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8 - The RTE in the presence of a magnetic field

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2009

Jose Carlos del Toro Iniesta
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
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Summary

Magnetic fields are to astrophysics as sex is to psychology.

—H. C. van de Hulst, 1989.

Now that we have formulated the general RTE for a stratified anisotropic medium in LTE, let us particularize our study to the case of an atomic vapor permeated by a magnetic field, B. For convenience, we shall consider the medium to be isotropic in the absence of an “external” magnetic field. It is thus B that establishes the optical anisotropy by introducing a “preferential” direction.

In order to understand the basic concepts, we start again with the simple Lorentz model of the electron as in Chapter 6 (this time introducing the Lorentz force in the dynamical balance). In this way, the so-called “normal” Zeeman effect gets fully explained. The “anomalous” Zeeman effect, however, needs further results from quantum mechanics that will be summarized later. As the reader may already have realized from the historical introduction, this procedure conforms with historical developments. As in many other branches of physics, a chronological treatment helps in comprehension, although it is not strictly necessary.

In this chapter, we shall see that a single (unpolarized) spectral line in the absence of a magnetic field splits into various Zeeman components, each with a distinct state of polarization that may, of course, vary along the profile.

The Lorentz model of the electron

Let us resume our discussion of Section 6.2 on the Lorentz model.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

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