Impact of biaxial birefringence in polar ice at radio frequencies on signal polarizations in ultra-high energy neutrino detection

Abstract

It is known that polar ice is birefringent and that this can have implications for in-ice radio detection of ultra-high energy neutrinos. Previous investigations of the effects of birefringence on the propagation of radio-frequency signals in ice have found that it can cause time delays between pulses in different polarizations in in-ice neutrino experiments, and can have polarization-dependent effects on power in radar echoes at oblique angles in polar ice. I report, for the first time, on implications for the received power in different polarizations in high energy neutrino experiments, where the source of the emitted signal is in the ice, a biaxial treatment at radio wavelengths is used, and the signals propagate at oblique angles. I describe a model for this and compare with published results from the SPICE in-ice calibration pulser system at South Pole, where unexpectedly high cross-polarization power has been reported for some geometries. The data shows behaviors indicative of the need for a biaxial treatment of birefringence inducing non-trivial rotations of the signal polarization. The behaviors include, but are not limited to, a time delay that would leave an imprint in the power spectrum. I explain why this time delay has the potential to serve as both an in-ice neutrino signature and a measurement of the distance to the interaction. While further work is needed, I expect that proper handling of the effects presented here will increase the science potential of ultra-high energy neutrino experiments, and may impact the optimal designs of next-generation detectors.

25 pages, 18 figures. Accepted for publication in PRD

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Reconstructing the arrival direction of neutrinos in deep in-ice radio detectors
• Detector Requirements for Model-Independent Measurements of Ultrahigh Energy Neutrino Cross Sections
• Radio Detection of High Energy Neutrinos in Ice
• Simulation study for an in-situ calibration system for the measurement of the snow accumulation and the index-of-refraction profile for radio neutrino detectors