General
Magnetic fields pervade all astrophysical plasmas and govern most of the variability in the Universe at intermediate time scales. They are present in stars across the whole Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, in galaxies, and even perhaps in the intergalactic medium. Polarized light provides the most reliable source of information at our disposal for the remote sensing of astrophysical magnetic fields, including those on the Sun. In particular, the diagnostics of solar and stellar magnetic fields requires the measurement and physical interpretation of polarization signatures in spectral lines, which are induced by various physical mechanisms taking place at the atomic level. In addition to the familiar Zeeman effect, polarization can also be generated by various other physical processes, such as atomic level polarization induced by anisotropic pumping mechanisms, quantum interference between fine-structured or hyperfine-structured energy levels, the Hanle effect, etc. Interestingly, the polarization produced by such mechanisms is sensitive to the physical conditions of the astrophysical plasma under consideration and, in particular, to the presence of magnetic fields in a parameter domain that goes from field intensities as small as 1 micro-G to many thousands of Gauss.
The main objective of this project is to explore in depth the physics and origin of polarized radiation in astrophysical plasmas as well as its diagnostic use for understanding cosmical magnetic fields, with emphasis on the magnetism of the extended solar atmosphere. Our investigations deal with:
-the theoretical understanding of relevant polarization physics, which requires new insights into the quantum theory of polarized light scattering in the presence of magnetic and electric fields.
-the development of plasma diagnostic tools for the investigation of astrophysical magnetic fields, with emphasis on the magnetism of the extended solar atmosphere, circumstellar envelopes and planetary nebulae.
-spectropolarimetric observations and their physical interpretation.
-radiative transfer in three-dimensional models of stellar atmospheres, resulting from magneto-hydrodynamical simulations.
-atomic and molecular spectroscopy and spectro-polarimetry, with applications in several fields of astrophysics.
This research project is formed by a group of scientists convinced of the importance of complementing theoretical and observational investigations in order to face some of the present challenges of 21st century Astrophysics.
Members
Results
- We applied deep learning techniques to the analysis of observations. Using convolutional neural networks, we developed techniques for the deconvolution of observational data. These techniques were also used to accelerate the deconvolution process of ground-based observations, achieving a cadence of around a hundred images processed per second.
- We developed an inference technique based on bayesian statistics in order to interpret the observations provided by the CLASP international experiment. By parametrizing a state-of-the-art magneto-hydrodynamical model of the solar atmosphere, we found that the geometrical complexity of the transition region must be much more complex than the one provided by the model.
- We solved the problem of polarized radiation transfer in magneto-convection simulations that account for small-scale dynamo action for the Sr I line at 460.7 nm. We found that the model with most of the convection zone magnetized close to the equipartition and a surface mean field strength of 170G is compatible with the available observations.
- We studied the magnetic sensitivity of the Ca I line at 422.7nm. The linear polarization at the core is sensitive to the Hanle effect, while the linear polarization in the wings is sensitive to the magneto-optical effects, as a consequence of the newly found effect resulting from the joint action of partial redistribution and the Zeeman effects.
- We studied the formation of the H-alpha, Mg II h-k, and Ca II H-K and 845.2nm in a model atmosphere of a flaring bipolar active region, solving the radiation transfer problem taking into account partial redistribution in full 3D geometry and out of local thermodynamical equilibrium. We succeeded in reproducing common observational features of such flaring regions.
Scientific activity
Related publications
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Characterization of telescope polarization properties across the visible and near-infrared spectrum. Case study: the Dunn Solar Telescope
Accurate astrophysical polarimetry requires a proper characterization of the polarization properties of the telescope and instrumentation employed to obtain the observations. Determining the telescope and instrument Muller matrix is becoming increasingly difficult with the increase in aperture size, precision requirements and instrument complexity
Socas-Navarro, H. et al.Advertised on:
72011 -
Bayesian Magnetohydrodynamic Seismology of Coronal Loops
We perform a Bayesian parameter inference in the context of resonantly damped transverse coronal loop oscillations. The forward problem is solved in terms of parametric results for kink waves in one-dimensional flux tubes in the thin tube and thin boundary approximations. For the inverse problem, we adopt a Bayesian approach to infer the most
Arregui, I. et al.Advertised on:
102011 -
Analytical maximum likelihood estimation of stellar magnetic fields
The polarized spectrum of stellar radiation encodes valuable information on the conditions of stellar atmospheres and the magnetic fields that permeate them. In this paper, we give explicit expressions to estimate the magnetic field vector and its associated error from the observed Stokes parameters. We study the solar case where specific
Martínez-González, M. J. et al.Advertised on:
12012 -
Analytical Calculation of Stokes Profiles of Rotating Stellar Magnetic Dipole
The observation of the polarization emerging from a rotating star at different phases opens up the possibility to map the magnetic field in the stellar surface thanks to the well-known Zeeman-Doppler imaging. When the magnetic field is sufficiently weak, the circular and linear polarization profiles locally in each point of the star are
Martínez-González, M. J. et al.Advertised on:
82012 -
Advection and dispersal of small magnetic elements in the very quiet Sun
We track small magnetic structures on very quiet regions (internetwork) of the Sun. We follow the footpoints of small-scale magnetic loops that appear on the photosphere at granular scales using spectropolarimetric and magnetographic data obtained with Hinode. We find two different regimes for their wanderings. Within granules (where they appear)
Manso-Sainz, R. et al.Advertised on:
72011 -
Resolving the nuclear dust distribution of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081
We report far-infrared (FIR) imaging of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3081 in the range 70-500 μm, obtained with an unprecedented angular resolution, using the Herschel Space Observatory instruments PACS and SPIRE. The 11 kpc (˜70 arcsec) diameter star-forming ring of the galaxy appears resolved up to 250 μm. We extracted IR (1.6-500 μm) nuclear fluxes
Ramos Almeida, C. et al.Advertised on:
102011
