The course will illustrate the physical techniques (in particular, those based on nuclear physics) useful to get crucial information for:
1) addressing environmental issues such as the study of atmospheric particulate matter (impact on health and climate, source identification and apportionment);
2) supporting diagnostics in issues related to cultural heritage, such as the study of the materials used in the past for the production of artworks, and the dating of archaeological finds.
There are no specific reference texts. The students will be provided with tutorial materials such as PowerPoint-like slide presentations and papers published on scientific magazines (both of general type and on specific applications).
Learning Objectives
The students will get:
1) a general knowledge of the available techniques that can be applied in environmental and heritage contexts;
2) the expertise required to evaluate in which cases the contributions of such physical techniques is actually useful in problems of interest for environmental monitoring and cultural heritage;
3) which specific technique(s) must be chosen to be more effective in answering the questions posed by the colleagues of other disciplines (scientific or humanistic), together with whom these topics are tackled.
Prerequisites
Besides the obvious knowledge of what learnt from the teachings in the first two years of the triennial course (in particular, electro-magnetism and optics), a basic knowledge of the principles of nuclear physics - in particular, radioactivity - and its instruments (accelerators, detectors) will be assumed. The latter topics will be anyway recalled during this course, if needed.
Teaching Methods
Classroom taught lessons.
Further information
If possible, a visit in a research laboratory will be organized.
Type of Assessment
Oral examination, structured in two parts. First, a short “seminar” by the student, concerning one of the topics covered during the course, at the choice of the student. In the second part general questions will be asked on the techniques, applications and on the general concepts illustrated in the course. This modality enables to evaluate both the general preparation on the topics covered, and the acquired capability of a critical elaboration and in-depth analysis of the topics.
Course program
General description of the Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) and of the X Ray Fluorescence (XRF) techniques to determine the elemental composition of materials.
Applications of IBA and XRF to the study of the composition of both air-dispersed particulate and of materials of interest in issues related to cultural heritage.
Statistical analysis of atmospheric compositional data to extract the information on the pollution sources and their relative “weight”, in order to address proper mitigation strategies.
Principles of radiocarbon dating and techniques for measuring the concentration of this isotope.
Use of statistical methods based on bayesian inference to calibrate conventional radiocarbon ages.
Use of radiocarbon concentration measurements of particulate matter samples, to discriminate the contribution of "modern" sources (such as biomass combustion) from that due to the use of fossil fuels..
Mention of other imaging techniques, using either ionizing (radiography, tomography) or non ionizing radiation (uv-vis-ir). Mention of dating through thermoluminescence.