Bibcode
DOI
Sanchez Almeida, J.; Landi Degl'Innocenti, E.; Martinez Pillet, V.; Lites, B. W.
Referencia bibliográfica
Astrophysical Journal v.466, p.537
Fecha de publicación:
7
1996
Número de citas
128
Número de citas referidas
90
Descripción
A systematic structuring of magnetic fields over scales much smaller
than the mean free path of photospheric photons may be responsible for
the observed asymmetrical Stokes profiles. We explore this possibility
by deriving the radiative transfer equation for microstructured magnetic
atmospheres (the MISMA approximation). This equation is subsequently
employed to show that very schematic MISMA scenarios for the penumbrae
of sunspots, plage and network regions, and internetwork regions produce
Stokes profiles that have the observed asymmetries. The details of these
model atmospheres are of secondary importance, but the ease of
generating the type of observed asymmetries with MISMAs is significant,
so the existence of MISMAs deserves serious consideration. Should such
microstructures exist, the techniques currently employed to infer
properties of the solar photosphere need to be revised. MISMAs are also
of concern for the physics of the photosphere itself. These two topics
are briefly discussed.