INFN muon tomography demonstrator: past and recent results with an eye to near-future activities

Recent developments in X-ray diffraction/scattering computed tomography for materials science

X-ray diffraction/scattering computed tomography (XDS-CT) methods are a non-destructive class of chemical imaging techniques that have the capacity to provide reconstructions of sample cross-sections with spatially resolved chemical information. While X-ray diffraction CT (XRD-CT) is the most well-established method, recent advances in instrumentation and data reconstruction have seen greater use of related techniques like small angle X-ray scattering CT and pair distribution function CT. Additionally, the adoption of machine learning techniques for tomographic reconstruction and data analysis are fundamentally disrupting how XDS-CT data is processed. The following narrative review highlights recent developments and applications of XDS-CT with a focus on studies in the last five years. This article is part of the theme issue 'Exploring the length scales, timescales and chemistry of challenging materials (Part 2)'.

Momentum-Dependent Cosmic Ray Muon Computed Tomography Using a Fieldable Muon Spectrometer

Cosmic ray muon tomography has been recently explored as a non-destructive technique for monitoring or imaging dense well-shielded objects, classically not achievable with traditional tomographic methods. As a recent example of technology transition from high-energy physics to real-world engineering applications, cosmic ray muon tomography has been used with various levels of success in nuclear nonproliferation. However, present muon detection systems have no momentum measurement capabilities and recently developed muon-based radiographic techniques rely only on muon tracking. This unavoidably reduces resolution and requires longer measurement times thus limiting the widespread use of cosmic ray muon tomography. Measurement of cosmic ray muon momenta has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency and resolution of cosmic ray muon tomography. In this paper, we propose and explore the use of momentum-dependent cosmic ray muon tomography using multi-layer gas Cherenkov radiators, a new concept for measuring muon momentum in the field. The muon momentum measurements are coupled with a momentum-dependent imaging algorithm (mPoCA) and image reconstructions are presented to demonstrate the benefits of measuring momentum in cosmic ray muon tomography.

Muography: overview and future directions

Cosmic-ray muography uses high-energy particles for imaging applications that are produced by cosmic rays in particle showers in the Earth's atmosphere. This technology has developed rapidly over the last 15 years, and it is currently branching out into many different applications and moving from academic research to commercial application. As in any new sub-field of research and technology, the nomenclature of the field itself is still developing and has not settled yet as new aspects of the field are appearing and with them the terms to describe them. This overview of the field of muography is not going to focus on the physics, on the reconstruction algorithms or on the involved detector technology. Detailed papers on these aspects are included in this issue of Philosophical Transactions A and I will refer to them. Instead, I will give an overview of the field as it is now, in 2018, and try to give an idea of the future directions in this field as I see them.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Cosmic-ray muography'.