Experimental search for the effect of resonant environment on the Mössbauer absorption of gamma rays by 57Fe

Due to the virtual photon exchange between atomic nuclei and the field of zero-point electromagnetic oscillations, some nuclei of a given sample are in a virtual excited state with the lifetime ∼ħ/E, where E is the energy of nuclear level. For ⁵⁷Fe nuclei, whose first excited state has an energy of 14.4 keV, this time is equal to ∼4.6×10⁻²⁰ s. If a thin ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer gamma-ray absorber is surrounded by a thick screen of the same atoms, the number of virtual excited nuclei in the absorber decreases and, at first glance, it should more strongly absorb Mössbauer gamma rays emitted by an external source and passing through the absorber. In this work, the ratio of the intensities of 14.4-keV gamma rays emitted by the ⁵⁷Fe nuclide and passing through the thin resonant absorber is measured in the absence and presence of the resonant screen around the absorber. Comparison shows that these ratios measured for the gamma source at rest and in the oscillating state differ by 0.00123±0.00075. This value should be treated as the upper limit for the desired effect under these experimental conditions.