View source for Muometric navigation

{{Short description|Use of experimental particle physics for navigation}}
'''Muometric navigation''' is positioning, navigation and timing using [[Astronomy:Cosmic ray|cosmic ray]] [[Physics:Muon|muon]]s and other cosmic particles.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=By |date=2023-06-20 |title=Cosmic Ray Navigation |url=https://hackaday.com/2023/06/20/cosmic-ray-navigation/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Hackaday |language=en-US}}</ref>

It is possible to determine locations with GNSS satellites with well-known positions and time. GNSS is often used by critically important governmental organizations for navigating ships and planes, but the signals can be easily jammed and spoofed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Saballa |first=Joe |date=2021-11-25 |title=US Navy Developing Satellite-Independent Navigation System |url=https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/11/25/us-navy-navigation-system/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=The Defense Post |language=en-us}}</ref> In 2020 Hiroyuki K.M. Tanaka created an entirely new approach from GNSS that locates the receiver's position with cosmic-ray muons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is a muometric positioning system (muPS) for underwater and underground applications? |url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-muometric-positioning-system-mups-underwater-underground- |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=www.linkedin.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2023-07-11 |title=Positioning system uses cosmic muons to navigate underground |url=https://physicsworld.com/positioning-system-uses-cosmic-muons-to-navigate-underground/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Physics World}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2020-11-03 |title=Muometric positioning system (μPS) with cosmic muons as a new underwater and underground positioning technique|url=https://physicsworld.com/positioning-system-uses-cosmic-muons-to-navigate-underground/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Scientific Reports|language=en-GB}}</ref>

Muometric techniques include the muometric positioning system (muPS),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Suomalaiset mukana kehittämässä uutta vedenalaista paikannusjärjestelmää {{!}} Oulun yliopisto |url=https://www.sttinfo.fi/tiedote/69927685/suomalaiset-mukana-kehittamassa-uutta-vedenalaista-paikannusjarjestelmaa?publisherId=57858920 |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=www.sttinfo.fi |language=fi}}</ref> the muometric wireless navigation system (MuWNS)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Svitlyk |first=Yuri |title=All about the new MuWNS navigation system: Works underground and underwater |url=https://root-nation.com/en/articles-en/tech-en/en-muwns-navigation-system/}}</ref> or muPS Wireless Navigation System (muWNS),<ref name=":0" /> cosmic time synchronizer (CTS)<ref>{{Cite web |last=McRae |first=Mike |date=2022-05-14 |title=This Cosmic Timekeeping Method Proposes to Synchronize All Clocks on Earth |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/cosmic-rays-hitting-our-atmosphere-could-be-a-handy-way-to-synchronize-time |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=ScienceAlert}}</ref> and cosmic time calibrator (CTC).<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-32262-8 |doi-access=free |title=Cosmic time calibrator for wireless sensor network |date=2023 |last1=Tanaka |first1=Hiroyuki K. M. |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=5951 |pmid=37045902 |pmc=10097806 |bibcode=2023NatSR..13.5951T }}</ref>

== Positioning and navigation ==
The muometric positioning and navigation techniques are based on the time-of-flight of [[Physics:Relativistic quantum mechanics|relativistic]] cosmic-ray muons between reference detectors and the receiver detector usually located indoor, underground, or underwater.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brahambhatt |first=Rupendra |date=2023-06-20 |title=GPS-like tech based on cosmic ray particles can navigate underground and underwater |url=https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/muon-gps-system/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=ZME Science |language=en-US}}</ref> Instead of receiving a GNSS signal, they detect cosmic-ray muons. Three or more reference detectors are deployed with known positions and time-references.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How can cosmic ray muons be used to replace GNSS for positioning information in 3D on Earth and underwater? |url=https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/58032/how-can-cosmic-ray-muons-be-used-to-replace-gps-for-positioning-information-in-3 |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Space Exploration Stack Exchange |language=en}}</ref> Like GNSS, clocks between the reference receivers and the receiver must be well-synchronized.<ref name=":0" /> Unlike GNSS, this technology enables navigation in Arctic areas<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hambling |first=David |title=US Navy is developing GPS that uses cosmic rays to navigate the Arctic |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2300571-us-navy-is-developing-gps-that-uses-cosmic-rays-to-navigate-the-arctic/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=New Scientist}}</ref> where GNSS satellite access is limited due to orbital constraints of these satellites.<ref name=":1" />

The initial prototype required wiring between the receiver and each reference detector for accurate time synchronization. However, this configuration restricted the range of applicability of the system.<ref name=":2" /> Efforts to find a way to navigate without wires, growing out of the success of this initial system replaced wires with a clock. muWNS is expected to be applied to rescue teams, for example, to guide robots underwater and underground<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ouellette |first=Jennifer |date=2023-06-17 |title=Scientists conduct first test of a wireless cosmic ray navigation system |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/06/scientists-conduct-first-test-of-a-wireless-cosmic-ray-navigation-system/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=[[Ars Technica]] |language=en-us}}</ref> by positioning inside tunnels,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reisch |first=Felipe |date=Nov 23, 2021 |title=How Science Is Finding Ways To Navigate In GPS-Denied Environments |url=https://www.nre.navy.mil/organization/onr-global/news-releases/How%20Science%20is%20Finding%20Ways%20to%20Navigate%20in%20GPS-Denied%20Environments }}</ref> in a building or mine collapse.<ref>{{Cite press release|publisher=International Muography Cooperative Research Organization|date=June 16, 2023 |title=Navigating underground with cosmic-ray muons |url=https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/navigating-underground-with-cosmic-ray-muons/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |via=The National Tribune|url-access=<!--WP:URLACCESS--> }}</ref>

The indoor muometric positioning accuracy is 3.9 cm as of 2023.<ref>{{Cite arXiv |last1=Varga |first1=Dezso |last2=Tanaka |first2=Hiroyuki |title=Developments of a centimeter-level precise muometric wireless navigation system (MuWNS-V) and its first demonstration using directional information from tracking detectors |date=2023 |class=physics.ins-det |eprint=2308.10108v1 }}</ref>

== Timing ==
Precise timekeeping generally requires GNSS and [[Engineering:Atomic clock|atomic clock]] systems, but these are expensive and unavailable in indoor, underground or underwater areas.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2022-05-10 |title=Cosmic timekeeping tech works underground or underwater |url=https://newatlas.com/technology/cosmic-time-synchronization-underground-underwater/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=New Atlas |language=en-US}}</ref>  Also, GNSS is vulnerable to cyber-attack and disruption.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnston |first=Scott Alan |date=2022-05-15 |title=Cosmic Rays can Help Keep the World's Clocks in Sync |url=https://www.universetoday.com/155908/cosmic-rays-can-help-keep-the-worlds-clocks-in-sync/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Universe Today}}</ref> A method using cosmic particles was proposed to precisely track time to solve this problem.<ref name=":3" /> Cosmic rays collide in the atmosphere, generating [[Physics:Particle shower|particle shower]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alaieva |first=Liliia |date=2022-05-16 |title=Scientists have invented a new way to keep the clocks |url=https://universemagazine.com/en/cosmic-rays-can-help-keep-the-clocks/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=The Universe. Space. Tech |language=en-US}}</ref> The muons in these showers travel close to the [[Physics:Speed of light|speed of light]] and spread out as they travel through the atmosphere. They reach the ground at almost the same time, so by sharing the information provided by these muons, clocks can be synchronized.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-09 |title=Keeping time with cosmos |url=https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/keeping-time-with-cosmos/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=The National Tribune |language=en-AU}}</ref> A recent demonstration showed its synchronization precision of tens of nanoseconds over a distance of 60 m.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CTS |url=https://fraternise.inrim.it/cts-english |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=fraternise.inrim.it |language=en-US}}</ref>

Random timestamps generated in this cosmic time synchronizing scheme can be used in turn for generating [[Random number|random number]]s for secure data transfer.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=January 16, 2023 |title=Cosmic-ray muons used to create cryptography system |url=https://physicsworld.com/cosmic-ray-muons-used-to-create-cryptography-system/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Physics World |language=en-GB}}</ref> The sender and receiver use the same muons to create truly random cryptographic keys from the timestamp. Based on the precise time delay between the sender and the receiver calculated from the distance between the detectors within 10 meters each other,<ref name=":7" >{{Cite web |date=2023-08-15 |title=COSMOCATS: The future of encryption and key storage |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgRzy_XV36E |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Research Square |language=en-GB}}</ref> the receiver knows the private key without having to directly exchange it between the sender and the receiver.<ref name=":4" /> Applications potentially range from secure cloud storage, communications, to virtual currency generation.<ref name=":7" />

== References ==

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[[Category:Cosmic-ray experiments]]
[[Category:Satellite navigation]]
[[Category:Global Positioning System]]
[[Category:Synchronization]]

{{Sourceattribution|Muometric navigation}}