Bibcode
Manso Sainz, R.; Trujillo Bueno, J.
Referencia bibliográfica
Physical Review Letters, vol. 91, Issue 11, id. 111102
Fecha de publicación:
9
2003
Revista
Número de citas
64
Número de citas referidas
36
Descripción
We explain the linear polarization of the Ca ii infrared triplet
observed close to the edge of the solar disk. In particular, we
demonstrate that the physical origin of the enigmatic polarizations of
the 866.2 and 854.2nm lines lies in the existence of atomic polarization
in their metastable 2D3/2 , 5/2 lower
levels, which produces differential absorption of polarization
components (dichroism). To this end, we have solved the problem of the
generation and transfer of polarized radiation by taking fully into
account all the relevant optical pumping mechanisms in multilevel atomic
models. We argue that “zero-field” dichroism may be of great
diagnostic value in astrophysics.