Testing claims of the GW170817 binary neutron star inspiral affecting $\beta$-decay rates

P. A. Breur; J. C. P. Y. Nobelen; L. Baudis; A. Brown; A. P. Colijn; R. Dressler; R. F. Lang; A. Massafferri; C. Pumar; C. Reuter; D. Schumann; M. Schumann; S. Towers; R. Perci

doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2020.102431

arXiv · 1909.06990

Testing claims of the GW170817 binary neutron star inspiral affecting $\beta$-decay rates

P. A. Breur·J. C. P. Y. Nobelen·L. Baudis·A. Brown·A. P. Colijn·R. Dressler·R. F. Lang·A. Massafferri·C. Pumar·C. Reuter·D. Schumann·M. Schumann·S. Towers·R. Perci

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Abstract

On August 17, 2017, the first gravitational wave signal from a binary neutron star inspiral (GW170817) was detected by Advanced LIGO and Advanced VIRGO. Here we present radioactive $\beta$-decay rates of three independent sources $^{44}$Ti, $^{60}$Co and $^{137}$Cs, monitored during the same period by a precision experiment designed to investigate the decay of long-lived radioactive sources. We do not find any significant correlations between decay rates in a 5\,h time interval following the GW170817 observation. This contradicts a previous claim published in this journal of an observed 2.5$\sigma$ Pearson Correlation between fluctuations in the number of observed decays from two $\beta$-decaying isotopes ($^{32}$Si and $^{36}$Cl) in the same time interval. By correcting for the choice of an arbitrary time interval, we find no evidence of a correlation above 1.5$\sigma$ confidence. In addition, we argue that such analyses on correlations in arbitrary time intervals should always correct for the so-called Look-Elsewhere effect by quoting the global significance.

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P. A. Breur, J. C. P. Y. Nobelen, L. Baudis, A. Brown, A. P. Colijn, R. Dressler, R. F. Lang, A. Massafferri, C. Pumar, C. Reuter, D. Schumann, M. Schumann, S. Towers, R. Perci. 2019-09-16. Testing claims of the GW170817 binary neutron star inspiral affecting $\beta$-decay rates. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2020.102431

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