Imaging the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore using cosmic rays
Abstract
The dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence Cathedral, was built between 1420 and 1436 by architect Filippo Brunelleschi and it is now cracking under its own weight. Engineering efforts are under way to model the dome's structure and reinforce it against further deterioration. According to some scholars, Brunelleschi might have built reinforcement structures into the dome itself; however, the only known reinforcement is a wood chain 7.75 m above the springing of the Cupola. Multiple scattering muon radiography is a non-destructive imaging method that can be used to image the interior of the dome's wall and therefore ascertain the layout and status of any iron substructure in it. A demonstration measurement was performed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory on a mock-up wall to show the feasibility of the work proposed, and a lightweight and modular imaging system is currently under construction. Here, we will discuss here the results of the demonstration measurement and the potential of the proposed technique, describe the imaging system under construction and outline the plans for the measurement.
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- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
- Univ. of Parma, Parma (Italy)
- INFN – Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino (Italy)
- INFN – Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino (Italy); Univ. of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino (Italy)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Firenze (Italy)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1532712
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-18-31558
Journal ID: ISSN 1364-503X
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. A, Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 377; Journal Issue: 2137; Journal ID: ISSN 1364-503X
- Publisher:
- The Royal Society Publishing
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS; 47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION; muon; Florence; Cupola; Santa Maria del Fiore; cosmic rays; Brunelleschi’s dome
Citation Formats
Guardincerri, Elena, Bacon, Jeffrey Darnell, Barros, Nuno, Blasi, Carlo, Bonechi, Lorenzo, Chen, Andrew, D'Alessandro, Raffaello, Durham, J. Matthew, Fine, Maxine, Mauger, Christopher, Mayers, Godwin, Morris, Christopher, Newcomer, F. Mitch, Okasinski, Jonathan, Pizzico, Tyler, Plaud-Ramos, Kenie Omar, Poulson, Daniel Cris, Reilly, Michael B., Roberts, Andrew, Saeid, Talia, Vaccaro, Vincenzo, and Van Berg, Rick. Imaging the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore using cosmic rays. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1098/rsta.2018.0136.
Guardincerri, Elena, Bacon, Jeffrey Darnell, Barros, Nuno, Blasi, Carlo, Bonechi, Lorenzo, Chen, Andrew, D'Alessandro, Raffaello, Durham, J. Matthew, Fine, Maxine, Mauger, Christopher, Mayers, Godwin, Morris, Christopher, Newcomer, F. Mitch, Okasinski, Jonathan, Pizzico, Tyler, Plaud-Ramos, Kenie Omar, Poulson, Daniel Cris, Reilly, Michael B., Roberts, Andrew, Saeid, Talia, Vaccaro, Vincenzo, & Van Berg, Rick. Imaging the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore using cosmic rays. United States. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2018.0136
Guardincerri, Elena, Bacon, Jeffrey Darnell, Barros, Nuno, Blasi, Carlo, Bonechi, Lorenzo, Chen, Andrew, D'Alessandro, Raffaello, Durham, J. Matthew, Fine, Maxine, Mauger, Christopher, Mayers, Godwin, Morris, Christopher, Newcomer, F. Mitch, Okasinski, Jonathan, Pizzico, Tyler, Plaud-Ramos, Kenie Omar, Poulson, Daniel Cris, Reilly, Michael B., Roberts, Andrew, Saeid, Talia, Vaccaro, Vincenzo, and Van Berg, Rick. Mon .
"Imaging the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore using cosmic rays". United States. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2018.0136. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1532712.
@article{osti_1532712,
title = {Imaging the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore using cosmic rays},
author = {Guardincerri, Elena and Bacon, Jeffrey Darnell and Barros, Nuno and Blasi, Carlo and Bonechi, Lorenzo and Chen, Andrew and D'Alessandro, Raffaello and Durham, J. Matthew and Fine, Maxine and Mauger, Christopher and Mayers, Godwin and Morris, Christopher and Newcomer, F. Mitch and Okasinski, Jonathan and Pizzico, Tyler and Plaud-Ramos, Kenie Omar and Poulson, Daniel Cris and Reilly, Michael B. and Roberts, Andrew and Saeid, Talia and Vaccaro, Vincenzo and Van Berg, Rick},
abstractNote = {The dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence Cathedral, was built between 1420 and 1436 by architect Filippo Brunelleschi and it is now cracking under its own weight. Engineering efforts are under way to model the dome's structure and reinforce it against further deterioration. According to some scholars, Brunelleschi might have built reinforcement structures into the dome itself; however, the only known reinforcement is a wood chain 7.75 m above the springing of the Cupola. Multiple scattering muon radiography is a non-destructive imaging method that can be used to image the interior of the dome's wall and therefore ascertain the layout and status of any iron substructure in it. A demonstration measurement was performed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory on a mock-up wall to show the feasibility of the work proposed, and a lightweight and modular imaging system is currently under construction. Here, we will discuss here the results of the demonstration measurement and the potential of the proposed technique, describe the imaging system under construction and outline the plans for the measurement.},
doi = {10.1098/rsta.2018.0136},
journal = {Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. A, Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences},
number = 2137,
volume = 377,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Mon Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
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