Radiation Adsorption Hypothesis
-
Robert Rucker [2020b, 9] states the following: “An average human body contains about 2 x 10^28 neutrons. To analyze the possibility of neutron emission from the body, nuclear analysis calculations were performed using the MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle) computer software. These MCNP calculations determined if 2 x 10^18 neutrons were emitted homogeneously from the body, it would cause a 16% increase in the C14 content at the 1988 sample location by the N14 + neutron → C14 + proton reaction. This 16% increase would cause the carbon date to shift from 30 AD to 1260 AD, thus explaining the 1988 carbon dating of the Shroud. The 2 x 10^18 neutrons would be produced by splitting only 0.0004% of the deuterium nuclei in the body. Emission of 2 x 10^18 neutrons is only one neutron for every ten billion neutrons in the body
(2 x 10^18 / 2 x 10^28 = 1 x 10^-10).” -
According to the neutron absorption hypothesis, neutrons were evidently included in the burst of radiation from the body that caused the image. A small fraction of these neutrons would have been absorbed in the trace amount of N14 in the linen to form new C14 by the [N14 + neutron → C14 + proton] reaction. To shift the carbon date for the Shroud from 33 AD to 1260 AD requires absorption of neutrons to increase the C14 in the cloth by only 16%. [Rucker 2020a, 3] Based on MCNP nuclear analysis computer calculations, to cause this date shift at the 1988 sample location would require 2 x 10^18 neutrons be emitted from the body. This is a very small fraction, only one in ten billion, of the number of neutrons in an average human body (2 x 10^28). [Rucker 2020a, 30]
-
Assuming the owners of the Shroud will allow more testing, the neutron absorption hypothesis can be disproven or fully verified. [Antonacci 2015, ch. 7]
-
In addition to the above, the neutron absorption hypothesis predicts that there will also be unexpected amounts of the extremely rare isotopes of chlorine and calcium: namely Cl-36 and Ca-41. The presence of these isotopes on the Shroud or in a Jerusalem tomb would unambiguously imply an anomalous event beyond our understanding of physics and chemistry. [Antonacci 2015, ch. 6]
-
Rucker simulated his neutron absorption hypothesis [2020a, Figures 14-21] using MCNP nuclear analysis computer software, routinely used in nuclear safety analysis. Further, he assumed a typical sepulcher geometry of first-century Jerusalem.
(The Rucker figures below are used by permission):
-
Note that the Shroud itself need not be disturbed—the charred linen removed subsequent to the 1532 fire is sequestered away in vials kept by the Shroud’s curator. These could be tested by a nuclear accelerator mass spectrometer. If the resultant radiocarbon dates are in the future, the nuclear absorption hypothesis would be vindicated. Further, the obvious conclusion is that a unique event took place in AD 33, namely Jesus’ resurrection. Similarly, discovery of Cl-36 and/or Ca-41 would generate a similar conclusion.