Results of LAC Collaboration with Museo Egizio Presented by Physics Graduate Student at International Conference

This summer, the Louisiana Accelerator Center was engaged in a study of ancient Egyptian artifacts (712-332 BC). The New Orleans Museum of Art hosted the Queen Nefertari’s Egypt exhibition this year, organized in collaboration with StArt and Museo Egizio, in Turin, Italy, which is the oldest museum in the world dedicated to Egyptian antiquities. Several bronze objects from Museo Egizio's collection, such as the handle and the upper part of a sistrum (sacred musical instrument of ancient Egypt), were brought to UL Lafayette for investigations. Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) was used on several areas of the artifacts to resolve their elemental composition down to very fine levels (part per million). This type of elemental analysis, capable to quantify major, minor, and trace elements, is used to determine location- and time-dependent characteristics that may add to the objects' history and traceability. X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) was run in parallel, for a base-line comparison. As museums often have access to the second technique, the comparison helps establish its general validity. Pictured below is Ben Lukk, a graduate student in Physics and Research Assistant at LAC, presenting his poster with the results of the artifacts study at the 26th International Conference on the Application of Accelerators in Research & Industry, in Denton TX, October 2022.

The contribution of the Louisiana Accelerator Center to this societally impactful and global project was possible due to its technological capabilities supported by the university and the state of Louisiana. UL Lafayette faculty and students interested in learning more, should tour the Louisiana Accelerator Center (contact lac@louisiana.edu or call (337) 482 6691). The staff, with expertise in radiation and radiation interaction with matter, can support the development of research proposals in related areas.