Chapter 3
The Interaction of Electromagnetic
Waves with Ice
Abstract The physicochemical distinction between ice and water determines processes of various scales from the adaptation of living organisms to the formation
of planets. The electrodynamic properties are not an exclusion: despite the fact that
only two types of atoms (oxygen and hydrogen) are involved in the ice and water
structures, their dielectric responses are quite different. This chapter focuses on the
dielectric properties of ice over a wide frequency range, which are compared to that
of water. The similarities between ice and water are discussed within a universal
microscopic mechanism of their dielectric response that is suitable for both thermodynamic forms of water. The new approach allows one to model the spectra from
DC to the terahertz region on the same footing and provides new insights into our
understanding of the molecular dynamics in ice and water.
3.1 Dielectric-Terahertz Spectrum of Ice
Figure 3.1 shows the broadband spectrum of ice in terms of permittivity and dynamic
conductivity. The spectrum, which covers frequencies from optics to radiowaves, is
compared with that for water, shown by dashed lines and previously discussed in
Chap. 2. Both spectra are provided at 0
◦ C, the temperature at which both coexist
in thermodynamic equilibrium, and thus can be compared in the same conditions.
A parallel analysis of the spectra reveals some interesting results. First of all, the
dielectric relaxation band of ice is shifted by about seven orders of frequency magnitude from the gigahertz to kilohertz region.
1 However, the static dielectric constant,
(0), in spite of this drastic difference between the relaxation times, stays roughly the
same (92 for ice and 88 for water). The amazing similarity of the dielectric constants
of water and ice is well known but was considered a coincidence [2], until it was
shown that this similarity has in fact a deep physical reason [3]. The parallel analysis
of the spectra of ice and water is considered in Sect. 3.4. In addition, ice does not
show any secondary relaxations, which has been assigned to molecular reorientation
1 The difference, corresponding to the shifted dielectric band, between the dielectric losses of ice
and water in the microwave region is used, for example, for remote sensing of ice melting [1].
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
V. Artemov, The Electrodynamics of Water and Ice, Springer Series
in Chemical Physics 124, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72424-5_3
105
The Interaction of Electromagnetic
Waves with Ice
Abstract The physicochemical distinction between ice and water determines processes of various scales from the adaptation of living organisms to the formation
of planets. The electrodynamic properties are not an exclusion: despite the fact that
only two types of atoms (oxygen and hydrogen) are involved in the ice and water
structures, their dielectric responses are quite different. This chapter focuses on the
dielectric properties of ice over a wide frequency range, which are compared to that
of water. The similarities between ice and water are discussed within a universal
microscopic mechanism of their dielectric response that is suitable for both thermodynamic forms of water. The new approach allows one to model the spectra from
DC to the terahertz region on the same footing and provides new insights into our
understanding of the molecular dynamics in ice and water.
3.1 Dielectric-Terahertz Spectrum of Ice
Figure 3.1 shows the broadband spectrum of ice in terms of permittivity and dynamic
conductivity. The spectrum, which covers frequencies from optics to radiowaves, is
compared with that for water, shown by dashed lines and previously discussed in
Chap. 2. Both spectra are provided at 0
◦ C, the temperature at which both coexist
in thermodynamic equilibrium, and thus can be compared in the same conditions.
A parallel analysis of the spectra reveals some interesting results. First of all, the
dielectric relaxation band of ice is shifted by about seven orders of frequency magnitude from the gigahertz to kilohertz region.
1 However, the static dielectric constant,
(0), in spite of this drastic difference between the relaxation times, stays roughly the
same (92 for ice and 88 for water). The amazing similarity of the dielectric constants
of water and ice is well known but was considered a coincidence [2], until it was
shown that this similarity has in fact a deep physical reason [3]. The parallel analysis
of the spectra of ice and water is considered in Sect. 3.4. In addition, ice does not
show any secondary relaxations, which has been assigned to molecular reorientation
1 The difference, corresponding to the shifted dielectric band, between the dielectric losses of ice
and water in the microwave region is used, for example, for remote sensing of ice melting [1].
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
V. Artemov, The Electrodynamics of Water and Ice, Springer Series
in Chemical Physics 124, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72424-5_3
105