J. R. Kuhn et al 2007 ApJ 668 L63 doi:10.1086/522425
J. R. Kuhn1, S. V. Berdyugina2, D. M. Fluri2, D. M. Harrington1 and J. O. Stenflo2
Show affiliationsRecent spectropolarimetric observations of Herbig Ae/Be stellar systems show linear polarization variability with wavelength and epoch near their obscured Hα emission. Surprisingly, this polarization is not coincident with the Hα emission peak but is variable near the absorptive part of the line profile. With a new and novel model, we show here that this is evidence of optical pumping—anisotropy of the incident radiation that leads to a linear polarization-dependent optical depth within the intervening hydrogen wind or disk cloud. This effect can yield a larger polarization signal than scattering polarization in these systems.
circumstellar matter; polarization; radiative transfer; techniques: polarimetric
Issue 1 (2007 October 10)
Received 2007 July 26, accepted for publication 2007 August 14
Published 2007 September 24
J. R. Kuhn et al 2007 ApJ 668 L63
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