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Manso Sainz, R.

Publications and source records attributed to Manso Sainz, R..

LABORATORY FREQUENCY REDISTRIBUTION FUNCTION FOR THE POLARIZED Λ-TYPE THREE-TERM ATOM

We present the frequency redistribution function for a polarized three-term atom of the Λ-type in the collisionless regime, and we specialize it to the case where both the initial and final terms of the three-state transition are metastable (i.e., with infinitely sharp levels). This redistribution function represents a generalization of the well-known R {sub II} function to the case where the lower terms of the transition can be polarized and carry atomic coherence, and it can be applied to the investigation of polarized line formation in tenuous plasmas, where collisional rates may be low enough that anisotropy-induced atomic polarization survives even in the case of metastable levels.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

MAGNETIC DIAGNOSTICS OF THE SOLAR CHROMOSPHERE WITH THE Mg II h–k LINES

We investigated the formation of the Mg ii h–k doublet in a weakly magnetized atmosphere (20–100 G) using a newly developed numerical code for polarized radiative transfer in a plane-parallel geometry, which implements a recent formulation of partially coherent scattering by polarized multi-term atoms in arbitrary magnetic-field regimes. Our results confirm the importance of partial redistribution effects in the formation of the Mg ii h and k lines, as pointed out by previous work in the non-magnetic case. We show that the presence of a magnetic field can produce measurable modifications of the broadband linear polarization even for relatively small field strengths (∼10 G), while the circular polarization remains well represented by the classical magnetograph formula. Both these results open an important new window for the weak-field diagnostics of the upper solar atmosphere.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Frequency redistribution function for the polarized two-term atom

We present a generalized frequency redistribution function for the polarized two-term atom in an arbitrary magnetic field. This result is derived within a new formulation of the quantum problem of coherent scattering of polarized radiation by atoms in the collisionless regime. The general theory, which is based on a diagrammatic treatment of the atom-photon interaction, is still a work in progress. However, the results anticipated here are relevant enough for the study of the magnetism of the solar chromosphere and of interest for astrophysics in general.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗