Polarized line formation in turbulent and scattering media M. Sampoorna [Ph.D Thesis]

Doctor of Philosophy Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 2008

This thesis is devoted to improve our knowledge on the theory of polarized line formation in a magneto-turbulent medium, and in a scattering dominated magnetized medium, where partial redistribution (PRD) effects become important. Thus the thesis consists of two parts. In the first part we carry out a detailed investigation on the effects of random magnetic fields on Zeeman Line Radiative transfer. In the second part we develop the theory of polarized line formation in the presence of arbitrary magnetic fields and with PRD. We present numerical methods of solution of the relevant transfer equation in both Part-I and II. In Chapter I We give a general introduction that describes the basic physical concepts required in both parts of the thesis. Chapters 2- 6 deal with the part-I, namely stochastic polarized Zeeman line formation. Chapter 7-10 deal with part –II, namely the theory and numerics of polarized line formation in scattering media. Chapter II is devoted to the future outlook on the problems described in part-I and II of the thesis. Appendices are devoted to additional mathematical details.