Lecture: Roman Shipwreck and Its Contribution to Modern Physics

Overview

• Timeline: 2000 years ago during Roman times
• Location: Western coast of Sardinia
• Discovery: Roman merchant shipwreck
• Contents: Clay jars, dishes, 30 metric tons of lead (1000 ingots)
• Significance: Ingots used in modern physics experiments

Shipwreck Discovery

• Year of Discovery: 1988
• Location: 10 km off Sardinian coast
• Depth: 28 meters
• Condition: Much of the wooden structure eroded, 10-meter keel buried beneath sand
• Type: Navis oneraria magna (large sail-driven merchant ship)
• Dimensions: 30 meters long, 9 meters wide
• Artefacts: Jars for food, water, wine, millstone

Ingots

• Number: 1000+ lead ingots
• Shape: Trapezoidal, 45 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm
• Weight: 33 kg each
• Total Weight: Over 33 metric tons
• Usage: Varied in Roman times – coins, anchors, slingshot ammo, aqueduct linings
• Identification: Inscribed with markers indicating the manufacturer (e.g., Societas Marci et Caio Pontillienorum)

Historical Context

• Roman Industry: Extensive lead mining and smelting, evident in Greenland ice cores
• Significance of Find: Largest load of lead ingots recovered from the ancient world
• Historical Insight: Inscriptions reveal information about Roman entrepreneurs, mining operations, and state management

Theories on Shipwreck

• Possible Causes: Destabilization by bad winds or deliberate sinking by the crew to avoid pirate capture
• Period of Sinking: Between 89 BCE (legal right for urban tribes to identify as Roman citizens) and 50 BCE (abandonment of mines)

Ingots' Modern Use

• Experiment: Protecting the coldest cubic meter in the known universe within the CUORE experiment
• CUORE Experiment: Searching for neutrinoless double beta decay to understand matter-antimatter imbalance

CUORE Experiment Details

• Location: Deep beneath the Apennine mountains in Italy
• Setup: Nearly 1000 tellurium oxide crystals in 19 towers
• Temperature: Kept at 10 millikelvins (-273.149°C)
• Shielding: Ancient lead ingots used to protect from background radiation

Importance of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay

• Significance: Could prove neutrinos are their own antiparticle
• Implications: Might explain matter prevalence in the universe
• Results: No evidence found yet, suggesting the decay’s half-life is extremely long

Future Prospects

• Next Steps: Upgrade to CUPID (CUORE Upgrade with Particle Identification)
• Material Change: Switching to lithium-molybdenum oxide crystals for better detection

Ethical Considerations

• Challenges: Balancing archaeological preservation with scientific needs
• Controversies: Use of historical lead in experiments can lead to illegal salvaging

Conclusion

• Interdisciplinary Impact: Combining archaeology and cosmology to uncover historical and universal mysteries
• Future Outlook: Awaiting results from upgraded experiments to solve fundamental questions about the universe