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# Kilohertz QPO Frequency Anti-Correlated with mHz QPO Flux in 4U 1608-52

## 1 Introduction

Kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) in X-ray flux have been observed from about 20 neutron star low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) (see van der Klis 2000 for a recent review). Their frequencies correspond to the dynamical time scale at radii of less than a few tens of kilometers, and are usually regarded as associated with the Keplerian orbital frequency of material at the inner disk edge. Observations indicate that when on a time scale of hours to days the accretion rate through the disk increases, the QPO frequency increases as well, indicating that the inner disk edge moves in. Evidence for this has been observed in the form of a positive correlation on these time scales of kHz QPO frequency with X-ray count rate for low luminosity LMXBs, i.e. ’atoll’ sources (see Mendez et al. 1999), and in the form of a similar correlation with curve length Sz along the track traced out in an X-ray color-color diagram for high luminosity LMXBs, i.e. ’Z’ sources, which in some cases corresponds to an anti-correlation between kHz QPO frequency and X-ray count rate (Wijnands et al. 1997; Homan et al. 2001; Yu, van der Klis & Jonker 2001).

The inner edge of the disk could be set by magnetosphere-disk interaction (Strohmayer et al. 1996, Zhang, Yu & Zhang 1998, Cui 2000, Campana 2000), and for sufficiently compact neutron stars with sufficiently weak magnetic field is certainly expected to be limited by the general relativistic marginally stable orbital radius. However, in the sonic point model for kHz QPOs (Miller, Lamb and Psaltis 1998, also Miller and Lamb 1995) radiative stresses provide the dominant disk truncation mechanism. In this description, removal of angular momentum from the flow by radiation drag, and the radial radiation force combine to set the inner disk radius and thereby the QPO frequency. For constant radiation, the disk moves in when the disk mass flow increases; for constant mass flow, the disk moves out when the radiation impinging upon the inner disk edge becomes more intense. Usually, disk mass flow and radiation change in concert; calculations show that under certain assumptions the inner disk radius will then move in and hence QPO frequency will go up when disk accretion and the resulting X-ray flux both increase, and vice versa (Miller et al. 1998). If disk accretion is not the only mechanism producing radiation more complicated relations can occur (van der Klis 2001).

A test of the role of radiative stress for disk truncation can be obtained by studying the changes in kHz QPO frequency resulting from changes in X-ray flux that are not due to disk mass flow changes. Two previous attempts at performing this test led to results that were somewhat ambiguous. (i) An anti-correlation was recently found between the kHz QPO frequency and the NBO (“normal branch oscillation”) count rate in Sco X-1 ($``$22 Hz shift within the 1/6-s NBO cycle, Yu, van der Klis & Jonker 2000). However, Sco X-1 was in a state where such an anti-correlation is also seen for long-term flux changes that are presumably associated with disk flow changes. (ii) A 37-Hz decrease of the kHz QPO frequency was observed after an X-ray burst in Aquila X-1 (Zhang, Jahoda & Kelley et al. 1998; Yu, Li & Zhang et al. 1999). However, other similar bursts did not show this effect.

In this Letter, we show that in the atoll source 4U 1608–52 the kHz QPO frequency is clearly anti-correlated with the X-ray count rate variations associated with the 7.5 mHz QPO found by Revnivtsev, Churazov & Gilfanov et al. (2001). This QPO occurs in a narrow X-ray luminosity range and they suggested, among other possibilities, that these were due to a special mode of nuclear burning on the neutron star surface. This is the first clear-cut case of a sign reversal in the kHz QPO frequency vs. count rate correlation related to the basic process producing the radiation (disk accretion vs. nuclear burning). It provides strong evidence in favor of a role for radiative stresses in the disk truncation mechanism, as well as for the nuclear burning scenario for the mHz QPO.

## 2 Observations

We used data of 4U 1608–52 obtained with the Proportional Counter Array on-board the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer on March 3, 1996. Previous analysis of this data set led to the discovery of a narrow kilohertz QPO in this source varying in frequency in the range 825–880 Hz with an rms amplitude around 6–8% (Berger et al. 1996). Further work showed that this QPO is in fact the lower-frequency one of a pair of kHz QPOs, and that on time scales of tens of minutes to hours the frequencies of both these QPOs usually have a strong positive correlation with X-ray count rate (Méndez et al. 1998, 1999). In this paper, we refer to this lower kHz QPO exclusively. Recently, Revnivtsev et al. (2001) discovered a 7.5 mHz QPO in this observation with a peak width of 2.6 Hz and an rms fractional amplitude around 1.85%. This mHz QPO is mostly evident in the energy range below 5 keV when the total source luminosity is between 0.07 and 0.1 times the Eddington luminosity. The total X-ray count rate during the observation was $``$3200 and $``$1600 c/s in the 2–60 and 2–5 keV bands, respectively; we use the former band for the kHz QPO measurements and the latter for monitoring the mHz QPO. The data consist of three separate contiguous segments covering 3400 s, 3500 s, and 1800 s. For the current analysis we use the Event mode data $`E\mathrm{\_}125us\mathrm{\_}64M\mathrm{\_}0\mathrm{\_}1s`$ providing 1/8192 s time resolution and 64 spectral channels covering the entire 2–60 keV band.

## 3 Analysis and Results

First, we calculated a series of Fourier power spectra using the 2–60 keV data re-binned to 1/4096 s. We used transform lengths of 4 s, which resulted in 0.25 Hz resolution power spectra with a Nyquist frequency of 2048 Hz. These were averaged in groups of three, to obtain one average spectrum per 12 s. The kHz QPO frequency in each average spectrum was taken to be that of the central bin of that 4.25-Hz wide frequency interval which contained the highest integrated Fourier power. The kHz QPO frequency can not be determined in this way for the second half of the first segment, where the kHz QPO is weak (see figure 2a in Berger et al. 1996). For this reason we only used the first 1000 s of this segment. As an example, the kHz QPO evolution and the corresponding 2–5 keV light curve of the second segment, both at 12 s time resolution, are shown in Fig. 1. The frequency of the mHz QPO (7.5$`\pm `$2.6 mHz) corresponds to time scales between 100 and 200 s. On time scales longer than that, we find in accordance with previous work (§2), that there is a strong positive correlation between kHz QPO frequency and X-ray count rate. Before further analysis, in order to remove the effect of the variations on these longer time scales, we detrended both time series by subtracting a 300-s running average.

The auto-correlation of the 2–5 keV light curves has a full width of 20–30 s, which represents the average duration of the individual mHz QPO “pulses”. With this in mind, we identified the peaks of the individual mHz QPO pulses in the detrended 12-s resolution 2–5 keV light curve by finding the highest bins in a 108-s window which was stepped through the data with 12-s steps. We found 41 different maxima in this way; two of these were closer than 108 s to the nearest peak and were eliminated from further analysis, leaving a total of 39 identified well-separated mHz QPO pulses.

We aligned these pulses in time using their peaks as fiducial points. Then, we determined the average evolution of count rate and kHz QPO frequency in the 108-s window around these peaks by averaging the corresponding segments of the detrended count rate and kHz QPO frequency time series. The result is shown in Fig. 2. The average kHz QPO frequency varies by about 0.6 Hz during the mHz QPO cycle, in rough anti-correlation to the $``$55 c/s average 2–5 keV count rate variation. On closer inspection, it turns out that the maximum average X-ray count rate and the minimum average kHz QPO frequency are not exactly aligned. Based on the overall appearance of the average kHz QPO frequency variation, its minimum seems to occur about ten seconds before the maximum in average count rate. In Fig. 3 we plotted the average kHz QPO frequency vs. the average X-ray count rate around the mHz QPO cycle. While the count rate is rising (filled circles) the frequency decreases along a systematically lower path than the one along which it increases again when the count rate is falling (open squares). We did not detect a significant change in kHz QPO amplitude around the mHz QPO cycle, with a rough 1 sigma upper limit on the change in fractional rms amplitude of 0.4% (the total kHz QPO rms is $``$7.5%).

## 4 Discussion and Conclusion

We have studied the evolution of the lower kHz QPO as a function of the phase of the 7.5 mHz QPO displayed by 4U 1608–52 when its luminosity is about 0.1 $`L_{Edd}`$. The average kHz QPO frequency depends on the mHz QPO phase. It varies by about 0.6 Hz, or 0.07% of the average frequency, around the mHz QPO cycle, in rough anti-correlation to the average 2–5 keV count rate, which varies by about 60 c/s, or 4% of the average 2–5 keV count rate (or approximately 2% of the entire PCA 2–60 keV count rate). We have also found that in this anti-correlated variation the kHz QPO frequency leads the count rate by about ten seconds. On longer time scales (hours), the kHz QPO frequency in these same observations was already known to be positively correlated with the X-ray count rate and X-ray luminosity (Mendez et al. 1999), and our analysis confirms this. The fact that we find an anti-correlation on the 7.5 mHz QPO time scale, while simultaneous count rate changes not related to the mHz QPO produce the usual correlated variations in kHz QPO frequency demonstrates conclusively that another mechanism than that responsible for the usual count rate variations underlies the mHz QPO.

The mHz QPO (Revnivtsev et al. 2001) occurs only within a narrow range of source luminosity and disappears after X-ray bursts. Its spectrum is rather soft and consistent with a blackbody. For these reasons, Revnivtsev et al. (2001) suggested that the mHz QPO could be due to a special mode of nuclear burning on the neutron star surface, although an origin due to processes in the accretion disk could not be ruled out. We suggest that the simplest explanation for the anti-correlation between kHz QPO frequency and mHz QPO count rate we report here is, that the mHz QPO is generated inside the inner disk edge by the mechanism proposed by Revnivtsev et al. (2001), and that the kHz QPO frequency is related to the Keplerian frequency at the inner edge of the disk, whose radius in turn is set by the radiative disk truncation mechanism proposed by Miller et al. (1998; see §1). If instead the mHz QPO were produced by a modulation of the disk accretion rate, a positive correlation between kHz QPO frequency and mHz QPO X-ray flux would be predicted, contrary to what we observe. Indeed, such a positive correlation is seen for the longer-timescale flux variations.

If the mHz QPO indeed originates near the neutron star surface, i.e. inside the inner disk radius, an anti-correlation between the orbital frequency of disk material and the mHz QPO flux is a prediction of the radiative disk truncation mechanism, as the inner disk edge will move out when the X-ray flux impinging upon it increases, due to both an increased radiation drag and an increased radial radiation force (Miller et al. 1998). Following their equation (39) for the effect of the radial radiation force, taking the luminosity of the neutron star as $``$0.1 $`L_E`$, a 2% change in the neutron star luminosity will introduce a change in orbital frequency of about 0.1%, i.e. 0.8 Hz for an orbital frequency of 830 Hz, or 1.1 Hz for an orbital frequency of 1060 Hz for the case when the twin peak frequency separation is taken at a constant 230 Hz (see Méndez et al. 1998). Radiation-drag effects will enhance the change in the kHz QPO frequency; also the change in neutron star luminosity will be larger than the 2% we adopted if not all the source flux originates from the neutron star surface (in most models, the hard flux originates elsewhere). So, quantitatively the theoretical expectation is somewhat larger than the 0.6 Hz we observe. As suggested below, a more detailed analysis of the emission pattern caused by the nuclear burning may explain this.

The estimate of the frequency amplitude we made above was based on the assumption that the relative change in mHz QPO flux we observe on Earth is the same as that in the flux towards the inner disk edge. This can not be true if the mHz QPO is caused by local thermonuclear fires propagating on the neutron star. If the fires originate mostly in the equatorial region, where most of the accreted matter piles up, and then expand and propagate away, then the flux amplitude experienced by the disk would be less than that observed, and the radiative stresses exerted on the inner disk edge would reach their maximum before the observed X-ray flux does. This could explain both the lower than expected frequency amplitude and the time lag between the X-ray count rate and the kHz QPO frequency which we observed.

In this paper we have demonstrated that study of the correlation between low-frequency variability and high frequency QPOs can provide strong constraints on the origin of both variability modes. Further similar studies of the relations between low-frequency variability and, e.g., kHz QPOs in neutron star X-ray binaries and high frequency QPOs in black hole X-ray binaries, could potentially provide considerable additional insight into the nature of both QPOs and broad-band variability in these objects.

We would like to thank the anonymous referee for comments which improve the clarity of the presentation. This work was supported in part by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) under grant 614.051.002. WY would also like to acknowledge partial support from NSFC on computing. This work has made use of data obtained through the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center Online Service, provided by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.


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# Guiding of cold atoms by a red-detuned laser beam of moderate power

## I Introduction

The development of laser cooling has stimulated a tremendous interest in the confinement and manipulation of cold atoms. In particular the use of dipole forces by far off resonance laser light has become a versatile tool for the manipulation of atomic motion. In this paper we discuss the use of a red-detuned guiding laser as a simple and effective method to transport cold atoms, although we use only moderate laser power. We systematically study the fraction of guided atoms by varying the main parameters laser power and detuning. We also give an analytical expression that gives excellent agreement with the results.

In our experiments so far a cold cloud of 87Rb atoms is collected in a vapor cell magneto-optical trap (MOT) and dropped on an evanescent-wave (EW) mirror CooHil82 ; BalLetOvc87 ; KasWeiChu90  after post-cooling in optical molasses VoiWolCor01 ; VoiWolSpr00 ; WolVoiJan01 . However due to the finite temperature of the cloud, it expands ballistically during the fall, resulting in a decreased density at the surface. This density reduction of atoms falling on the EW could be counteracted in several ways. For example, one could focus the atomic cloud by means of a strong pulse of magnetic field gradient MarGuiBos99 , or combined magnetic and optical pulses Bal97 .

Here we describe our method to guide the atoms by optical light fields, confining them in the transverse direction. The advantage of an optical guide is that it is a well controlled force, that can be applied very locally. The disadvantage of this technique is that atoms potentially scatter photons from the guide, which results in heating and loss of atoms. To overcome this problem of scattering, some groups have used blue-detuned hollow beams SonMilHil99 ; ManOvcGri98 , in which the atoms spend most of their time in the dark inner region of the guide. Such hollow beams cause a low optical scattering rate and can even cool the atoms during reflections at the wall YinZhuWan98 .

The use of a red detuned laser guide has previously been described by several authors. For example, it has been used to transport cold atoms from a production region to a spatially separated trapping region SzyDavAda99 ; DavAda00 . Adiabatic heating and cooling in converging and diverging guiding beams was reported in Ref. PruMarHou99 . A beam splitter for cold atoms has been demonstrated by crossing two red detuned guides HouKadPru00 . These experiments have in common that they make use of high optical power. Red detuned guiding has also been used to capture atoms from a thermal vapor and guide them through hollow fibers RenMonVdo95 .

In this paper we investigate the simplest possible optical guide: a red-detuned Gaussian laser beam of moderate power. The atoms act as high-field seekers and are pulled toward the center of the guiding-beam BjoFreAsh78 . Therefore, the photon scattering rate will be higher than in a hollow guide. However, a Gaussian beam is straightforward to implement, while the scattering rate may still remain at an acceptable level for our purposes. We investigate the performance of the guide for various optical parameters.

## II Experimental procedure

The experiment is performed in a glass vapor cell where we create a MOT of 87Rb atoms, 6.5 mm above a BK7 glass prism. Above the prism surface we create an evanescent wave (EW) that is used as an atomic mirror VoiWolCor01 ; VoiWolSpr00 . The purpose of the guiding beam is to confine the atoms while falling towards the EW mirror.

The Rb density in the cell is increased by heating a Rb reservoir. Differential pumping of the cell ensures a constant density long enough to perform an experiment, but it changes on a daily basis. Consequently also the width of the cloud changes on a daily basis. The r.m.s. radius of the cloud, $`\sigma `$, varies between $`200\mu `$m and $`700\mu `$m. The temperature of the cloud is unaffected by the varying density and is $`4.0\pm 0.5\mu `$K after postcooling in optical molasses.

The laser light for the guiding beam is obtained from a home-built tapered amplifier system VoiSchSpr00 . The beam is spatially filtered by sending it through a single-mode optical fiber and linearly polarized by a polarizing beam splitter. The guiding laser was reflected at the hypotenuse of the prism, such that it was pointed upward (see Fig.1). For an optimal result the guiding beam must overlap with the EW as well as with the MOT. To align the beam we mounted some of the steering mirrors on translation stages. This allowed us to translate the beam perpendicular to its propagation direction, and to independently adjust its angle.

We measured the beam profile at various positions along the beam line. The waist ($`1/e^2`$ radius) was found to be $`550\mu `$m, located at the position of the MOT. The divergence half-angle was $`0.8`$ mrad. We consider the beam waist to be constant in the $`6.5`$ mm region between the MOT and the EW. The available power was limited by the tapered-amplifier system and its transmission through the fiber, which reached a maximum of $`40`$%. We obtained a total power of approximately $`100`$ mW, just before entering the vacuum cell. Because the vacuum cell and the prism are not anti-reflection coated, the available power for guiding is $`85\%`$ of the power before the cell. Throughout this paper we quote the power of the guiding beam *inside* the cell, at the position of the MOT. We were able to switch off the beam in $`100\mu `$s by means of a mechanical shutter, placed before the fiber. The guide was red detuned with respect to the $`D_2`$-line, which was measured by a wavemeter (Burleigh, WA-1500).

The guiding beam was continuously on during the loading of the MOT, cooling in molasses, and during the fall of the atoms toward the prism. For sufficiently large detuning of the guide, we observed no effect on the MOT or molasses. After cooling in optical molasses, the atoms fall down and a fraction of the atoms is captured in the guiding beam. The atomic distribution is imaged on a CCD camera by resonant absorption imaging at time $`t_p`$. Just before we probe the atoms, the guide is switched off, in order not to blind the camera by stray light from the prism. In Fig. 2a we show two absorption images of the atomic cloud, both after falling for $`28`$ ms (just before reaching the prism), with and without the guiding beam present. It is clear that when the guiding beam is on, the density is increased in the cigar-shaped area of the cloud.

## III Measurements of guided fraction

In order to determine the guided fraction, we averaged the atomic density distribution in the vertical direction over $`30`$ pixel rows, indicated in Fig. 2a by the thin box. The data are well fitted by a sum of two Gaussians, corresponding to a guided and an unguided fraction PruMarHou99 . The broad distribution represents the unguided atoms and has a r.m.s radius of $`850\mu `$m, which is the same as the radius of the atomic cloud without the guiding beam present. The narrow distribution in Fig. 2b is the density distribution of the guided atoms. It has a r.m.s. radius of $`220\mu `$m, slightly smaller than the waist of the guide. From the area of the fitted distributions we extracted the guided fraction.

We measured the fraction of atoms that were guided for $`28`$ ms as a function of potential depth $`|U_0|`$. The depth can be changed by varying either the power or the detuning of the guide. To calculate the potential depth we take the light to be linearly polarized, and far off resonance with respect to the $`D_2`$ line. The potential is then approximately that of a two-level atom, multiplied by 2/3. This factor is the sum of the squares of the Clebsch-Gordan coefficients, summed over the excited-state hyperfine levels 5$`P_{3/2}`$, $`F=0,1,2,3`$. Note that both hyperfine ground states experience approximately the same potential. A Gaussian beam, with waist $`w`$, power $`P`$, and detuning $`\delta `$ produces a potential depth at the center of the beam of

$$U_0\frac{\mathrm{}P\mathrm{\Gamma }^2}{6\pi w^2I_0\delta },$$
(1)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=2\pi \times 6.1`$ MHz is the natural linewidth of the $`D_2`$ line and $`I_0=1.6`$ mW/cm2 is the saturation intensity. Red detuning corresponds to $`\delta <0`$.

First we measured the guided fraction as a function of guiding power, keeping the detuning fixed at $`\delta =12\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, (Fig. 3). Varying the power from $`0`$ to $`85`$ mW changes the potential depth at the center of the beam from $`0`$ to $`22\mu `$K. Increasing the power of the guiding beam obviously results in a higher capture fraction of the guide, since the potential becomes deeper. The largest guiding fraction we measured at this detuning was 33 %, at a power of $`76`$ mW. The error bars in the graph are due to uncertainties in determining the number of atoms.

We also varied the potential depth by changing the detuning, keeping the power constant at $`85`$ mW. The guided fraction decreased only slightly when the detuning was varied from $`4.9\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ ($`|U_0|/k_B=54\mu `$K) to $`15\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ ($`|U_0|/k_B=18\mu `$K), see Fig. 4. As expected the fraction of guided atoms decreased for larger negative values of the detuning, since this leads to decreasing $`|U_0|`$. The range over which we could vary the detuning was limited by the angle of the grating in the master laser of the tapered amplifier. The error bars in Fig. 4 are much larger then the error bars in Fig. 3. This is because the demands on the stability of the system are stronger for this set of measurements because it takes longer to change the detuning than the power.

## IV Analysis and discussion

To analyze the experimental data we first remark that the optical potential describing the guide is cylindrically symmetric, and has no influence on the atoms along the $`z`$ direction. The optical potential describing the guide is written as

$$U(\rho )=U_0e^{2\rho ^2/w^2}<0$$
(2)
where $`\rho `$ is the transverse position in cylindrical coordinates, $`w`$ is the laser waist and $`U_0`$ the maximum potential depth (at the center of the guiding beam) which is negative due to the sign of the detuning. We assume that the atomic cloud is described by Gaussian distributions for the horizontal position and momentum coordinates.

$$\mathrm{\Phi }(\rho ,p)=\frac{e^{p^2/2Mk_BT}}{2\pi Mk_BT}\times \frac{e^{\rho ^2/2\sigma ^2}}{2\pi \sigma ^2}$$
(3)
where $`p=\sqrt{p_x^2+p_y^2}`$ is the horizontal momentum, $`T`$ is the temperature of the molasses, and $`M`$ the atomic mass. This distribution is normalized as

$$_0^{\mathrm{}}_0^{\mathrm{}}\mathrm{\Phi }(\rho ,p)2\pi \rho 𝑑\rho 2\pi p𝑑p=1$$
(4)
Atoms will be bound to the guide if the total of their kinetic and potential energy is negative:

$$\frac{p^2}{2M}+U(\rho )<0$$
(5)
We denote the fraction of molasses atoms which are captured in the guide as $`\chi `$. Combining equations 3 and 5 , the guided fraction $`\chi `$ is written as

$$\chi =4\pi ^2_{p^2/2MU(\rho )}\mathrm{\Phi }(\rho ,p)\rho 𝑑\rho p𝑑p$$
(6)
which can be evaluated analytically:

$$\chi =1\frac{w^2}{4\sigma ^2}\left(\frac{|U_0|}{k_BT}\right)^{\frac{w^2}{4\sigma ^2}}\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{w^2}{4\sigma ^2},0,\frac{|U_0|}{k_BT})$$
(7)
Here $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(a,b,c)`$ is the generalized incomplete Gamma function math . Note that the above analysis is similar to that given in Ref. PruMarHou99 . The analytical expression for the guiding fraction was not given in that paper.

From this expression we see that the guided fraction is determined by only two dimensionless parameters: the relative size of the guide compared to the molasses size, $`w/\sigma `$, and the depth of the guide compared to the temperature of the molasses, $`U_0/k_BT`$. The factor $`4`$ results from the different definition of the waist of the guide $`w`$ (Eq.2), and the width of the molasses $`\sigma `$ (Eq.3). As expected the guided fraction tends to $`0`$ when either the potential depth or the width of the guiding beam goes to $`0`$. The fraction increases monotonically when either $`|U_0|`$ or $`w`$ increases.

The guiding fraction according to Eq. (7) is plotted in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 as the solid curve. In the evaluation of Eq. (7) the waist of the Gaussian potential was set to the fixed value of $`w=550\mu `$m. The maximum potential depth at the center, $`U_0`$, was calculated using Eq. (1). The temperature of the molasses $`T`$ was set to $`4.0\mu `$K. The r.m.s. width of the molasses was used as a fit parameter since it was not independently measured and it shows large daily variations as mentioned in section II. Both experimental curves were well fitted by the theoretical function Eq. (7).

In the experiment where the potential depth is varied by varying the power of the guiding beam, the fit resulted in a radius of the molasses of $`\sigma =650\pm 7\mu `$m. The error bar represents the 95% confidence interval. The experiment where the potential depth is varied by changing the detuning resulted in a fit of the radius of the molasses of $`\sigma =540\pm 8\mu `$m.

Not surprisingly the guiding fraction depends strongly on the size of the molasses. When we compare Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 we observe that for the same guide parameters, P=85 mW and $`\delta =12\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the increase of molasses size reduces the guided fraction from $`40\%`$ to $`32\%`$. Around the experimental parameters the guiding fraction theoretically depends on the size of the molasses as $`\chi /\sigma 1.1`$mm-1.

Knowing how to characterize the guiding fraction, we can calculate the optimal width of the guiding beam, given the available power and a chosen detuning for which the scattering rate is at an acceptable level. When the waist of the guide is small, the potential depth $`|U_0|`$ is large, but the spatial overlap is not optimal. On the other hand, when the waist is very large, the spatial overlap with the molasses is good, but fast atoms will escape from the low potential. In Fig. 5 the thick line represents the optimum guide waist as a function of the other experimental parameters, which are summarized in a “molasses-matched” potential depth $`|U_0^{mm}|`$, obtained by setting $`w=2\sigma `$ in equation (1), $`U_0^{mm}=\mathrm{}P\mathrm{\Gamma }^2/24\pi \sigma ^2I_0\delta `$. Note that this parameter is proportional to the available power and does not depend on the guide waist. The thin lines are lines of constant guiding fraction $`\chi `$.

Keeping the power at the maximum 85 mW and choosing the detuning at $`\delta =12\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the optimum guide waists are determined to be $`920\mu `$m for the experiment shown in Fig. 3 ($`\sigma =650\mu `$m) and $`850\mu `$m for the experiment shown in Fig. 4 ($`\sigma =540\mu `$m). This leads to optimum guiding fractions of 39% and 48% respectively. Our obtained results of $`\chi =32\%`$ and $`\chi =40\%`$ using a beam of $`w=550\mu `$m, imply that improvement is possible.

Our purpose of guiding the atomic cloud is to enhance the density of atoms arriving at the surface of the prism, where the EW is located. For $`P=85`$ mW at $`\delta =12\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the observed maximum density of atoms inside the guide is $`2\times 10^9`$ cm-3. Comparing this to the value of a free, ballistically spreading cloud, we see a density enhancement of $`2.8`$. The guiding fraction can be increased to almost $`60`$% by raising the depth of the guide to 55 $`\mu `$K. However such a large potential depth is obtained by tuning the guide laser closer to resonance, at a detuning of $`4.9\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, where radiation pressure by the guide starts to dominate the effect on the atoms, as will be shown in the next section.

## V Effect of photon scattering

Up to now the photon scattering due to the guiding beam has not been taken into account. In our experiments we make the potential deeper by decreasing the detuning. Whereas the potential is linear in the detuning ($`U1/\delta `$), the scattering rate varies quadratically ($`\gamma 1/\delta ^2`$). For a typical power of $`85`$ mW, and a detuning of $`12\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the photon scattering rate at the center of the guide reaches a value of $`250`$ s-1. During $`28`$ ms of falling, $`N=7`$ photons are scattered on average. This corresponds to heating of the atoms of $`\mathrm{\Delta }T=(N/3)T_{rec}=0.8\mu `$K. This is small compared to the initial temperature and we expect no influence on the guiding properties. Indeed, we observed no increase of the width of the unguided fraction when the power was increased.

The direct result of the high scattering rate at low detuning is illustrated in the absorption images in Fig. 6a. All three images are taken at $`28`$ ms after the molasses phase with the guiding beam present, but with different detuning. For decreasing detuning (closer to resonance), the scattering rate increases and radiation-pressure pushes the atoms upward, along the direction of the guiding beam. This results in an apparent gravity less than $`g=9.81`$ m/s2. For a detuning $`\delta =4.9\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the radiation pressure is such that the guided atoms have fallen $`1.8`$ mm instead of $`3.8`$ mm for free falling atoms, due to the acceleration of only $`4.5`$ m/s2.

We measured the atomic density profiles between $`10`$ ms and $`36`$ ms for different values of the detuning ranging from $`4.8\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ to $`1.2\times 10^4\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, keeping the power at $`85`$ mW. For each series we determined the vertical acceleration of the guided fraction which is plotted in Fig. 6b. The error bars of the experimental data are mainly due to the fact that the exact initial position of the molasses is uncertain. This location is fitted to be $`0.63`$ mm outside the field of view of the image. At low detuning, the large errors are the consequence of the fact that a large fraction of the guided cloud is outside the field of view.

The solid curve in Fig. 6b represents the calculated value of the acceleration of the atoms in the guiding potential. To obtain this curve, we calculated the exact dipole-potential and the maximum scattering rate at the center of the trap, $`\gamma _0`$. The average scattering rate, $`\overline{\gamma }`$ is less than this maximum value because the atoms oscillate in the potential. We calculated the classical trajectories for 1000 atoms moving in the dipole potential and time-averaged the intensity experienced by the atoms. In our case the guide has a Gaussian shape, and under the experimental conditions (T=4 $`\mu `$K) we obtain an average scattering rate $`\overline{\gamma }0.6\gamma _0`$. This ratio $`\overline{\gamma }/\gamma _00.6`$ is constant to within 5% for the potential range of our experiments. The measured apparent acceleration corresponds well with the theoretical value.

For values above $`|\delta |=12\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, we observed hardly any influence of radiation pressure by the guiding beam. For such a large detuning, the atoms scatter fewer than 5 photons during their fall, and the guiding fraction is around $`40`$%. This low scattering rate implies that the atoms could be guided over larger vertical distances. For lower detuning the atoms are pushed upward, resulting in a delayed arrival time at the prism surface due to radiation pressure. The increasing number of scattered photons results in heating of the atomic cloud, visible as the elongation of the atomic cloud in the vertical direction. For the lowest detuning, the width of the cloud is almost 30% larger compared to free falling atoms. During the time the atoms were guided they have scattered on average 25 photons, resulting in a temperature increase of 3 $`\mu `$K.

## VI Conclusions

We showed the guiding of atoms from optical molasses by a continuous light beam for 28 ms. For a total power of $`85`$ mW and detuning $`\delta =12\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, we guide $`40\%`$ of the atoms. Although the guide is red-detuned, the optical scattering rate at this detuning is acceptably low. For lower detuning a larger fraction was guided but radiation pressure starts to push the atoms upward, resulting in an acceleration less than gravity. The results of the measured guided fraction corresponded well with an analytical model. The guiding fraction depends only on two dimensionless parameters: the ratio of the widths of the guide and the molasses, and the ratio of the guide depth and molasses temperature. Given the experimental parameters, an optimum value of the guide waist can be determined. For a detuning of $`\delta =12\times 10^3\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the density enhancement after 28 ms is 2.8, compared with ballistically spreading atoms. This technique is easy to implement and can in principle be used to guide atoms over larger vertical distances. The use of a relatively small detuned laser beam of moderate power makes it easy to implement a guiding beam into every experiment.

## Acknowledgments

This work is part of the research program of the “Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek van de Materie” (FOM) which is financially supported by the “Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek” (NWO). R.S. has been financially supported by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.


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# Untitled Document

Selective Absorption Processes as the

Origin of Puzzling Spectral Line Polarization from the Sun

J. Trujillo Bueno∗,†, E. Landi Degl’Innocenti+, M. Collados, L. Merenda∗,†† & R. Manso Sainz+,∗

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.

+ Dipartimento di Astronomia e Scienza dello Spazio, Università di Firenze, Italy

††Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trento, Italy

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, E-28006 Madrid, Spain.

e-mail address: jtb@ll.iac.es

Published in NATURE (24 January 2002)

Magnetic fields play a key role in most astrophysical systems, from the Sun to active galactic nuclei$`^{\text{1,2,3}}`$. They can be studied through their effects on atomic energy levels, which produce polarized spectral lines$`^{\text{4,5}}`$. In particular, anisotropic radiation pumping processes$`^{\text{6,7}}`$ (which send electrons to higher atomic levels) induce population imbalances that are modified by weak magnetic fields$`^{\text{8,9}}`$. Here we report peculiarly polarized light in the He i 10,830-Å multiplet observed in a coronal filament located at the centre of the solar disk. We show that the polarized light arises from selective absorption from the ground level of the triplet system of helium, and that it implies the presence of magnetic fields of the order of a few gauss that are highly inclined with respect to the solar radius vector. This disproves the common belief$`^{\text{.}\text{,10,11}}`$ that population imbalances in long-lived atomic levels are insignificant in the presence of inclined fields with strengths in the gauss range, and demonstrates the operation of the ground-level Hanle effect in an astrophysical plasma.

The Zeeman effect and optical pumping are two mechanisms capable of inducing polarization signals in the spectral lines that originate in the outer layers of stellar atmospheres.

The Zeeman effect$`^{\text{12}}`$ requires the presence of a magnetic field, which causes the atomic energy levels to split into different magnetic sublevels. This splitting produces local sources and sinks of light polarization because of the ensuing wavelength shifts of transitions between levels. The Zeeman effect is most sensitive in circular polarization, with a magnitude that scales with the ratio between the Zeeman splitting and the width of the spectral line (which is very much larger than the natural width of the atomic levels). This so-called longitudinal Zeeman effect responds to the line-of-sight component of the magnetic field. In contrast, the transverse Zeeman effect responds to the component of the magnetic field perpendicular to the line of sight, but produces linear polarization signals that are normally negligible for magnetic strengths $`\mathrm{B}<\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}100}`$ gauss.

Anisotropic radiation pumping$`^{\text{.}\text{,}\text{.}}`$ produces atomic level polarization–that is, population imbalances and quantum interferences between the sublevels of degenerate atomic levels (Fig. 1). The presence of a magnetic field is not necessary for the operation of such optical pumping processes, which can be particularly efficient in creating atomic polarization if the depolarizing rates from elastic collisions are sufficiently low. As clarified below, the mere presence of atomic polarization of the type illustrated in Fig. 1 implies local sources and sinks of linear polarization. The Hanle effect$`^{\text{.}\text{,}\text{.}}`$ (Fig. 1) modifies the atomic polarization of the unmagnetized reference case, and gives rise to a complicated magnetic field dependence of the linear polarization of the scattered light, which is being increasingly applied as a diagnostic tool for weak magnetic fields in astrophysics.

It is often assumed that the observable effects of atomic polarization of long-lived atomic levels are strongly suppressed by Hanle depolarization in the presence of solar magnetic fields that are highly inclined with respect to the solar radius and have strengths in the gauss range$`^{\text{.}\text{,}\text{.}\text{}\text{.}}`$. Since some of the many “enigmatic” signals of scattering polarization that have been observed within the edge of the solar disc$`^{\text{13,14, 15}}`$ have been shown to be due to ground state atomic polarization$`^{\text{16,17,}\text{.}}`$, and because milligauss (or weaker) magnetic fields are believed to be very rare in the highly conductive solar plasma, it has been concluded that the field must be oriented fairly close to the radial direction wherever the signatures of lower level atomic polarization are observed$`^\text{.}`$. Although this conclusion is probably valid for the observations of scattering polarization in the Na i D1 line$`^\text{.}`$, it should not be generalized to all cases in which the signatures of lower-level atomic polarization are observed. Moreover, the observable effects of lower level atomic polarization, whether the Hanle effect destroys or creates linear polarization signals in spectral lines, depend on the scattering geometry. To clarify the situation, it is necessary to investigate carefully to what extent observable effects of the atomic polarization of long-lived atomic levels can not only survive partial Hanle destruction but even be enhanced by horizontal magnetic fields in the gauss range.

Such investigations can be performed in magnetized astrophysical plasmas, such as those in solar prominences and filaments. Solar prominences and filaments are relatively cool and dense ribbons of plasma embedded in the $`10^6`$ K solar corona. The ribbons are thought to be confined by the action of highly inclined magnetic fields with strengths in the gauss range$`^{\text{18}}`$. Prominences and filaments are in fact the same phenomenon but observed in different circumstances. Both prominences and filaments absorb the photons from the underlying solar photosphere and re-emit them in all directions. But prominences are observed outside the visible outer edge of the Sun (that is, against the dark background of the sky), while filaments are the same types of structures observed against the bright background of the solar disk. Therefore, we see emission lines in prominences, but absorption lines in filaments.

Figure 2 contrasts prominences and filaments and illustrates our theoretical prediction concerning the expected linear polarization of a line transition with $`J_l=1`$ and $`J_u=0`$, where $`J_l`$ and $`J_u`$ are the angular momentum quantum numbers of the lower and upper levels, respectively. In fact, there are two key mechanisms by means of which atomic level polarization can generate linear polarization signals in spectral lines: the first is due to the emission process (that is, to the atomic polarization of the upper level), while the second is subtly related with the absorption process (that is, to the atomic polarization of the lower level). In general, the first mechanism (caused exclusively by the spontaneous emission events that follow the anisotropic radiative excitation) is the only one that is taken into account$`^{\text{.}\text{,19, }\text{.}\text{,}\text{.}\text{,}\text{.}}`$. The role played by the atomic polarization of the lower level in producing linear polarization via the absorption process$`^{\text{20}}`$ has never been considered seriously.

We have observed the intensity and polarization of the $`\mathrm{He}`$ i 10830 Å multiplet in a variety of solar prominences and filaments using the Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter$`^{\text{21}}`$ attached to the Vacuum Tower Telescope$`^{\text{22}}`$. The $`\mathrm{He}`$ i 10830 Å multiplet originates between a lower term ($`2^3S_1`$) and an upper term ($`2^3P_{2,1,0}`$). Therefore, it has three spectral lines$`^{\text{23}}`$: a ‘blue’ line at $`\lambda 10829.09`$ (with $`J_l=1`$ and $`J_u=0`$), and two ‘red’ lines at $`\lambda 10830.25`$ (with $`J_u=1`$) and at $`\lambda 10830.34`$ (with $`J_u=2`$) which appear blended at the plasma temperatures of prominences and filaments. As explained in Fig. 2 legend, detection of a significant linear polarization signal in the ‘blue’ line ($`J_l=1`$ and $`J_u=0`$) would be due to the atomic polarization of the lower level with $`J_l=1`$. We note that this lower level is metastable–that is, it is a relatively long-lived atomic level whose atomic polarization is vulnerable (via the ground level Hanle effect$`^{\text{24,}\text{.}}`$) to magnetic fields of very low intensity ($`10^3`$ gauss).

We first consider prominences. The data points in Fig. 3 show the four Stokes parameters observed in a prominence. As expected from the theoretical prediction of Fig. 2, the ‘blue’ line of the $`\mathrm{He}`$ i 10830 Å multiplet does not show any significant linear polarization, which implies that this particular prominence has a very small optical thickness along the line of sight. However, there are very significant Stokes $`Q`$ and $`U`$ signals around the wavelengths of the blended ‘red’ components. These linear polarization signals are the observational signature of the atomic polarization of the upper levels with $`J_u=2`$ and $`J_u=1`$. Note that there are sizeable circular polarization signals in both the ‘blue’ and ‘red’ components. They are the result of the longitudinal Zeeman effect. Their detection is essential for the determination of the intensity of the magnetic field because for fields larger than only a few gauss the $`\mathrm{He}`$ i 10830 Å multiplet enters into the saturated Hanle effect regime for the upper level, where the linear polarization signals are sensitive only to the orientation of the magnetic field vector.

The solid line in Fig. 3 gives the result of our theoretical modelling taking into account the influence of ground-level polarization. From the fit to the observation we infer a magnetic field of about 40 gauss, inclined at 31 to the radial direction through the observed point. Interestingly, the dotted line shows what happens if we carry out the calculation with this magnetic field vector, but assuming a completely unpolarized ground level. In the present prominence case, the significant difference with respect to the solid-line calculation is solely the result of the important feedback that the existing ground level polarization is producing on the atomic polarization of the upper levels with $`J_u=2`$ and $`J_u=1`$. We note that a magnetic field diagnostic of solar prominences that neglects the influence of ground-level polarization would imply a significant error ($`10^{}`$) in the field orientation and in the magnetic strength ($``$ a few gauss).

We now turn our attention to filaments. The data points in Fig. 4 show the observed Stokes parameters in a solar filament that was situated exactly at the centre of the solar disc on 2 June 2001. We have selected this coronal filament in order to demonstrate that linear polarization signals can be produced even at the very centre of the solar disc where we meet the forward scattering case. As seen in the figure, the ‘blue’ line now shows a very significant linear polarization signal with a negative Stokes $`Q`$ amplitude, which is of the same order-of-magnitude as the positive Stokes $`Q`$ amplitude observed in the ‘red’ blended component. The observed linear polarization signals are entirely due to the Hanle effect operating at disc centre. This can be possible only if there exists a magnetic field with a significant inclination to the radial direction through the observed point, otherwise the polarization at disc centre would be zero for reasons of symmetry. The very existence of a sizeable Stokes $`Q`$ signal in the ‘blue’ line demonstrates that the $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{S}_{1}^{}`$ ground level is significantly polarized.

The solid line in Fig. 4 shows the result of our theoretical modelling of the Hanle effect at disc centre taking into account the influence of ground level polarization. From the fit to the observation we infer a magnetic field of 20 gauss, inclined by about 105 to the radial direction through the observed point and with a horizontal component at an angle of about 10 in the clockwise direction with respect to the axis of the filament. The agreement with the spectropolarimetric observation is remarkable. It demonstrates that the ground level Hanle effect is operating in the outer solar atmosphere, producing very significant linear polarization signals by selective absorption from the unevenly populated magnetic sublevels of a long-lived atomic level.

Our results demonstrate that the atomic polarization of long-lived levels, which is induced by optical pumping processes, generates observable polarization signatures due to the highly inclined magnetic fields with strengths in the gauss range that are characteristic of solar prominences. Instead of destroying the atomic polarization the magnetic fields via the Hanle effect produce linear polarization signals that are of the same order of magnitude as those caused by the atomic polarization of the short-lived excited states. Moreover, our results provide convincing observational evidence of the operation of an atomic effect that may have diagnostic use in several astrophysical contexts. It concerns the creation of linear polarization signals in spectral lines induced by magnetic fields in forward scattering and by dichroism. These phenomena reveal unfamiliar aspects of the Hanle effect and open up a new diagnostic window on the investigation of the magnetism of the outer solar atmosphere (chromosphere, transition region and corona).

Acknowledgements We thank R. Casini (HAO; Boulder) and J. O. Stenflo (ETH; Zurich) for discussions on quantum electrodynamics and for helping with the presentation of the Letter. The German Vacuum Tower Telescope is operated by the Kiepenheuer Institut at the Observatorio del Teide of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). The Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter (TIP) has been developed by the IAC. We also acknowledge the support of the European Solar Magnetometry Network and of the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofísica.

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Figure 1. Anisotropic radiation pumping and the Hanle effect

An unpolarized radiation field can induce population imbalances and quantum interferences (or coherences) between the sublevels of degenerate atomic levels (that is, atomic polarization) if the illumination of the atomic system is anisotropic. For example, upper-level population pumping occurs when some upper state sublevels have more chances of being populated than others (case $`𝐚`$). On the contrary, lower-level depopulation pumping occurs when some lower state sublevels absorb light more strongly than others (case $`𝐛`$). It is also important to note that line transitions between levels having other total angular momentum values (e.g., $`J_l=J_u=1`$ or with $`J_l=1`$ and $`J_u=2`$) permit the transfer of atomic polarization between both levels via a process called repopulation pumping (e.g. lower-level atomic polarization can result simply from the spontaneous decay of a polarized upper level). The Hanle effect is the modification of the atomic polarization of degenerate atomic levels caused by the action of a magnetic field such that its corresponding Zeeman splitting is comparable to the inverse lifetime (or natural width) of the degenerate atomic level under consideration. For the Hanle effect to operate, the magnetic field vector ($`𝐁`$) has to be significantly inclined with respect to the symmetry axis ($`𝛀`$) of the pumping radiation field. The formula used to estimate the maximum magnetic field intensity $`\mathrm{B}`$ (in gauss) to which the Hanle effect can be sensitive is $`10^6\mathrm{B}g\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}/t_{\mathrm{life}}`$, where $`g`$ and $`t_{\mathrm{life}}`$ are, respectively, the Landé factor and the lifetime (in seconds) of the given atomic level. In a reference frame whose $`z`$-axis (that is, the quantization axis of total angular momentum) is parallel to the direction of the magnetic field vector, the population imbalances turn out to be insensitive to the magnetic field, while the coherences are reduced and dephased as the magnetic strength is increased. This so-called magnetic field reference frame is the one we have chosen here while visualizing the induced population imbalances for the “strong field” case (that is, the case for which the coherences are negligible). We note that the atomic polarization of a given atomic level sensitively depends on the complexity of the assumed atomic model.

Figure 2. The solar prominence case versus the solar filament case

In a prominence located in the plane of the sky at a given distance above the visible outer edge of the Sun we see the result of $`90^{}`$ scattering events, while in a filament situated exactly at the centre of the solar disc we see the result of forward-scattering events. This figure illustrates these two cases by considering observations of a magnetized plasma ribbon using polarimeters at positions “$`\mathrm{𝟏}`$” (the prominence case) and “$`\mathrm{𝟐}`$” (the filament case). The figure refers exclusively to the ‘blue’ line of the $`\mathrm{He}`$ i 10830 Å multiplet, which is a line transition with $`J_l=1`$ and $`J_u=0`$. Since the upper level cannot carry any atomic polarization, the spontaneously emitted radiation which follows the anisotropic radiative excitation is virtually unpolarized. For this reason, the observer at position “1” sees that the fluorescently scattered beam is unpolarized. However, if the lower level is polarized as indicated in the inset, then the transmitted beam seen by the observer at position “2” will have an excess of linear polarization perpendicular to the direction of the horizontal magnetic field, simply because the $`\mathrm{\Delta }M=0`$, or $`\pi `$ transitions, absorb more efficiently than the $`\mathrm{\Delta }M=\pm 1`$, or $`\sigma `$ transitions. This selective absorption mechanism$`^\text{.}`$ is called dichroism because the plasma is behaving as a dichroic medium (that is, the absorption coefficient in the line transition depends on the polarization of the radiation). We note that repopulation pumping plays a crucial role in polarizing the ground level of the triplet system of $`\mathrm{He}`$ i, since our calculations are based on a realistic multiterm atomic model and not on the two-level model atom considered in Figure 1. This is why the lower-level polarization shown in the inset is different from Fig. 1b. So for $`101`$ scattering processes we expect to observe virtually zero linear polarization in optically thin prominences, but a sizeable linear polarization signal in filaments if a significant amount of lower-level atomic polarization is present.

Figure 3. Prominence case: observation versus theory

Spectropolarimetric observation of a solar prominence (circles) versus theoretical modelling taking into account the influence of ground level atomic polarization (solid line) or neglecting it (dotted line). Our modelling assumes that the $`\mathrm{He}`$ i atoms, lying at a given height ($`h`$) above the solar photosphere, are illuminated by an unpolarized and spectrally flat radiation field. It is based on the quantum theory of the generation and transfer of polarized radiation$`^{\text{25,26}}`$, which we have applied describing the $`\mathrm{He}`$ i atoms in the incomplete Paschen-Back effect regime$`^{\text{27}}`$. The Stokes $`I`$ parameter quantifies the total intensity of the observed light, the Stokes $`Q`$ and $`U`$ parameters represent the degree of linear polarization along two reference axis that form an angle of $`45^{}`$ between them, while Stokes $`V`$ quantifies the degree of circular polarization$`^{\text{28}}`$. The observed prominence region had a projected height on the plane of the sky of $`20^{^{\prime \prime }}`$ over the visible edge of the solar disc (that is, $`h\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}15000}`$ km). The fit to the observations was done assuming a magnetic field vector with intensity $`\mathrm{B}=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}40}`$ gauss, inclination $`\theta _\mathrm{B}=31^{}`$, and azimuth $`\chi _\mathrm{B}=176^{}`$. Note that $`\lambda _0=10829.09`$ Å is the line centre wavelength of the ‘blue’ component of the $`\mathrm{He}`$ i 10830 Å multiplet. The positive reference direction for Stokes $`Q`$ is perpendicular to the radial direction through the observed point. The Stokes profiles are normalized to the maximum line-core intensity of the ‘red’ emission line. We point out that for this particular geometry of scattering, the determination of the magnetic field is ambiguous. The alternative determination $`\mathrm{B}=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}40}`$ gauss, $`\theta _\mathrm{B}^{}=180^{}\theta _\mathrm{B}=149^{}`$, $`\chi _\mathrm{B}^{}=\chi _\mathrm{B}=176^{}`$, gives the same theoretical curve.

Figure 4. Filament case: observation versus theory

Spectropolarimetric observation of a solar filament located at the disc-centre (circles) versus theoretical modelling taking into account the influence of ground-level atomic polarization (solid line) or neglecting it (dotted line). Our choice for the positive reference direction of the observed Stokes $`Q`$ parameter is the one which minimizes Stokes $`U`$. The solid-line fit has been achieved assuming $`\mathrm{B}=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}20}`$ gauss, $`\theta _\mathrm{B}=105^{}`$ and a height $`h=40^{^{\prime \prime }}`$ (that is, about 30000 km) above the visible solar surface. The positive reference direction for the theoretical Stokes $`Q`$ profile is parallel to the projection of the magnetic field vector on the solar surface. Therefore, negative Stokes $`Q`$ values indicate that the linear polarization of the observed beam is perpendicular to the magnetic field of the filament plasma, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The dotted line neglects the influence of ground level polarization, but takes into account the (negligible) contribution of the transverse Zeeman effect. The Stokes $`I`$ profile is normalized to the local continuum intensity, while Stokes $`Q`$, $`U`$ and $`V`$ are normalized to the maximum line-core depression (from the continuum level) of the Stokes $`I`$ profile of the ‘red’ absorption line. The weakness of the Stokes $`V`$ signal, which is caused by the longitudinal Zeeman effect, arises because the magnetic field vector is almost parallel to the solar surface. Finally, note that, for the particular geometry of this observation, an ambiguity of $`180^{}`$ is present in the determination of the azimuth of the magnetic field vector.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4