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Abstract
In this paper, a natural mechanism capable to explain the
Shroud body image formation has been studied. The
physical and chemical characteristics of the above image
agree with a stochastic process triggered by a little quantity
of energy that has yielded a latent image. This mechanism is
the sole that can explain both the reversed color
characteristic and the 3D reconstruction without distortion
of the above image. Therefore, the other mechanisms
(deterministic processes) must be rejected.
Keywords
Linen of Turin; Mechanism of the Body Image Formation;
Stochastic Process
Introduction
The Shroud of Turin is an ancient cloth where the
front- and back-image of a tortured, scourged and
crucified man appears (Jumper et al., 1984). The body
image is an uneven superficial discoloration due to the
oxidation and dehydration of the linen cellulose
structure with formation of conjugated carbonyls
(chromopheres) that have colored the fibrils (Heller
and Adler, 1981).
In details, this linen cloth (~ 4.36 m length x ~1.10 m
width), preserved in the Turin Cathedral, shows a
male with wounds on the forehead, nape, wrist, feet
and chest and scourge marks are present everywhere
but especially over the legs and torso area. Moreover,
burned and scorched areas and holes due to the
combustion of linen at high temperature in a limited
oxygen environment (1532 Chambery fire) and water
marks, due to its extinguishing, appear (Figure 1). The
last tracks have an evident contour made of dusts and
impurity.
This ancient cloth has a history confirmed from the
middle of the 14th Century when it was in possession
of the Count Geoffrey de Charney in Lirey, France. In
synthesis, in 1432 it was ceded to the Duke Ludwig I
of Savoy who from 1502 placed it in the Sainte
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yellowed fibrils.
Conclusions
In this article, a stochastic process has been
hypothesized for the comprehension of the body
image formation, then the physical and chemical
characteristics of the Shroud image explained by the
above mechanism have been demonstrated.
Moreover, the coexistence of the blood image with the
body image has been resolved. Indeed, while the
blood stains match with a wounded human body
enveloped in the Linen of Turin, the body image is not
in line with this hypothesis that a man can leave tracks
containing codified information on the cloth-body
distance. The stochastic process is the sole that
overcomes this apparent discrepancy and explains the
coexistence of the blood stains with the body image.
All the other deterministic processes show great
difficulty in the attempts to explain the Shroud body
image. Therefore, they must be discarded.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
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