Message Transfer with Cosmic Muons

Abstract

Abstract Underground and underwater are challenging environments for communication where electromagnetic (EM) waves are strongly attenuated and do not penetrate easily. Very low frequency band signals have long EM wavelengths that can penetrate dense media. However, the base station transmitter for artificially generating long EM wavelengths requires high power consumption for operation; moreover, there are limitations on the types of matter it may pass through. For instance, and the signal cannot penetrate highly conductive materials. In this work, Message transfer to Underground/undersea with COsmic Muons (MUCOM), a slow but robust message transfer method that sends messages from the surface to shallow underground environments regardless of the material type located between the sender and the receiver, are proposed. This communication method is especially suitable under emergency circumstances, for example, it can be used for direct point-to-point message transfer to trapped people or to turn on automated emergency service equipment inside a collapsed subway tunnel. Based on the experimental and numerical analysis, it was found that a detector size of > 1.1–4.5 m2 would be required to attain a data rate higher than 0.01 bps when sending a message from the surface into a typical subway tunnel (at depths of 5–20 m). It is anticipated that MUCOM would be well suited for specific applications such as for sending brief communications to underground locations during accidents or other emergencies.