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| Paper: |
Theoretical Approaches to the Physics of Spectral Line Polarization |
| Volume: |
437, Solar Polarization Workshop 6 |
| Page: |
29 |
| Authors: |
Belluzzi, L. |
| Abstract: |
Due to the continuous developments in polarimetric instrumentation, which will
become even more dramatic in the near future with the availability of new
generation solar telescopes, we are now severely confronted with a variety
of new detailed observations of high diagnostic potential, whose interpretation
requires a firmly established theoretical framework.
In this contribution, I review the fundamental physical processes that
underlie the generation and transfer of polarized radiation in stellar
atmospheres, and I discuss the present status of the theoretical schemes
now available, pointing out their main successes and limitations.
I also present some ideas about the theoretical improvements that I
consider necessary to achieve a correct interpretation of the complex
phenomenology shown by polarimetric observations, focusing particularly on
the second solar spectrum, which can be considered as one of the most important
test benches of the theory. |
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