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  • Primer
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Muography

Nature Reviews Methods Primers volume 3, Article number: 88 (2023) Cite this article

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Abstract

Muography takes advantage of the specific properties of cosmic-ray muons, relativistic leptons that are much heavier than electrons. Cosmic-ray muons have strong penetrating power and a relativistic nature, which means they can be used in a range of technologies, including imagery; positioning, navigation, timing (PNT); and secured communication in environments where conventional techniques are unavailable. As cosmic-ray muons are universally present on Earth, muographic measurements can be conducted in the same manner across the globe. Similar results have been produced independent of where measurements were taken. This has enabled the muographic field to grow and develop into a powerful tool for investigating natural phenomena, cultural heritage and PNT. This Primer is intended as an introductory article that introduces new and established muographic techniques. Case studies are provided, with examples from recent interdisciplinary advances. Data reproducibility and limitations are discussed, before finishing with an outlook of future developments.

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Fig. 1: Examples of imaging, positioning, navigation and timing, and cryptographic technologies in muography.
Fig. 2: Instrumentation used for muographic imagery.
Fig. 3: Instrumentation used for muometric positioning, navigation and timing and cryptography.
Fig. 4: Muometric positioning, navigation, timing and cryptography.
Fig. 5: Applications of muographic imagery.
Fig. 6: Applications of muometric cryptography.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Virtual Muography Institute, Tokyo, Japan

    Hiroyuki K. M. Tanaka, Cristiano Bozza, Alan Bross, Elena Cantoni, Osvaldo Catalano, Giancarlo Cerretto, Andrea Giammanco, Jon Gluyas, Ivan Gnesi, Marko Holma, Tadahiro Kin, Ignacio Lázaro Roche, Giovanni Leone, Zhiyi Liu, Domenico Lo Presti, Jacques Marteau, Jun Matsushima, László Oláh, Natalia Polukhina, Surireddi S. V. S. Ramakrishna, Marco Sellone, Armando Hideki Shinohara, Sara Steigerwald, Kenji Sumiya, Lee Thompson, Valeri Tioukov, Yusuke Yokota & Dezső Varga

  2. The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Hiroyuki K. M. Tanaka, Jun Matsushima, László Oláh & Yusuke Yokota

  3. Università degli Studi di Salerno, Salerno, Italy

    Cristiano Bozza

  4. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL, USA

    Alan Bross

  5. Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Turin, Italy

    Elena Cantoni, Giancarlo Cerretto & Marco Sellone

  6. Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, Palermo, Italy

    Osvaldo Catalano

  7. Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Andrea Giammanco

  8. Durham University, Durham, UK

    Jon Gluyas

  9. CREF, Centro Enrico Fermi, Roma, Italy

    Ivan Gnesi

  10. INFN LNF gruppo di Cosenza, Frascati, Italy

    Ivan Gnesi

  11. CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

    Ivan Gnesi

  12. Muon Solutions, Oulu, Finland

    Marko Holma

  13. University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Marko Holma

  14. Arctic Planetary Science Institute (APSI), Oulu, Finland

    Marko Holma

  15. Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Tadahiro Kin

  16. Laboratoire Souterrain à Bas Bruit (LSBB), Rustrel, France

    Ignacio Lázaro Roche

  17. Universidad de Atacama, Copiapó, Chile

    Giovanni Leone

  18. Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

    Zhiyi Liu

  19. Università di Catania, Catania, Italy

    Domenico Lo Presti

  20. Institute of Physics of the 2 Infinities (IP2I), Lyon, France

    Jacques Marteau

  21. MUODIM, Lyon, France

    Jacques Marteau

  22. Lebedev Physical Institute, Moscow, Russia

    Natalia Polukhina

  23. Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India

    Surireddi S. V. S. Ramakrishna

  24. Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil

    Armando Hideki Shinohara

  25. The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Lee Thompson

  26. National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Naples, Italy

    Valeri Tioukov

  27. Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary

    Dezső Varga

Authors
  1. Hiroyuki K. M. Tanaka
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  2. Cristiano Bozza
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  28. Dezső Varga
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Contributions

H.K.M.T., C.B., A.B., O.C., G.C., A.G., M.H., I.L.R., G.L., Z.L. D.L.P., J. Marteau, L.O., S.S.V.S.R., S.S. and D.V. wrote the text. H.K.M.T., C.B., A.B., O.C., Z.L., J. Marteau, L.O. and K.S. prepared the figures. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiroyuki K. M. Tanaka.

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Peer review information

Nature Reviews Methods Primers thanks Stylianos Chatzidakis, Luigi Cimmino and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Related links

AquaMuography Research Facility: https://aqualine.muographers.org

Definition of radiography: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/radiography

Facility for High Timing Accuracy for Fundamental Physics Experiments of the Italian National Metrological Institute: https://fraternise.inrim.it/fraternise-english

Introductory videos: https://www.youtube.com/@MUOGRAPHIX/videos

MUODIM: https://muodim.com/

MUOGRAPHIX: https://news.muographix.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

News article about the hidden corridor: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-64825526

Oven-controlled crystal oscillators: https://www.microtron.be/media/c78fa7db61fd72aec4c52d1a2ae40826/thunderbolt-ptp-grandmaster-clock-ptp-gm200.pdf

Rubidium CSAC (SPARKX SPX 14830): https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14830

US Department of Homeland Security PNT Program: https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/pnt-program

UTokyo–Wigner Joint Laboratory: https://muography-tkp.wigner.hu/newcut/

White Rabbit: https://white-rabbit.web.cern.ch/

Glossary

Cosmic time calibration

(CTC). A decametric-scale wireless clock network resynchronization scheme with approximately nanosecond precision. Cosmic-ray muons are used instead of radiofrequency signals.

Cosmic time synchronization

(CTS). A hectometric to kilometric-scale wireless clock network resynchronization scheme with precision of 10–100 ns. Extended air shower (EAS) particles are used instead of radiofrequency signals.

Secondary particles

Secondary cosmic rays generated by interaction between primary cosmic rays and atmospheric nuclei, including various kinds of particles such as mesons, muons and neutrinos.

True random numbers

(TRNs). Random numbers that are not affected by external factors, intentions, signs or biases. It is impossible to predict what number will come next, even if the generation mechanism is known.

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Tanaka, H.K.M., Bozza, C., Bross, A. et al. Muography. Nat Rev Methods Primers 3, 88 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-023-00270-7

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