Page 28 - 4th edition Nayi Udaan

Muography involves placing a muon tracker ical structures, security concerns and geosci-
downstream of the body under investigation.
This device tracks the trajectories of muons to
obtain an angular map of their flux (or flow of
energy through the surface) and this is then
compared to the muon flux impinging on the
Earth’s surface. This gives rise to a map of
muon transmission through the body and
hence a muographic image of the body’s inter-
nal structures is obtained.
Perhaps the most well-known example of an
application of this technique comes with the
ground-breaking discovery of a hidden cham-
ber within the Great Pyramid of Giza in 2017.
Researchers placed muon detectors inside as
well as outside the pyramid, and what they
found through analysis of muon trajectories
and deflections was the presence of an undis-
covered void hiding in its interior. A more
extensive survey of the Great Pyramid, placing
much larger detectors outside it, is being
planned by another team of researchers.
Structure of a muon detector
But technological developments have opened
the path to muography’s application in many
more fields of
interest, such as archaeology, studies of geolog-
References
1-K. Morishima et al. Discovery of a big void in Khufu’s Pyramid by observation of cosmic-ray muons. Nature. Vol. 552, November 2, 2017, p.
386. doi: 10.1038/nature24647.
2-L. Cimmino et al., 3D muography for the search of hidden cavities. Sci. Rep. 9, 2974 (2019).
3-S. Procureur, Muon imaging: Principles, technologies and applications. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. 878, 169–179 (2018).
26
ence.Today, muons are being used by volcanol-
ogists to study the internal structure of volca-
noes and predict explosive eruptions by track-
ing magma movements. If one knows where a
volcano’s weaknesses lie, they can use them to
their advantage as part of a planning and early-
warning system, helping to save hundreds of
lives. Another application lies in using muogra-
phy to search for smuggled nuclear
Main applications of muon technology in vari-
ous countries material and nuclear waste.
Following the terrorist attacks in 2001, the U.S.
government explored the usage of muography
for exactly this purpose, and they succeeded.
The same method was applied to search for
hazardous nuclear fuel in the Fukushima reac-
tor after the 2011 tsunami in Japan.
In fact, the search for special nuclear materials
inside cargo containers was one of the first
applications of muon radiography, and it con-
tinues to be put to use by various companies for
its highly potent exploration capabilities.
The technique is developed and advanced
enough to go beyond the limit of archaeology
and geoscience. Apart from its present applica-
tions, it can be used in civil engineering to
monitor bridges, in tunnels and cavities, and in
nuclear safeguards.
Scientists envisage applica-
tions in medicine too - muon
scattering can offer continu-
ous imaging of human chest
cavities and maybe even
tumours.
Riya Jain
XII A
There are many things yet Modern School,
to explore which students Barakhamba Road