Is there a signal for Lorentz non-invariance in existing radioactive decay data?
Abstract
Measurements of the beta decay rates of nuclei have revealed annual periodicities with approximately the same relative amplitude even though the half-lives range over nine orders of magnitude. Here we show that this can be explained if the emitted neutrinos behave as if they propagate in a medium with a refractive index which varies as the Earth orbits the sun. This refractive index may be due to fundamental Lorentz non-invariance (LNI), or apparent LNI arising from interactions with solar or relic neutrinos, or dark matter. Additionally, this medium could have consequences for experiments attempting to measure the neutrino mass.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1607.03541,
title = {Is there a signal for Lorentz non-invariance in existing radioactive decay data?},
author = {M. J. Mueterthies and D. E. Krause and A. Longman and V. E. Barnes and E. Fischbach},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1607.03541},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
Presented at the Seventh Meeting on CPT and Lorentz Symmetry, Bloomington, Indiana, June 20-24, 2016; typo in Table 1 corrected