Mystery of the buried temple
This story began two and a half thousand years ago. Although I happened to touch her only last year. And what happened next, as if in a puzzle, many lines formed at once. And at the junction of fundamental physics and equally fundamental archeology, a very applied scientific project was born that simply cannot be shared.
Such a non-standard "do it yourself".
')
In August 2017, while working in the press service of the National University of Science and Technology MISiS, I learned about a technique that I called “X-ray for mountains” for myself. Natalya Gennadyevna Polukhina, a leading expert of the university and professor of LPI, introduced me to her as the head of one of the three scientific groups in the world that deals with the so-called “muonic radiography”. The method by which it is possible to “shine through” objects of a kilometer size is based on the registration of muons - elementary particles, which are born due to the collision of cosmic rays with the Earth’s atmosphere. There are so many of these particles that every minute 10 thousand muons fall on every square meter of the earth's surface. If any obstacle (building, mountain, or just soil) is encountered on their way, then passing through it, the flow of muons weakens. The rate of flow reduction depends on the thickness of the obstacle, as well as on the density of the substance making it up. The maximum path length in water, for example, is about 8.5 km. In the ground - almost 2.5 km.
However, the insides of small (several meters) objects can also be seen. And the resolution will be even better. The main thing is that only this object should be on the path of the muons to the sensor. As Natalya Gennadievna herself says: The new technology has other areas of application. “You can assess the state of the vent of a volcano, a nuclear power plant reactor or a glacier in the mountains. You can find a new natural underground storage for natural gas, catch the fire that has arisen in the mountain of coal mining long before it burns out from the inside, predict a volcanic eruption or prevent the catastrophic consequences of dips in mines or on the streets of cities like Berezniki (Perm region). And we must remember that residents of many large settlements suffer from such man-made failures. ”
As I said, there are three such groups in the world. One in Italy, one in Japan, one in Russia. The Japanese group, by the way, shortly before it became famous, having found a hidden room in the pyramid of Cheops. What modestly wrote in Nature. What the Italians do, I don’t know, but Professor Polukhina oversees the installation of muon sensors as part of a new SHiP experiment (Search for Hidden Particles - the search for hidden particles) at CERN. An experiment in which NUST “MISiS” participates together with 40 leading universities in the world. However, our conversation was remembered by the fact that with the help of this technique it is possible to search for voids and even determine the occurrence of rocks of different density. Because with a difference of 5% they are already becoming visible. So scientists were looking for a place for a model experiment.
In a couple of months, thanks to the Russian Union of Young Scientists, I, as the chief editor of the site for seeking funding (if interested - see the profile), were lucky to come to the Dagestan State University for scientific groups.
And then, along with his representatives - get on a trip to Derbent. And at the top of the city, in the Naryn-Kala fortress, we stumbled upon a strange leaky dome. To the question: “What is this?”, They told me a mysterious story.
It turned out that an ancient reservoir is located in this place underground. The 12-meter depth of the building dates back to the 300th year of our era. Two hundred or three hundred years ago, it was no longer used for its intended purpose, but before that it regularly supplied water to the fortress.
And everything would be fine, but the reservoir is somehow strange. All normal reservoirs parallel to the ground section is square (more precisely, rectangular). In a pinch, round. And here - the cross. And this cross is located exactly in the cardinal directions. Moreover, the corridor is extended to the south. And the vaults of the room are such that, in combination with the dome, all this from the inside looks like quite a Christian church. And if so, then this is the oldest Christian temple on the territory of modern Russia. The discovery of the century, one might say. Scientists who have discovered such a miracle say that the temple was originally built as an above-ground one (which is indicated by traces of immured entrances), and the Arabs covered it with earth after they had captured Derbent (about 700 AD).
Not all archaeologists agreed with this interpretation. I will not give all the arguments of the parties, there are a lot of them. Articles, candidates, conferences, the transformation of best friends into enemies did not lead to the result. In the absence of documentary sources, the dispute remained unresolved. And dig the building does not work. Firstly, the Naryn-Kala fortress belongs to the UNESCO cultural heritage sites, and there is no red tape. Secondly, it is not clear how the walls of a building, which have been exposed to water for so long, will behave when they are freed from the ground.
It was here that everything grew together: the fortress, the mountain, the muons and the NUST "MISiS". And when the Dagestan archaeologists heard the story about the muon radiography, they immediately realized that a solution to their problem was found. They immediately began to prepare the administration of the museum to ensure that a scientific experiment would take place on its territory.
In the meantime, after returning from Dagestan, I first rushed to Professor Polukhina. Told her about the object. The professor instantly agreed to look at him. After studying the topographic maps, the joint research group came to the conclusion that the relief allows you to scan the building and get a three-dimensional image.
While there is a search for funding for a full-scale experiment, for which it is necessary to install a number of sensors outside the temple and ensure their safety for several months, NUST "MISiS" provided scientists with a photo emulsion for sensors to conduct a preliminary experiment. In February, researchers put sensors inside the building, and in April took them and took them to a developer. Now there is a digitization of plates and decoding data. Perhaps already at this stage it will be possible to “see” what is there, behind the walls. But a full-fledged 3D-picture will, of course, be only an experiment with outdoor sensors. So stay tuned - the most interesting is yet to come.
In the meantime, a small photo selection from the members of the expedition about how they conducted the experiment.
I had to load the sensors through the side opening.
The second series of sensors.
Detector plates.
The sensor is small. I had to wrap it with a film so as not to rust - around the water.
The sensor is large.
Removing the sensors helped Emergency Situations Ministry staff.
For the photo, thanks to Natalia Okateva (FIAN), Sergey Gnuskov (NITU MISiS), RoSMU, Richard Lozin, Alexander Golovko and the media of the city of Berezniki.
Such a non-standard "do it yourself".
')
In August 2017, while working in the press service of the National University of Science and Technology MISiS, I learned about a technique that I called “X-ray for mountains” for myself. Natalya Gennadyevna Polukhina, a leading expert of the university and professor of LPI, introduced me to her as the head of one of the three scientific groups in the world that deals with the so-called “muonic radiography”. The method by which it is possible to “shine through” objects of a kilometer size is based on the registration of muons - elementary particles, which are born due to the collision of cosmic rays with the Earth’s atmosphere. There are so many of these particles that every minute 10 thousand muons fall on every square meter of the earth's surface. If any obstacle (building, mountain, or just soil) is encountered on their way, then passing through it, the flow of muons weakens. The rate of flow reduction depends on the thickness of the obstacle, as well as on the density of the substance making it up. The maximum path length in water, for example, is about 8.5 km. In the ground - almost 2.5 km.
However, the insides of small (several meters) objects can also be seen. And the resolution will be even better. The main thing is that only this object should be on the path of the muons to the sensor. As Natalya Gennadievna herself says: The new technology has other areas of application. “You can assess the state of the vent of a volcano, a nuclear power plant reactor or a glacier in the mountains. You can find a new natural underground storage for natural gas, catch the fire that has arisen in the mountain of coal mining long before it burns out from the inside, predict a volcanic eruption or prevent the catastrophic consequences of dips in mines or on the streets of cities like Berezniki (Perm region). And we must remember that residents of many large settlements suffer from such man-made failures. ”
As I said, there are three such groups in the world. One in Italy, one in Japan, one in Russia. The Japanese group, by the way, shortly before it became famous, having found a hidden room in the pyramid of Cheops. What modestly wrote in Nature. What the Italians do, I don’t know, but Professor Polukhina oversees the installation of muon sensors as part of a new SHiP experiment (Search for Hidden Particles - the search for hidden particles) at CERN. An experiment in which NUST “MISiS” participates together with 40 leading universities in the world. However, our conversation was remembered by the fact that with the help of this technique it is possible to search for voids and even determine the occurrence of rocks of different density. Because with a difference of 5% they are already becoming visible. So scientists were looking for a place for a model experiment.
In a couple of months, thanks to the Russian Union of Young Scientists, I, as the chief editor of the site for seeking funding (if interested - see the profile), were lucky to come to the Dagestan State University for scientific groups.
And then, along with his representatives - get on a trip to Derbent. And at the top of the city, in the Naryn-Kala fortress, we stumbled upon a strange leaky dome. To the question: “What is this?”, They told me a mysterious story.
It turned out that an ancient reservoir is located in this place underground. The 12-meter depth of the building dates back to the 300th year of our era. Two hundred or three hundred years ago, it was no longer used for its intended purpose, but before that it regularly supplied water to the fortress.
And everything would be fine, but the reservoir is somehow strange. All normal reservoirs parallel to the ground section is square (more precisely, rectangular). In a pinch, round. And here - the cross. And this cross is located exactly in the cardinal directions. Moreover, the corridor is extended to the south. And the vaults of the room are such that, in combination with the dome, all this from the inside looks like quite a Christian church. And if so, then this is the oldest Christian temple on the territory of modern Russia. The discovery of the century, one might say. Scientists who have discovered such a miracle say that the temple was originally built as an above-ground one (which is indicated by traces of immured entrances), and the Arabs covered it with earth after they had captured Derbent (about 700 AD).
Not all archaeologists agreed with this interpretation. I will not give all the arguments of the parties, there are a lot of them. Articles, candidates, conferences, the transformation of best friends into enemies did not lead to the result. In the absence of documentary sources, the dispute remained unresolved. And dig the building does not work. Firstly, the Naryn-Kala fortress belongs to the UNESCO cultural heritage sites, and there is no red tape. Secondly, it is not clear how the walls of a building, which have been exposed to water for so long, will behave when they are freed from the ground.
It was here that everything grew together: the fortress, the mountain, the muons and the NUST "MISiS". And when the Dagestan archaeologists heard the story about the muon radiography, they immediately realized that a solution to their problem was found. They immediately began to prepare the administration of the museum to ensure that a scientific experiment would take place on its territory.
In the meantime, after returning from Dagestan, I first rushed to Professor Polukhina. Told her about the object. The professor instantly agreed to look at him. After studying the topographic maps, the joint research group came to the conclusion that the relief allows you to scan the building and get a three-dimensional image.
While there is a search for funding for a full-scale experiment, for which it is necessary to install a number of sensors outside the temple and ensure their safety for several months, NUST "MISiS" provided scientists with a photo emulsion for sensors to conduct a preliminary experiment. In February, researchers put sensors inside the building, and in April took them and took them to a developer. Now there is a digitization of plates and decoding data. Perhaps already at this stage it will be possible to “see” what is there, behind the walls. But a full-fledged 3D-picture will, of course, be only an experiment with outdoor sensors. So stay tuned - the most interesting is yet to come.
In the meantime, a small photo selection from the members of the expedition about how they conducted the experiment.
I had to load the sensors through the side opening.
The second series of sensors.
Detector plates.
The sensor is small. I had to wrap it with a film so as not to rust - around the water.
The sensor is large.
Removing the sensors helped Emergency Situations Ministry staff.
For the photo, thanks to Natalia Okateva (FIAN), Sergey Gnuskov (NITU MISiS), RoSMU, Richard Lozin, Alexander Golovko and the media of the city of Berezniki.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/374491/
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