Partial Redistribution Theory and its Applications in the Interpretation of the Second Solar Spectrum

Abstract

In this review we first describe briefly the techniques to formulate partial redistribution (PRD) matrices for polarized line scattering on atoms. These matrices have to be formulated by either semi-classical or quantum mechanical approach for the physical process under consideration. We describe the semi-classical approach that we have been following in our derivations. We then consider the polarized transfer equation for line formation in three types of atomic systems and briefly present two numerical methods to solve them. Finally, a modeling procedure is described to analyze the polarimetric observations, taking the examples of Ca i 4227 Å line and the Cr i triplet at 5204-5208 Å. With these examples we demonstrate that our treatment of PRD is able to correctly account for the scattering polarization that is caused by various physical processes.