GSI anomaly and spin-rotation coupling

Abstract

We propose a model in which a recently reported modulation in the decay of the hydrogenlike ions ${}^{140}$Pr$^{\, 58 +}$, ${}^{142}$Pm$^{\, 60 +}$ and ${}^{122}$I$^{\, 52 +}$ arises from the coupling of rotation to the spin of electron and nucleus. The model shows that the spin-spin coupling of electron and nucleus does not contribute to the modulation and predicts that the anomaly cannot be observed if the motion of the ions is rectilinear, or if the ions are stopped in a target. It also supports the notion that the modulation frequency is proportional to the inverse of the atomic mass.