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I'm well aware of transmutation as a way to effectively make radioactive material decay faster, however that isn't really what I mean.

Doing a quick Google search I found references to several theoretical treatises on the subject, and a few references to experiments with, at best, inconclusive results. Among them, there were a few on the quantum anti-zeno effect, which I already knew about, as well as a couple on something called "field enhanced beta decay" and various methods utilizing lasers. Nevertheless, much to my frustration, there was essentially no example I could find with any sort of empirical testing of these effects. So, I suppose I have two questions:

  1. How "good" is the physics behind these claims?
  2. Have any of these effects ever been unequivocally observed experimentally?
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  • $\begingroup$ Possible duplicates: physics.stackexchange.com/q/52062/2451 and links therein. $\endgroup$
    – Qmechanic ♦
    Commented Mar 15, 2013 at 22:56
  • $\begingroup$ @Qmechanic I looked at those, but none specifically reference any particular methodologies, nor do they address the question of empirical observation. $\endgroup$
    – krfkeith
    Commented Mar 15, 2013 at 23:56
  • $\begingroup$ have a look at a similar question and the answers here physics.stackexchange.com/questions/11058/… $\endgroup$
    – anna v
    Commented Mar 16, 2013 at 4:46
  • $\begingroup$ There exists the controversial effect of the sun on lifetimes, a new paper here : arxiv.org/abs/1301.3754 . I think that the answer by @AlanSE in the link above covers the QM aspect. $\endgroup$
    – anna v
    Commented Mar 16, 2013 at 4:53

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