Solar magnetic and velocity-field measurements: new instrument concepts

Abstract

Using a generalized Mueller calculus, a number of new instrument concepts for the recording of solar magnetic and velocity fields are treated: (1) Schemes for the simultaneous recording of all four Stokes parameters, in particular solutions requiring only one piezoelastic modulator, and systems using the beat frequencies of two modulators (to obtain compatibility with the slow readout rate of large array detectors). (2) A system using a solid polarizing Michelson interferometer in combination with broadband prefilters and piezoelastic modulators. (3) A white-light solar magnetometer, an instrument without any spectrally resolving element at all.