Polarized scattering with Paschen-Back effect, hyperfine structure, and partial frequency redistribution in magnetized stellar atmospheres

Abstract

$F$-state interference significantly modifies the polarization produced by scattering processes in the solar atmosphere. Its signature in the emergent Stokes spectrum in the absence of magnetic fields is depolarization in the line core. In the present paper, we derive the partial frequency redistribution (PRD) matrix that includes interference between the upper hyperfine structure states of a two-level atom in the presence of magnetic fields of arbitrary strengths. The theory is applied to the Na I D${}_2$ line that is produced by the transition between the lower $J=1/2$ and upper $J=3/2$ states which split into $F$ states because of the coupling with the nuclear spin $I_s=3/2$. The properties of the PRD matrix for the single-scattering case is explored, in particular, the effects of the magnetic field in the Paschen--Back regime and their usefulness as a tool for the diagnostics of solar magnetic fields.

Published in the ApJ

References in corpus (5)

• The Magnetic Sensitivity of the Ba II D1 and D2 Lines of the Fraunhofer Spectrum
• Modeling the quantum interference signatures of the Ba II D2 4554 A line in the second solar spectrum
• Polarized line transfer with F-state interference in a non-magnetic medium: Partial frequency redistribution effects in the collisionless regime
• Modelling the incomplete Paschen-Back effect in the spectra of magnetic Ap stars
• Partial Paschen-Back splitting of SiII and SiIII lines in magnetic CP stars

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Master equation theory applied to the redistribution of polarized radiation in the weak radiation field limit. V. The two-term atom
• The transfer of polarized radiation in resonance lines with partial frequency redistribution, J-state interference, and arbitrary magnetic fields. A radiative transfer code and useful approximations
• Polarized Line Formation in Arbitrary Strength Magnetic Fields: the case of a two-level atom with hyperfine structure splitting
• Polarized light scattering with Paschen-Back effect, level-crossing of fine structure states and partial frequency redistribution
• Physics of polarized scattering at multi-level atomic systems
• The quantum interference effects in the Sc II 4247 A line of the Second Solar Spectrum
• Importance of Angle-dependent Partial Frequency Redistribution in Hyperfine Structure Transitions Under Incomplete Paschen-Back Effect Regime
• Polarized scattering of light for arbitrary magnetic fields with level-crossings from the combination of hyperfine and fine structure splittings