The Transfer of Resonance Line Polarization with Partial Frequency Redistribution in the General Hanlen-Zeeman Regime
Additional information
Authors
Alsina Ballester E.,
Belluzzi L.,
Trujillo Bueno J.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2017
Language
English
Abstract
The spectral line polarization encodes a wealth of information about thethermal and magnetic properties of the solar atmosphere. Modeling the Stokes profiles of strong resonance lines is, however, a complex problem both from a theoretical and computational point of view, especially when partial frequency redistribution (PRD) effects need to be taken into account. In this work, we consider a two-level atom in the presence of magnetic fields of arbitrary intensity (HanlendashZeeman regime) and orientation, both deterministic and micro-structured. Working within the framework of a rigorous PRD theoretical approach, we have developed a numerical code that solves the full non-LTE radiative transfer problem for polarized radiation, in one-dimensional models of the solar atmosphere, accounting for the combined action of the Hanle and Zeeman effects, as well as for PRD phenomena. After briefly discussing the relevant equations, we describe the iterative method of solution of the problem and the numerical tools that we have developed and implemented. We finally present some illustrative applications to two resonance lines that form at different heights in the solar atmosphere, and provide a detailed physical interpretation of the calculated Stokes profiles. We find that magneto-optical effects have a strong impact on the linear polarization signals that PRD effects produce in the wings of strong resonance lines. We also show that the weak-field approximation has to be used with caution when PRD effects are considered.
Journal
Astrophysical Journal
Volume
836
Start page number
6
Keywords
irsol-refereed-scientific-papers
