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A comprehensive model of maser polarization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2024

Boy Lankhaar Open the ORCID record for Boy Lankhaar [Opens in a new window]
Boy Lankhaar*
Affiliation:
Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, 439 92 Onsala, Sweden.
*
email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Maser polarization observations have been successfully used to characterize magnetic fields towards a variety of astrophysical objects. Circular polarization yields the magnetic field strength of the maser source, and linear polarization yields information on the magnetic field morphology. Linear polarization can be produced when the maser saturates or through its anisotropic pumping. We present a comprehensive model of the polarization of masers. In contrast to regular excitation modeling, we relax the assumption of isotropically populated level populations, and model both the total population and level alignments. Through this approach, we obtain quantitative estimates on the anisotropic pumping of a variety of maser sources. In this way, the maser polarization may be related to the gas density, temperature, geometry and the magnetic field. Using the results of our modeling, we discuss, and give predictions, of the polarization of SiO, methanol, and water (mega)masers.

Keywords

maserspolarizationmagnetic fieldsstars: formationstars: evolved
Type
Contributed Paper
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 18 , Symposium S380: Cosmic Masers: Proper Motion toward the Next-Generation Large Projects , December 2022 , pp. 430 - 434
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Astronomical Union

References

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