Related papers: Active region filaments might harbor weak magnetic…
With the recent advent of circular polarization capabilities at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Zeeman effect measurements of spectral lines are now possible as a means to directly probe line-of-sight magnetic…
The polarization observed in the spectral lines of the He I 10830 multiplet carries valuable information on the dynamical and magnetic properties of plasma structures in the solar chromosphere and corona, such as spicules, prominences,…
Here we report on the first observational investigation of the Zeeman effect in the G band around 4305 A. Our spectropolarimetric observations of sunspots with the Zurich Imaging Polarimeter at the IRSOL facility confirm our previous…
There is a thin transition region (TR) in the solar atmosphere where the temperature rises from 10,000 K in the chromosphere to millions of degrees in the corona. Little is known about the mechanisms that dominate this enigmatic region…
Observational astrophysics started when spectroscopy could be applied to astronomy. Similarly, observational work on stellar magnetic fields became possible with the application of spectro-polarimetry. In recent decades there have been…
We present some theoretical predictions concerning the amplitude and magnetic sensitivity of the linear polarization signals produced by scattering processes in the hydrogen Ly-alpha line of the solar transition region. To this end, we have…
The Ly-alpha line of He II at 304 \AA\ is one of the spectral lines of choice for EUV channels of narrow-band imagers on board space telescopes, which provide spectacular intensity images of the outer solar atmosphere. Since the magnetic…
An expression for the partial frequency redistribution (PRD) matrix for line scattering in a two-term atom, which includes the J-state interference between its fine structure line components is derived. The influence of collisions (both…
Weak entangled magnetic fields with mixed polarity occupy the main part of the quiet Sun. The Zeeman effect diagnostics fails to measure such fields because of cancellation in circular polarization. However, the Hanle effect diagnostics,…
We characterize the K I D1 & D2 lines in order to determine whether they could complement the 850 nm window, containing the Ca II infrared triplet lines and several Zeeman sensitive photospheric lines, that was studied previously. We…
The spectral line polarization encodes a wealth of information about the thermal and magnetic properties of the solar atmosphere. Modeling the Stokes profiles of strong resonance lines is, however, a complex problem both from the…
Active region NOAA 11035 appeared in December 2009, early in the new solar activity cycle. This region achieved a delta sunspot ($\delta$-spot) configuration when parasitic flux emerged near the rotationally leading magnetic polarity and…
Determining the magnetic field of solar spicules is vital for developing adequate models of these plasma jets, which are thought to play a key role in the thermal, dynamic, and magnetic structure of the chromosphere. Here we report on…
The quantum theory of polarized light allows one to model scattering in the solar atmosphere for inferring its properties. This powerful approach has revealed two key long-standing problems in solar physics: the puzzling dilemmas between…
We study five sequential solar flares (SOL2015-08-07) occurring in Active Region 12396 observed with the Goode Solar Telescope (GST) at the BBSO, complemented by IRIS and SDO observations. The main flaring region is an arch filament system…
We study the quiet Sun magnetic fields using spectropolarimetric observations of the infrared and visible Fe I lines at 6301.5, 6302.5, 15648 and 15653 A. Magnetic field strengths and filling factors are inferred by the simultaneous fit of…
Analysis of the Hanle effect in solar molecular lines allows us to obtain empirical information on hidden, mixed-polarity magnetic fields at subresolution scales in the (granular) upflowing regions of the `quiet' solar photosphere. Here we…
Hanle-effect observations of forbidden coronal line transitions and recently also longitudinal Zeeman-effect measurements of coronal lines show quantitative signatures of the weak coronal magnetic field. The interpretation of these…
An extremely weak circularly-polarized signature was recently discovered in spectral lines of the chemically peculiar Am star Sirius A (Petit et al. 2011). This signal was interpreted as a Zeeman signature related to a sub-gauss…
Recent theoretical investigations have pointed out that the cores of the Ly-alpha lines of H I and He II should show measurable scattering polarization signals when observing the solar disk, and that the magnetic sensitivity, through the…