Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Historical introduction
- 2 A review of some basic concepts
- 3 The polarization properties of quasi-monochromatic light
- 4 Linear optical systems acting on polarized light
- 5 Solar polarimetry
- 6 Absorption and dispersion
- 7 The radiative transfer equation
- 8 The RTE in the presence of a magnetic field
- 9 Solving the radiative transfer equation
- 10 Stokes spectrum diagnostics
- 11 Inversion of the RTE
- Index
2 - A review of some basic concepts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Historical introduction
- 2 A review of some basic concepts
- 3 The polarization properties of quasi-monochromatic light
- 4 Linear optical systems acting on polarized light
- 5 Solar polarimetry
- 6 Absorption and dispersion
- 7 The radiative transfer equation
- 8 The RTE in the presence of a magnetic field
- 9 Solving the radiative transfer equation
- 10 Stokes spectrum diagnostics
- 11 Inversion of the RTE
- Index
Summary
Finalmente, quiero, Sancho, me digas lo que acerca desto ha llegado a tus oídos; y esto me has de decir sin añadir al bien ni quitar al mal cosa alguna, …
—M. de Cervantes Saavedra, 1615.‘Finally, Sancho, I want you to tell me what has reached your ears concerning this matter, and you must do so without adorning the good or lessening the ill.’
This chapter is devoted to recalling a number of results of importance for development in later chapters. Most of these concepts are assumed to be already known to the reader, and those derivations that are missing will be found in textbooks on optics and electromagnetism. The main aim here is to provide a summary of the polarization properties of the simplest electromagnetic wave one can conceive: the monochromatic, time-harmonic, plane wave.
The terms light and electromagnetic wave will be understood as synonymous throughout the text. More specifically, we will be referring to the visible part of the spectrum and its two nearest neighbors, the ultraviolet and the infrared. Many of the topics discussed are also applicable to other wavelength regions. In particular, it is worth noting that radio observations use most of the concepts we shall be developing here for the optical region, although they are not in principle necessary for that wavelength range.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Introduction to Spectropolarimetry , pp. 9 - 18Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003