Muon Tomography Chronology

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This page contains a chronology of important events and reference works in the field of muon tomography. New entries for other works might be added later

Some sources are temporary. More information, better sources and links for each reference (hopefully) will be added in time.

Edit history:
1912, 1936 - complete

1912

Cosmic Rays Discovery
Austrian physicist Victor F. Hess discovers cosmic rays in a series of ascents in a hot-air balloon while looking for the source of the ionization radiation observed in the ground and in the atmosphere. His highest ascent was at 5.3 km of altitude. [More Info]>

1933

First Observation of a Muon

1936

Muon Definitive Discovery
American physicist Carl D. Anderson and his graduate student Seth Neddermeyer discovered the existence of muon particles. The first observation of a muon was in a cosmic ray. [More Info]>

1955

First Use of Muons
First reported use of cosmic ray muons by Eric George to measure the ice thickness above a tunnel in Australia. (Commonwelth Engineer July 1, 455) [More Info]>

1969

Muon Radiography in Chephren Pyramid
Muon radiography is used by Luis Alvarez team to look for hidden chambers in Chephren Pyramid in Egypt. The detection was made with spark chambers and scintillation counters. No additional chambers were found at that time. (Science 176, 832) [More Info]>

1987

Measurement Depth of Nagoya Subway Tunnels
Minato et al. measured the depths of Nagoya subway tunnels using cosmic ray muons. The detectors used were based in scintillation counters. (Minato et al. 1987)

1999

Moon Shadow is Imaged using Muons
At the Soudan II detector in Minnesota, using drift tubes and at an undergroud depth of 700m, the Moon shadow is imaged using muon flux. (Cobb et al. 1999)

2003

Preparation to Inspect the Pyramid of the Sun
The preparations on a muon detector system are iniciated to inspect the interior of the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico. Some of the detection system uses scintillation counters. (Alfaro et al. 2003)

Beginning Applications of Muon Scattering Tomography
At LANL, a seminal work on utilising Coulomb scattering of muons to identify high-Z objects is made aiming the detection of nuclear treats. (Borozdin et al. Nature 422, 277. 2003)

2007

Density Measurement of Mt. Asama
Muography is used by Tanaka et al. to measure a density profile of Mt. Asama and the 1944 Usu lava dome, both in Japan. The method used is based in emulsion cloud chambers. (Tanaka et al. 2007)

2008

LNL Muon Scattering Tomography Telescope

To test the viability of detecting high-Z objects, the Legnaro National Laboratory in Italy built a muon scattering tomography telescope prototype and tested a working vehicle between the detectors. (CMTp)

2009

INFN Muon Tomography System
The large-volume muon tomography system, built by INFN, demonstrates the possibility of material discrimination. The system is based on drift chambers. (Presente et al. 2009)

Density Profile of a Volcano Interior
The density profile of the interior of a volcano in Japan is imaged with cosmic ray muography combined with classical gravimetry by Okudo and Tanaka. (Okubo and Tanaka, 2012)

2012

Fukushima-Daiichi Plant Interior Simulation
Simulation studies show the feasibility of identifying voids and movements of the material inside the reactor core at the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi plant. (Borozdin et al. 2010)

2013

Puy de Dôme Vulcan Struture Study

Cristina Cârloganu used muon transmission tomography to study the volcanic dome interior Puy de Dôme, in France. The muography obtained could be correlated with the geological strutures observed in site. (Cârloganu et al. 2013)

Muon Tomography in Mars

The California Institute of Technology proposed the use muons to map the terrain of Mars. Studies found that muon flux present on martian atmosphere is on par with what is observed in the Earth atmosphere. (Kedar et al. 2014)

2014

Palazzo della Loggia Monitorization
A monitorization system based in muon tomography is installed at Palazzo della Loggia, dating from 1574 in Italy, to monitoring the integral stability of this historical building. (Zenoni et al. 2014)

Nuclear Waste Control
The first images of encapsulated nuclear waste were obtained by the Sellafield Muon Tomography project using a small-scale prototype detector system in Glasgow. (Clarkson et al. 2014)

2016

WatTo Experiment

A muon transmission tomography telescope was set in place pointing in the direction of Saclay water tower, in France, aiming to detect density variations due to water rise and drop levels inside the tower. (Bouteille el al. 2016)

2017

ScanPyramids Project - Cheops Pyramid New Chamber

With the aim of studing the interior of Egypt pyramids, muon transmisson tomography was used in Cheops Great Pyramid. The findings showed the existence of a previously unknown chamber above the Great Gallery.

More Info