The modulation experiment: searching for trends in radioactive decays

Abstract

This master thesis investigates the decay of three radioactive isotopes: cs-137, co-60 and ti-44. The direct motivation for this experiment are claims of modulation in radioactive isotopes of yearly, monthly and daily frequencies. The stability of the modulation experiment is first investigated, and estimations of the effect of environmental parameters are made. Then the claim of yearly modulation is investigated for all sources and excluded at 95% confidence for amplitudes above 2.57*10^-4. Via power spectrum analysis other frequencies are also investigated, and no evidence of modulation is found.