Saracino G, Amato L, Ambrosino F, Antonucci G, Bonechi L, Cimmino L, Consiglio L, Alessandro R D ', Luzio E De, Minin G, Noli P, Scognamiglio L, Strolin P, Varriale A
Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
INFN sezione di Napoli, Naples, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2017 Apr 26;7(1):1181. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-01277-3.
Muography is an imaging technique based on the measurement of absorption profiles for muons as they pass through rocks and earth. Muons are produced in the interactions of high-energy cosmic rays in the Earth's atmosphere. The technique is conceptually similar to usual X-ray radiography, but with extended capabilities of investigating over much larger thicknesses of matter thanks to the penetrating power of high-energy muons. Over the centuries a complex system of cavities has been excavated in the yellow tuff of Mt. Echia, the site of the earliest settlement of the city of Naples in the 8th century BC. A new generation muon detector designed by us, was installed under a total rock overburden of about 40 metres. A 26 days pilot run provided about 14 millions of muon events. A comparison of the measured and expected muon fluxes improved the knowledge of the average rock density. The observation of known cavities proved the validity of the muographic technique. Hints on the existence of a so far unknown cavity was obtained. The success of the investigation reported here demonstrates the substantial progress of muography in underground imaging and is likely to open new avenues for its widespread utilisation.
μ子成像技术是一种基于测量μ子穿过岩石和土壤时吸收曲线的成像技术。μ子是由地球大气中高能宇宙射线相互作用产生的。该技术在概念上与传统的X射线照相术相似，但由于高能μ子的穿透能力，能够对更厚的物质进行探测。几个世纪以来，人们在埃基亚山的黄色凝灰岩中挖掘出了一个复杂的洞穴系统，这里是公元前8世纪那不勒斯城最早的定居点。我们设计的新一代μ子探测器安装在约40米厚的岩石覆盖层下。为期26天的试运行提供了约1400万个μ子事件。通过比较测量的和预期的μ子通量，提高了对平均岩石密度的认识。对已知洞穴的观测证明了μ子成像技术的有效性。还获得了关于一个迄今未知洞穴存在的线索。本文所报道的调查的成功证明了μ子成像技术在地下成像方面取得的重大进展，并可能为其广泛应用开辟新的途径。
