2019/08/20 by D. Chirkin, Chirkin, Dmitry, Martin Rongen +1
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Atmospheric Ozone and Climate #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) #Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena #Optics (physics.optics)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1908.07608
openalex publication_date 2019/08/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory instruments about 1 km3 of deep, glacial\nice at the geographic South Pole with 5160 photomultipliers to detect Cherenkov\nlight from charged relativistic particles. The experiment pursues a wide range\nof scientific questions ranging from particle physics such as neutrino\noscillations to high-energy neutrino astronomy. Most of these efforts rely\nheavily on an ever more precise understanding of the optical properties of the\ninstrumented ice. An unexpected light propagation effect, observed by the\nexperiment, is an anisotropic attenuation, which is aligned with the local flow\nof the ice. The exact cause is still under investigation. In this contribution,\nthe micro-structure of ice as a birefringent polycrystal is explored as the\ncause for this anisotropy.\n