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，以测量穿过考古结构的大气μ子的数量和方向。这些测量将允许绘制这些结构内部的空腔。利用这项技术，项目组将探索奇琴伊察的El Castillo金字塔和Las Monjas金字塔。介子射线照相的应用超出了考古测量。它可以用于地质（监测火山内部的熔岩圆顶），国家安全（确定容器内的重型材料的存在），工业（成像难以进入的结构的内部结构，如核反应堆）等。该奖项的资助有助于促进这些应用的技术进步。此外，招收、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。这个项目将涉及芝加哥州立大学（一个以黑人为主的机构）和多米尼加大学（一个西班牙裔服务机构）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。该小组将利用一种补充技术建立成像能力：测量宇宙射线μ子通过考古结构产生的μ子通量的分布。该团队将利用该奖项建造的跟踪探测器将定位密度变化，小到一立方米，位于大型结构内部的任何位置。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腔室；第二个地下结构仍未挖掘，可能会暴露出其他洞穴。金字塔内部有两条底部隧道，可以放置探测器。埃尔卡斯蒂略金字塔的三维密度图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。该小组还将调查拉斯蒙哈斯大楼；这个较小的，研究较少的建筑也可能有未被发现的室。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.