Bibcode
Štěpán, J.; Trujillo Bueno, J.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 826, Issue 1, article id. L10, pp. (2016).
Advertised on:
7
2016
Citations
39
Refereed citations
32
Description
We highlight the main results of a three-dimensional (3D) multilevel
radiative transfer investigation about the solar disk-center
polarization of the Ca ii 8542 Å line. First, through the use of a
3D model of the solar atmosphere, we investigate the linear polarization
that occurs due to the atomic level polarization produced by the
absorption and scattering of anisotropic radiation, taking into account
the symmetry-breaking effects caused by its thermal, dynamic, and
magnetic structure. Second, we study the contribution of the Zeeman
effect to the linear and circular polarization. Finally, we show
examples of the Stokes profiles produced by the joint action of the
atomic level polarization and the Hanle and Zeeman effects. We find that
the Zeeman effect tends to dominate the linear polarization signals only
in the localized patches of opposite magnetic polarity, where the
magnetic field is relatively strong and slightly inclined; outside such
very localized patches, the linear polarization is often dominated by
the contribution of atomic level polarization. We demonstrate that a
correct modeling of this last contribution requires taking into account
the symmetry-breaking effects caused by the thermal, dynamic, and
magnetic structure of the solar atmosphere, and that in the 3D model
used the Hanle effect in forward-scattering geometry (disk-center
observation) mainly reduces the polarization corresponding to the
zero-field case. We emphasize that, in general, a reliable modeling of
the linear polarization in the Ca ii 8542 Å line requires taking
into account the joint action of atomic level polarization and the Hanle
and Zeeman effects.