Comparative Analysis of Brookhaven National Laboratory Nuclear Decay Data and Super-Kamiokande Neutrino Data: Indication of a Solar Connection

Abstract

An experiment carried out at the Brookhaven National Laboratory from February 1982 to December 1989 acquired 364 measurements of the beta-decay rates of a sample of 36Cl and of a sample of 32Si. The experimenters reported finding small periodic annual deviations of the data points from an exponential decay - of uncertain origin. We here analyze this dataset by power spectrum analysis and by forming spectrograms and phasegrams. We confirm the occurrence of annual oscillations but we also find evidence of oscillations in a band of frequencies appropriate for the internal rotation of the Sun. Both datasets show clear evidence of a transient oscillation with a frequency of 12.7 cycles per year that falls in the range of rotational frequencies for the solar radiative zone. We repeat these analyses for 358 neutrino measurements acquired by Super-Kamiokande over the interval May 1986 to August 2001. Spectrogram analysis yields a strong and steady oscillation at about 9.5 cycles per year and an intermittent oscillation with frequency in the range 12.5 - 12.7 cycles per year. We attribute the former to rotation of the solar core and the latter to rotation in the radiative zone. Since the flux of neutrinos (8B neutrinos) responsible for the Super-Kamiokande measurements is known, we are able to estimate the cross sections for the beta-decay oscillations at 12.7 cycles per year. These estimates are found to be 10-21.6 cm-2 for 36Cl and 10-18.4 cm-2 for 32Si. We suggest that the beta-decay process is influenced by neutrinos, and that the solar neutrino flux is modulated by magnetic field in the deep solar interior by Resonant Spin Flavor Precession.