Line formation in turbulent magnetic atmospheres

✍ Scribed by T. A. Carroll; J. Staude

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 109 KB
• Volume: 326
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-6337
• DOI: 10.1002/asna.200410393

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

We present a stochastic formulation of the polarized radiative transfer in an atmosphere permeated by a random magnetic field. On the basis of a Markov process we describe the line formation as a stochastic process which allows us to account for a finite correlation length of the fluctuating structures. The resulting stochastic master equation describes the evolution of the expectation value of the Stokes vector (the macroscopic observable) through the atmosphere. As the correlation length (mean structural length scale of the fluctuating or turbulent elements) appears explicitly in the stochastic transport equation it can be used as a diagnostic parameter from which an estimation of the underlying structural length scale is possible. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)