FLUCTUATIONS IN RADIOACTIVE DECAYS .2. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Citation
R. Boscaino et al., FLUCTUATIONS IN RADIOACTIVE DECAYS .2. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics, 49(1), 1994, pp. 341-346
Citations number
25
Categorie Soggetti
Physycs, Mathematical","Phsycs, Fluid & Plasmas
ISSN journal
1063651X
Volume
49
Issue
1
Year of publication
1994
Pages
341 - 346
Database
ISI
SICI code
1063-651X(1994)49:1<341:FIRD.E>2.0.ZU;2-N
Abstract
We experimentally investigate the decay statistics of a gamma source o f Sn-119m(50). We find that, for counting periods of the order of 10 h , the variance is higher than the Poissonian value by more than one or der of magnitude. A careful study of the relative Allan variance and t he measurement of the generalized Allan variance demonstrates that the observed anomaly is not caused by 1/f noise. Rather, even if counting periods are much shorter than the nucleus lifetime, the variance exce ss is a consequence of the nonequilibrium nature of the decay process. This conclusion is supported by the quantitative agreement between ou r experimental data and the theoretical formulas derived in the preced ing paper.