RUI:Collaboration for Studies of Cosmic Ray Muon Radiation and its Application to Archaeometry

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This award supports a project of research and education in experimental physics and archaeometry. The project's goal is to develop hardware, electronics, and data analysis tools to measure the quantity and direction of the atmospheric muons that go through archaeological structures. These measurements will allow the mapping of cavities inside these structures. Using this technique, the project team will explore El Castillo pyramid and Las Monjas in Chichen Itza. The applications of muon radiography go beyond archaeometry. It can be used in geology (to monitor the lava domes inside volcanos), in national security (to determine the presence of the heavy materials inside containers), in industry (to image the inner structure of inaccessible structures, like nuclear reactors), etc. The funding for this award contributes to the advancement of the technology that promotes these applications. In addition, recruiting, retaining, and educating science and mathematics students and teachers is critical to advancing scientific literacy, maintaining economic growth, and continuing scientific discoveries. This project will involve students from Chicago State University, a Predominantly Black Institution, and Dominican University, a Hispanic Serving Institution. Thus, it will advance the participation of groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM disciplines. The development of non-intrusive remote sensing techniques has been one of the great interdisciplinary successes of archaeometry. Ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography are examples that are mostly used for subsurface explorations. The group will build imaging capabilities using a complementary technique: the measurements of the distribution of the muon flux from cosmic ray muons through archeological structures. The tracker detector that the team will build with this award will locate variations in the density in regions as small as one cubic meter situated at any position inside a large structure. El Castillo pyramid is ideal for implementing the capabilities of muon detection. It has two substructures; the first substructure presents two known chambers; the second substructure remains un-excavated and could expose other chambers. The interior of the pyramid is granted by two base tunnels that can house the detector. The three-dimensional density mapping of El Castillo will impact the architectural understanding of this pyramid and set the basis for further archaeological explorations. The group will also investigate the Las Monjas building; this smaller, less studied construction may also have undiscovered chambers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.