https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05269-x
Regular Article
Distribution of mean time intervals between successive neutron counts for different phenomena and power law forms
1
Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Tuzla, Univerzitetska 4, 75000, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Tuzla, Franjevacka 2, 75000, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
3
Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Tuzla, Univerzitetska 4, 75000, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Received:
16
January
2024
Accepted:
10
May
2024
Published online:
27
May
2024
Power laws appear widely in natural and man-made phenomena. However, there is a lack of studies on power law behavior in nuclear science and engineering. This study deals with a power law relation between the unfolded quantities based on the mean time between detected neutron events of different origins and at different time scales. It was shown that the mean time between successive neutron events due to the neutron background decreases with increasing altitudes and decreases with increasing mass of Pu sample. The results obtained for the Pu samples showed that the distribution of the unfolded quantities in a log–log plot is unchanged except for a multiplicative constant and the existence of power law form. The empirical data on the mean time intervals between neutron counts and altitudes in a range from 251 up to 2076 m above sea level follow approximately a straight line in a log–log plot. However, it was difficult to establish power law behavior unambiguously due to limitations in data acquisition and large fluctuations around the straight line. Based on the available data for a wider range of altitudes in different geographical regions and the neutron counting rates, it was shown that the data for higher altitudes follow a power law relation. A power law behavior of the observed data showed a connection with seemingly unrelated phenomena.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
