Related papers: PORTAL--three-dimensional polarized (sub)millimete…
The interpretation of the intensity and polarization of the spectral line radiation produced in the atmosphere of the Sun and of other stars requires solving a radiative transfer problem that can be very complex, especially when the main…
We present the theoretical framework and numerical methods we have implemented to solve the problem of the generation and transfer of polarized radiation in spectral lines out of local thermodynamical equilibrium, while accounting for…
Polarimetry is about to become a powerful tool for determining the atmospheric properties of exoplanets. To provide the basis for the interpretation of observational results and for predictive studies to guide future observations,…
The study of polarized radiation transfer in the highly-magnetized surface locales of neutron stars is of great interest to the understanding of accreting X-ray pulsars, rotation-powered pulsars and magnetars. This paper explores scattering…
Aims: We present POLARIS (POLArized RadIation Simulator), a newly developed three-dimensional Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code. POLARIS was designed to calculate dust temperature, polarization maps, and spectral energy distributions. It…
(Sub-)Millimeter observations of the polarized emission of aligned aspherical dust grains enable us to study the magnetic fields within protoplanetary disk. However, the interpretation of these observations is complex. One must consider the…
In order to obtain empirical information on the magnetism of the solar transition region we need to measure and interpret the linear polarization produced by scattering processes in FUV and EUV spectral lines. Via the Hanle effect such…
Initially unpolarized solar radiation becomes polarized by scattering in the Earth's atmosphere. In particular molecular scattering polarizes electromagnetic radiation, but also scattering of radiation at aerosols, cloud droplets and ice…
Accreting supermassive black holes are sources of polarized radiation that propagates through highly curved spacetime before reaching the observer. In order to help interpret observations of such polarized emission, accurate and efficient…
The relative population of the fine structure sublevels of an atom's ground state is affected by radiative transitions induced by an anisotropic radiation flux. This causes the alignment of atomic angular momentum. In terms of observational…
Accurate angular quadratures are crucial for the numerical solution of three-dimensional (3D) radiative transfer problems, especially when the spectral line polarisation produced by the scattering of anisotropic radiation is included. There…
We present an updated version of POLARIS, a well established code designated for dust polarisation and line radiative transfer (RT) in arbitrary astrophysical environments. We extend the already available capabilities with a synchrotron…
This paper considers the problem of modeling the light polarization that emerges from an astrophysical plasma composed of atoms whose excitation state is significantly influenced by the anisotropy of the incident radiation field. In…
We show that atomic alignment presents a reliable way to study topology of astrophysical magnetic fields. The effect of atomic alignment arises from modulation of the relative population of the sublevels of atomic ground state pumped by…
Probing the magnetism of the upper solar chromosphere requires measuring and modeling the scattering polarization produced by anisotropic radiation pumping in UV spectral lines. Here we apply PORTA (a novel radiative transfer code) to…
Magnetic fields play important roles in many astrophysical processes. However, there is no universal diagnostic for the magnetic fields in the interstellar medium (ISM) and each magnetic tracer has its limitation. Any new detection method…
Context: Radiative transfer modelling of expanding stellar envelopes is an important task in their analysis. To account for inhomogeneities and deviations from spherical symmetry, it is necessary to develop a 3D approach to radiative…
Accretion onto compact objects plays a central role in high energy astrophysics. In these environments, both general relativistic and plasma effects may have significant impacts upon the spectral and polarimetric properties of the accretion…
Polarization of radiation is a powerful tool to study cosmic magnetism and analysis of polarization can be used as a diagnostic tool for large-scale structures. In this paper, we present a solid theoretical foundation for using polarized…
We describe the incorporation of polarized radiative transfer into the atmospheric radiative transfer modelling code VSTAR (Versatile Software for Transfer of Atmospheric Radiation). Using a vector discrete-ordinate radiative transfer code…