1st Edition

Propagation and Polarization of Radiation in Cosmic Media

By A.Z. Dolginov, Yu. N. Gnedin Copyright 1995
    396 Pages
    by CRC Press

    Cosmic media are in most cases nonuniform and anisotropic. Examples include stellar envelopes and atmospheres, especially those with strong internal magnetic fields and interstellar gas and dust clouds. Radiation from these objects is polarized. This book is directly concerned with the effects of anisotropy and nonuniformity of cosmic media on the polarization and propagation of stellar and nebular radiation. Appropriate mathematical methods for the calculation of the Stokes parameters are used, and all approximations are analysed in detail. Formulae are given in explicit analytical form convenient for direct comparison with observations. For the sake of illustration, the theory is applied to observations of polarization from a number of astrophysical objects.

    Preface, Chapter 1. The Basic Characteristics of Radiation, Chapter 2. Scattering of Radiation by Individual Particles, Chapter 4. Polarization of Radiation Emitted by Stars and Stellar Envelopes, Chapter 5. Radiation in a Plasma in a Strong Magnetic Field, Chapter 6. Propagation and Polarization of Radiation in Gas-Dust Cosmic Media, Appendix A. Cyclic Coordinates and Basic Properties of the Wigner Rotation Matrix, Appendix B. Single Scattering of Radiation by Axially Oriented Particles, Author Index, Subject Index

    Biography

    A.Z. Dolginov Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA. Yu.N. Gnedin and N.A. Silant’ev Central Astronomical Observatory, Pulkovo, St. Petersburg, Russia.