The potential of the wavelength-integrated scattering polarization of the hydrogen Ly-alpha line for probing the solar chromosphere

Abstract

The intensity and the linear scattering polarization profiles of the hydrogen Ly-alpha line encode valuable information on the thermodynamic and magnetic structure of the upper layers of the solar chromosphere. The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) sounding rocket experiment provided unprecedented spectropolarimetric data of this line, as well as two-dimensional broadband images in intensity and linear polarization. We theoretically investigate the potential of the Ly-alpha broadband polarimetric signals for probing the solar chromosphere and its magnetic fields. We analyze the synthetic Stokes profiles obtained from a series of radiative transfer (RT) calculations out of local thermodynamic equilibrium, considering semi-empirical one-dimensional models of the solar atmosphere. The wavelength-integrated linear polarization signal is found to be dominated by the contribution from the wings when considering a Gaussian weighting function with a FWHM that corresponds to the CLASP slit-jaw broadband filter. These broadband linear polarization signals are strongly sensitive to magnetic fields of strengths on the order of 50 G, via the action of magneto-optical (MO) effects, and are expected to encode information on the middle-upper chromosphere. The two-dimensional broadband intensity and linear polarization images observed by CLASP can be suitably mimicked using synthetic wavelength-integrated signals obtained considering atmospheric models and magnetic fields that are representative of solar regions with different levels of activity, provided that the impact of MO effects is taken into account. Despite the limitations of a one-dimensional RT modeling, this work illustrates the diagnostic potential of filter-polarimetric Ly-alpha signals for probing the solar chromosphere and its magnetism.

arXiv comment16 pages (12 main text + 4 appendix). 7 figures in the main text (2 panels in Fig.1 , 2 panels in Fig.2, 4 panels in Fig.3, 9 panels in Fig.4, 4 panels in Fig.5, 2 panels in Fig.6, single panel in Fig. 7). 3 figures in appendices (single panel in Fig.8, single panel in Fig.9, 6 panels in Fig.10). Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal on 03/03/2023

References in corpus (14)

• PORTA: A three-dimensional multilevel radiative transfer code for modeling the intensity and polarization of spectral lines with massively parallel computers
• Discovery of Scattering Polarization in the Hydrogen Lyman-$\alpha$ Line of the Solar Disk Radiation
• The Hanle Effect of the Hydrogen Ly-alpha Line for Probing the Magnetism of the Solar Transition Region
• The magnetic sensitivity of the Mg ii k line to the joint action of Hanle, Zeeman and magneto-optical effects
• A novel investigation of the small-scale magnetic activity of the quiet Sun via the Hanle effect in the Sr I 4607 Å line
• Three-dimensional radiative transfer simulations of the scattering polarization of the hydrogen Ly$\alpha$ line in a MHD model of the chromosphere-corona transition region
• The scattering polarization of the Ly-alpha lines of H I and He II taking into account PRD and J-state interference effects
• CLASP Constraints on the Magnetization and Geometrical Complexity of the Chromosphere-Corona Transition Region
• Master equation theory applied to the redistribution of polarized radiation in the weak radiation field limit. V. The two-term atom
• The effects of three-dimensional radiative transfer on the resonance polarization of the Ca I 4227 $\mathring{\mathrm{A}}$ line
• Magneto-optical effects in the scattering polarization wings of the Ca I resonance line at 4227 angstroms
• Modeling the scattering polarization of the solar Ca i 4227 Å line with angle-dependent partial frequency redistribution
• Magnetic sensitivity in the wing scattering polarization signals of the hydrogen Lyman-alpha line of the solar disk radiation
• 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

Cited by in corpus (2)

• A numerical approach for modelling the polarisation signals of strong resonance lines with partial frequency redistribution. Numerical applications to two-term atoms and plane-parallel atmospheres
• Diagnostic potential of wavelength-integrated scattering polarisation signals of the solar He II Ly-alpha line