Related papers: Measuring the continuum polarization with ESPaDOnS
Spectropolarimetry of broad absorption line quasi-stellar objects with the W. M. Keck Telescope is used to put constraints on their nuclear structure. If the continuum polarization is due to electron (or dust) scattering, then the scattered…
The polarization properties of radio sources at very low frequencies (<200 MHz) have not been widely measured, but the new generation of low-frequency radio telescopes, including the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR: a Square Kilometre Array Low…
Compton backscattering polarimetry provides a fast and accurate method to measure the polarization of an electron beam in a storage ring. Since the method is non-destructive, the polarization of the electron beam can be monitored during…
We demonstrate a coherent quantum measurement for the determination of the degree of polarization (DOP). This method allows to measure the DOP in the presence of fast polarization state fluctuations, difficult to achieve with the typically…
The new generation of broad-band radio continuum surveys will provide large data sets with polarization information. New algorithms need to be developed to extract reliable catalogs of linearly polarized sources that can be used to…
In many polarimetry applications, including observations in the X-ray band, the measurement of a polarization signal can be reduced to the detection and quantification of a deviation from uniformity of a distribution of measured angles. We…
X-ray Polarimetry is almost as old as X-ray Astronomy. Since the first discovery of X-ray sources theoretical analysis suggested that a high degree of linear polarization could be expected due either to the, extremely non thermal, emission…
Photons preferentially Compton scatter perpendicular to the plane of polarisation. This property can be exploited to design instruments to measure the linear polarisation of hard X-rays ($\sim$10 - 100 keV). Photons may undergo two…
New-generation X-ray polarimeters currently under development promise to open a new window in the study of high-energy astrophysical sources. Among them, neutron stars appear particularly suited for polarization measurements. Radiation from…
The CMB polarization is the Everest in the quest to characterize the earliest photons from the Universe. After a long list of ever-decreasing upper limits, a detection of polarization was made in 2002 by the DASI team at ell =~ 500. The…
In this work we present a revised measurement of the phase-averaged optical polarisation of the Vela pulsar (PSR B0833-45), for which only one value has been published so far (Wagner & Seifert 2000). Our measurement has been obtained…
Context. Circumstellar disks and self-luminous giant exoplanets or companion brown dwarfs can be characterized through direct-imaging polarimetry at near-infrared wavelengths. SPHERE/IRDIS at the Very Large Telescope has the capabilities to…
The precision physics program of the ILC requires precise knowledge of the state of beam polarisation. In fact the Compton polarimeters intended for the ILC will have to measure the polarisation with error a factor of 2 smaller than the…
Complex field measurements are increasingly becoming the standard for state-of-the-art astronomical instrumentation. Complex field measurements have been used to characterize a suite of ground, airborne, and space-based heterodyne receiver…
In this paper we present an error analysis for polarimetric data obtained with dual-beam instruments. After recalling the basic concepts, we introduce the analytical expressions for the uncertainties of polarization degree and angle. These…
We analyse the circular polarisation data accumulated in the first 7 years of the POLAMI project introduced in an accompanying paper (Agudo et al.). In the 3mm wavelength band, we acquired more than 2600 observations, and all but one of our…
We benchmark the reliability of the Rotation Measure (RM) synthesis algorithm using the 1005 Centaurus A field sources of Feain et al. (2009). The RM synthesis solutions are compared with estimates of the polarization parameters using…
Radio polarimetry at decimetre wavelengths is the principal source of information on the Galactic magnetic field. The diffuse polarized emission is strongly influenced by Faraday rotation in the magneto-ionic medium and rotation measure is…
We developed a polarization modulation unit (PMU) to rotate a waveplate continuously in order to observe solar magnetic fields by spectropolarimetry. The non-uniformity of the PMU rotation may cause errors in the measurement of the degree…
Modern dual-polarization receivers allow a radio telescope to characterize the full polarization state of incoming insterstellar radio waves. Many astronomers incorrectly consider a polarimeter to be the "backend" of the telescope. We go to…