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In the above text it is mentioned that the incident light ray travels along the principal section.But any ray which travels along the principal axis should not go through the double refraction. Then why the text says that the incident light ray split into two rays?

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  • $\begingroup$ What do you mean by “principal axis”? The phrase is not used in the pasted text. The optic axis is different. $\endgroup$
    – Ed V
    Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 11:51
  • $\begingroup$ Perhaps see here to show where the optic axis is: physics.stackexchange.com/a/733904/313612. $\endgroup$
    – Ed V
    Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 12:11
  • $\begingroup$ I apologize. By principal axis, I mean the "optic axis". $\endgroup$
    – Akshat Shrivastava
    Commented Oct 28, 2023 at 9:38
  • $\begingroup$ So your question is answered by yourself: any incident ray will experience the birefringence unless it is parallel with the optic axis. Notice that the text says “A ray of light is incident on the face”. But the optic axis is not on any face, so no ray entering a face can be parallel to the optic axis. $\endgroup$
    – Ed V
    Commented Oct 28, 2023 at 12:38
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for your help. $\endgroup$
    – Akshat Shrivastava
    Commented Oct 29, 2023 at 5:34

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