Estimating the magnetic field strength from magnetograms

A properly calibrated longitudinal magnetograph is an instrument that measures circular polarization and gives an estimation of the magnetic flux density in each observed resolution element. This usually constitutes a lower bound of the field strength in the resolution element, given that it can be made arbitrarily large as long as it occupies a proportionally smaller area of the resolution element and/or becomes more transversal to the observer and still produce the same magnetic signal. Yet, we know that arbitrarily stronger fields are less likely --hG fields are more probable than kG fields, with fields above several kG virtually absent-- and we may even have partial information about its angular distribution. Based on a set of sensible considerations, we derive simple formulae based on a Bayesian analysis to give an improved estimation of the magnetic field strength for magnetographs.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Near-IR internetwork spectro-polarimetry at different heliocentric angles

The analysis of near infrared spectropolarimetric data at the internetwork at different regions on the solar surface could offer constraints to reject current modeling of these quiet areas. We present spectro-polarimetric observations of very quiet regions for different values of the heliocentric angle for the Fe I lines at 1.56 micron, from disc centre to positions close to the limb. The spatial resolution of the data is 0.7-1". We analyze direct observable properties of the Stokes profiles as the amplitude of circular and linear polarization as well as the total degree of polarization. Also the area and amplitude asymmetries are studied. We do not find any significant variation of the properties of the polarimetric signals with the heliocentric angle. This means that the magnetism of the solar internetwork remains the same regardless of the position on the solar disc. This observational fact discards the possibility of modeling the internetwork as a Network-like scenario. The magnetic elements of internetwork areas seem to be isotropically distributed when observed at our spatial resolution.Comment: Sorry, this is the version with the correct bibliography. Some figures had to be compressed. Accepted for publication in A&

A near-IR line of Mn I as a diagnostic tool of the average magnetic energy in the solar photosphere

We report on spectropolarimetric observations of a near-IR line of Mn I located at 15262.702 A whose intensity and polarization profiles are very sensitive to the presence of hyperfine structure. A theoretical investigation of the magnetic sensitivity of this line to the magnetic field uncovers several interesting properties. The most important one is that the presence of strong Paschen-Back perturbations due to the hyperfine structure produces an intensity line profile whose shape changes according to the absolute value of the magnetic field strength. A line ratio technique is developed from the intrinsic variations of the line profile. This line ratio technique is applied to spectropolarimetric observations of the quiet solar photosphere in order to explore the probability distribution function of the magnetic field strength. Particular attention is given to the quietest area of the observed field of view, which was encircled by an enhanced network region. A detailed theoretical investigation shows that the inferred distribution yields information on the average magnetic field strength and the spatial scale at which the magnetic field is organized. A first estimation gives ~250 G for the mean field strength and a tentative value of ~0.45" for the spatial scale at which the observed magnetic field is horizontally organized.Comment: 42 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Figures 1 and 9 are in JPG forma

Experimental study and calculation of the electron transfer coefficients on the dissolution behavior of chitosan in organic acids

Chitosan (CH) consists of water-insoluble N-acetylglucosamine and D-glucosamine molecules and has a higher solubility at a pH below six. This studyevaluated the solubility of chitosan in solutions of organic acids for the formation of films. HyperChemTMsoftware was used to perform the quantum analysis. In the experimental trials, the total soluble mass (TSM) and the viscosity of the solutions were measured by capillary viscometer. The chitosan filmswere made by the plate melting method, and the filmcharacteristics were evaluated. A quantum simulation suggested that lactic acid (LA) has a greater stability to react with chitosan. It was then verified experimentally that LA is a better solvent for chitosan due to the increase in its viscosity. The chemical interaction between CH and LA in solution favors the polymerization of films with better physical properties. We thereforeconclude that the uniformity in the formation of films of this polymer depends on the chemical interaction between the CH and the acid and not on the degree of solubility of the polymer