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Title: Observation of classically `forbidden' electromagnetic wave propagation and implications for neutrino detection.

Journal Article · · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [1];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [1];  [12];  [1];  [3]
  1. Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States); National Research Nuclear Univ., Moscow (Russia)
  3. Uppsala Univ. (Sweden)
  4. Whittier College, Whittier, CA (United States)
  5. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  6. Univ. of Mainz, Mainz (Germany)
  7. Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)
  8. Friedrich-Alexander Univ. at Erlangen-Nurnberg, Erlangen (Germany)
  9. Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
  10. National Taiwan Univ., Taipei (Taiwan)
  11. Humboldt Univ. of Berlin (Germany); Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany)
  12. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Ongoing experimental efforts in Antarctica seek to detect ultra-high energy neutrinos by measurement of radio-frequency (RF) Askaryan radiation generated by the collision of a neutrino with an ice molecule. An array of RF antennas, deployed either in-ice or in-air, is used to infer the properties of the neutrino. To evaluate their experimental sensitivity, such experiments require a refractive index model for ray tracing radio-wave trajectories from a putative in-ice neutrino interaction point to the receiving antennas; this gives the degree of signal absorption or ray bending from source to receiver. The gradient in the density profile over the upper 200 meters of Antarctic ice, coupled with Fermat's least-time principle, implies ray "bending" and the existence of "forbidden" zones for predominantly horizontal signal propagation at shallow depths. After re-deriving the formulas describing such shadowing, we report on experimental results that, somewhat unexpectedly, demonstrate the existence of electromagnetic wave transport modes from nominally shadowed regions. Finally, the fact that this shadow-signal propagation is observed both at South Pole and the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica suggests that the effect may be a generic property of polar ice, with potentially important implications for experiments seeking to detect neutrinos.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1532333
Journal Information:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2018, Issue 07; ISSN 1475-7516
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 19 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (21)

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A prototype station for ARIANNA: A detector for cosmic neutrinos
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journal December 2010
Ross Ice Shelf (Antarctica) in situ radio-frequency attenuation journal January 2011
The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna ultra-high energy neutrino detector: Design, performance, and sensitivity for the 2006–2007 balloon flight journal August 2009
The Dynamics of the Ross Ice Shelf Revealed by Radio Echo-Sounding journal January 1979
Radar absorption, basal reflection, thickness and polarization measurements from the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica journal January 2015
Design and Performance of the ARIANNA HRA-3 Neutrino Detector Systems journal October 2015
Design and initial performance of the Askaryan Radio Array prototype EeV neutrino detector at the South Pole journal February 2012
A first search for cosmogenic neutrinos with the ARIANNA Hexagonal Radio Array journal October 2015
Radio detection of air showers with the ARIANNA experiment on the Ross Ice Shelf journal April 2017
Density log of a 181 m long ice core from Berkner Island, Antarctica journal January 1999
Measuring the Elastic Modulus of Snow journal November 2017
Pressure sintering of ice and its implication to the densification of snow at polar glaciers and ice sheets journal October 1983
Time-domain response of the ARIANNA detector journal March 2015
An empirical determination of the relative dielectric constant of the Greenland ice cap journal November 1967
South Polar in situ radio-frequency ice attenuation journal January 2005
The 1500 m South Pole ice core: recovering a 40 ka environmental record journal January 2014
Performance of two Askaryan Radio Array stations and first results in the search for ultrahigh energy neutrinos journal April 2016
In situ index-of-refraction measurements of the South Polar firn with the RICE detector journal January 2004
Performance and simulation of the RICE detector journal April 2003
Investigations of the form and flow of ice sheets and glaciers using radio-echo sounding journal August 2004

Cited By (5)

Neutrino vertex reconstruction with in-ice radio detectors using surface reflections and implications for the neutrino energy resolution text January 2019
NuRadioMC: Simulating the radio emission of neutrinos from interaction to detector text January 2020
Neutrino vertex reconstruction with in-ice radio detectors using surface reflections and implications for the neutrino energy resolution journal November 2019
NuRadioMC: simulating the radio emission of neutrinos from interaction to detector journal January 2020
Broadband RF Phased Array Design with MEEP: Comparisons to Array Theory in Two and Three Dimensions text January 2021

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79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS