMISA), 15 Lower Hope Road, Rosebank 7700, Cape Town, South Africa.
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authors.affiliation: Radioactivity Standards Laboratory (NMISA), 15 Lower Hope Road, Rosebank 7700, Cape Town, South Africa.
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authors.affiliation: Radioactivity Standards Laboratory (NMISA), 15 Lower Hope Road, Rosebank 7700, Cape Town, South Africa.
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authors.affiliation: National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology (ENEA), Casaccia Research Centre, Via Anguillarese, 301-S.M. Galeria I-00060 Roma, C.P. 2400, I-00100 Roma A.D., Italy.
authors.forename: A
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authors.lastname: Fazio
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology (ENEA), Casaccia Research Centre, Via Anguillarese, 301-S.M. Galeria I-00060 Roma, C.P. 2400, I-00100 Roma A.D., Italy.
authors.forename: P
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authors.affiliation: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee, NSW 2232, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee, NSW 2232, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee, NSW 2232, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee, NSW 2232, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee, NSW 2232, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Canada (NRC), 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A0R6, Canada.
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authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Canada (NRC), 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A0R6, Canada.
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authors.affiliation: National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 OLW, UK.
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authors.affiliation: National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 OLW, UK.
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authors.affiliation: Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 100 Bureau Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8462, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 100 Bureau Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8462, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 100 Bureau Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8462, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 100 Bureau Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8462, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK·CEN), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium.
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authors.affiliation: Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK·CEN), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium.
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authors.affiliation: Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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authors.affiliation: Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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authors.affiliation: CEA, LIST, Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (LNHB), Bât. 602 PC 111, CEA-Saclay 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France.
authors.forename: V
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authors.affiliation: CEA, LIST, Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (LNHB), Bât. 602 PC 111, CEA-Saclay 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France.
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keywords: Decay constant; Half-life; Neutrino; Radioactivity; Sun; Uncertainty