Sirs, I've read the preprints of your recent papers related to changes in decay rates http://arxiv.org/abs/1007.0924 http://arxiv.org/abs/1007.3318
In the first paper a number of possible systematic causes are checked, and the conclusion states that none of them can explain the changes in decay rates. It's also mentioned that although the cause has probably a solar origin, the phase shift between the inverse of the Sun-Earth distance and the decay rate changes hasn't been accounted for. I think that I have a potential explanation for the phase shift: If you plot the magnitude of Earth's velocity around the Sun, you'll not get a match in phase with the decay data, but if you add the velocity components of the solar system towards the Solar Apex, the match is quite good: http://maurol.com.ar/decay_rates/hl_bnl_VSolarApex.png In that graph, the red line is 1/R^2-1. This is similar to the original bnl graph, and both lines are in fact superimposed. The green line is Earth's velocity plus the velocity of the solar system towards the Solar Apex. I took the direction of the Solar Apex from the literature. In this graph, the direction of the Solar Apex is in ecliptic coordinates, long. 260 degrees, lat 53.19 degrees, and velocity 16.6 km/s. So, changes in decay rates could be related to changes in velocity of the Earth towards the Solar Apex. The idea of velocity being responsible makes sense: At a higher velocity, more particles (neutrinos?) will cross the radioactive sample by unit time, increasing the probability of a nuclear collision that will result in a decay. This is similar, in a sense, to the way a car is subjected to increased friction depending on its velocity. It's also very interesting to note that the relation between decay rates and this velocity is inverse (note the minus sign in the dividend at the end of the formula for the green line). When the velocity is smaller (more negative), the effect is greater. That means that when the Earth is traveling against the general direction of movement towards the Solar Apex, the decay rate increases, and vice versa. This can be explained by the Earth having to overcome a 'wind' that is blowing towards that point, in a similar way that a runner encounters more resistance running against the wind that along the wind. I've also plotted other potential cause, namely, Earth's velocity plus Local Standard of Rest (LSR) velocity: http://maurol.com.ar/decay_rates/hl_bnl_VLSR.png In this second graph, LSR is in ecliptic coordinates, long. 347 degrees, lat 59.57 degrees, and velocity 220 km/s. That is equivalent to a movement of the LSR in the general direction of galactic rotation: galactic longitude 90 degrees, galactic latitude 0 degrees. In this case, Earth's velocity towards the LSR is not reversed. I think this match is not so good, and would not explain the effect so well as the previous one, but please judge for yourselves. Probably you can suggest further tests or shortcomings of the hypothesis. I would also like to match the other datasets against these velocities, but the other published graphs are not so clear as the bnl graph is. Best regards, and please let me know what you think. Mauro Lacy
