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

该奖项支持实验物理学和考古学的研究和教育项目。该项目的目标是开发硬件，电子和数据分析工具，以测量通过考古结构的大气μ子的数量和方向。这些测量将允许映射这些结构内部的空腔。利用这种技术，项目团队将探索奇琴伊察的卡斯蒂略金字塔和拉斯蒙哈斯。 μ子射线照相术的应用超出了考古学。它可以用于地质学（监测火山内的熔岩圆顶），国家安全（确定容器内重物质的存在），工业（对难以接近的结构，如核反应堆的内部结构进行成像）等。 此外，招聘、留住和教育科学和数学学生和教师对于提高科学素养、保持经济增长和继续科学发现至关重要。这个项目将涉及来自芝加哥州立大学，一个主要是黑人的机构，和多米尼加大学，西班牙裔服务机构的学生。因此，它将促进传统上在STEM学科中代表性不足的群体的参与。非侵入式遥感技术的发展是考古学跨学科的伟大成就之一。探地雷达和电阻率层析成像是主要用于地下勘探的例子。该小组将使用一种补充技术建立成像能力：通过考古结构测量宇宙射线μ子的μ子通量分布。该团队将利用该奖项建造的跟踪器探测器将定位位于大型结构内任何位置的小至一立方米区域的密度变化。El Castillo金字塔是实现μ子探测能力的理想选择。它有两个子结构;第一个子结构有两个已知的室;第二个子结构仍然未被挖掘，可能暴露出其他室。金字塔的内部有两个底部隧道，可以容纳探测器。El Castillo的三维密度映射将影响对这座金字塔的建筑理解，并为进一步的考古探索奠定基础。该小组还将调查Las Monjas建筑;这个较小的，较少研究的建筑可能也有未被发现的商会。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的，通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

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.