Physical Methodologies for Cultural Heritage

Scientific methods applied to issues of study, conservation and authentication of paintings and archaeological artefacts. Non-invasive and non-destructive analyzes.
Dating, basic principles. Dendrochronology. Introduction to dating methods based on natural radionuclides
Periodic table of the elements weight and atomic number, isotopes and isobars. Stable and unstable isotopes, radionuclides. Alpha, beta and gamma radioactivity. Primordial radioactive series. Laws of radioactive decay, activity, average life and half-life. Secular balance.
The method of Uranium / Thorium imbalance.
The radiocarbon method. Wells and springs. Natural and anthropogenic variations of C14 concentration, isotope fractionation and Suess effect.
Conventional age Before Present and calibrated age. Measurement error and uncertainty about the calendar date. Examples of historical dating: use of the calibration curve.
Elements of statistics and data analysis. Influence of the standard deviation on the calendar uncertainty. Simulations with OXCAL application
Methods of measurement of the C14. Measurements with AMS (mass spectroscopy) and measurements with radioactivity counters. Limits in dating with the radiocarbon method. Potassium / Argon ratio. Age of the earth.
Methods based on lead isotopes, Pb210 and isotope ratios.
Thermoluminescence. Dosimeters and traps in materials. Exposure and dose. Absorbed dose, annual and geological dose, glow curve. Cases of counterfeiting of ceramic materials.
Elements of the structure of matter. Wave and corpuscular behaviors in physics, light and matter. Discrete energy levels and continuous energy spectrum.
The spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Energy, frequency and wavelength. Atomic models, from Balmer's law to Bohr's atom. Spectral series of hydrogen, formula for hydrogen atoms. Quantum numbers and selection rules.
Binding energies at different scales. Correspondence between KLMN shells and atomic orbitals. Calculation of the ionization energy in hydrogen. Electronvolt-joule conversion.
XRF, PIXE. Principles of operation and techniques of use. Application examples in the archaeometric field, study of pictorial pigments.
Phenomena associated with the wave behavior of radiation, interference and diffraction. XRD (X-ray diffraction). Bragg's law. Theoretical notes and application examples. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Characteristics and application examples in the field of elementary analyzes.
LIBS theory and applications
Ion Beam Analysis (IBA), general characteristics, the Rutherford experiment. The RBS (Rutherford backscattering) technique, theory and application examples.
Elementary analytical techniques. Absorption and atomic emission spectroscopies in optical band and in X band, AES, AAS techniques. Light and matter, primary and secondary sources. Macroscopic aspects related to the absorbance and reflectance of materials. Diffuse and specular reflection. Emission of light from matter, incandescence and luminescence (fluorescence, cathodoluminescence and phosphorescence). Continuous spectra of energy and striped spectra. Atomic spectra as the atomic number varies.
Elements of optics. Reflectance, absorbance and transmittance. Optical absorbance and absorbance of a solution, Lambert and Beer's law. UV-VISIBLE - NIR spectroscopy. Integrating sphere. Diffraction grating. Laws of reflection, refraction, refractive index. Dispersion. Resolving power of an optical system.
Sum of spectra in reflectance and absorbance. Blackbody emission spectrum, color temperature and Wien's law. Colorimetry. Physical color and psychophysical color, primary colors. Physico-chemical basis of color. Simultaneous contrast and complementary colors. Additive and subtractive synthesis of colors, RGB and CYMK systems. Sum of reflectance spectra.
Outline of color measurement systems. Physiology of vision, phenomenology of the appearance of color. Chromaticity diagram, dominant wavelength, notes on the most commonly used colorimetric coordinate systems: RGB, XYZ, CIELab.
Mathematical properties of the chromaticity diagram. Illuminants and sources. A B and C, D65 and the like F2, F7, F11, color temperature. Metamerism.
Definition of deltaE color distance in CIELab space. The standard observers in colorimetry. Notes on the appearance of color.
The pictorial pigments. Painted surfaces and painting techniques. The pictorial binders. Chemical composition of pigments. Mineral and organic pigments, natural and artificial dyes. Cataloging and historical use of pictorial pigments.
Methods of recognition and classification of pigments. Optical analysis of false color paintings (IRFC). UV fluorescence analysis. Examples of application cases. Example of integrated analyzes for the characterization of pigments.
Investigation techniques by images.
Infrared reflectography: physical principles of scattering in the propagation of visible and infrared light in pictorial films, transparency of pictorial materials as a function of wavelength. Limitations of the technique. Areas of application, notes on the historical evolution of the technique, examples of applications.
Radiography, basic principles of radio-opacity and radiolucency. Absorption law of X-rays in materials. Dependence on the atomic number on the energy of the radiation and on the thickness. Radiographic investigation set-up. Application cases of diagnostics on tables and canvases.
Thermography: operating principles, Stefan Boltzmann's law, Wien's law, spectral distribution of energy. Spectral emissivity. Operating principles of thermographic imaging systems. Investigations on historic buildings. Detachment of the plaster and study of wall textures.