Scalar wavelets have been used extensively in the analysis of Cosmic
Microwave Background (CMB) temperature maps. Spin needlets are a new form of
(spin) wavelets which were introduced in the mathematical literature by Geller
and Marinucci (2008) as a tool for the analysis of spin random fields. Here we
adopt the spin needlet approach for the analysis of CMB polarization
measurements. The outcome of experiments measuring the polarization of the CMB
are maps of the Stokes Q and U parameters which are spin 2 quantities. Here we
discuss how to transform these spin 2 maps into spin 2 needlet coefficients and
outline briefly how these coefficients can be used in the analysis of CMB
polarization data. We review the most important properties of spin needlets,
such as localization in pixel and harmonic space and asymptotic uncorrelation.
We discuss several statistical applications, including the relation of angular
power spectra to the needlet coefficients, testing for non-Gaussianity on
polarization data, and reconstruction of the E and B scalar maps.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.