Quod si tam celebris est apud omnes gloria Adamantis, atque varia ista opum gaudia, gemmae unionesque, ad ostentationem tantum placent, ut digitis colloque circumferantur; non minori a?ciendos speraverimgaudio eos, quibus curiositatis conscientia quam deliciarum est potior, novitate corporis alicujus, instar crystalli translucidi, quod ex Islandia nuper ad nos perlatum est; cujus tam mira est constitutio, ut haud sciam, num alias magis naturae apparuerit gratia. Erasmus Bartholinus, Experimenta crystalli islandici disdiaclastici Apart from a few objects of our immediate neighborhood (the solar system), all the information on the physical phenomena taking place in the Universe comes from the radiation that the astronomical objects send into space and that is ?nally collected on earth by telescopes or other instruments. Among the di?erent kinds of radiation, electromagnetic waves have by far played the most important role in the history of Astronomy - probably, it is not unrealistic to say that more than 99% of our present knowledge of the Universe derives from the analysis of the electromagnetic radiation. Such radiation contains three di?erent kinds of information, encoded into as many physical characteristics typical of any oscillatory propagation phenomenon: the propagation direction, the frequency and amplitude of the oscillation, and the oscillation direction - or polarization.

Inhaltsangabe1: Description of Polarized Radiation. 2: Angular Momentum and Racah Algebra. 3: Atomic Spectroscopy. 4: Quantization of the Electromagnetic Field (Non-Relativistic Theory). 5: Interaction of Material Systems with Polarized Radiation (The Classical Approach). 6: Interaction of Material Systems with Polarized Radiation (The Quantum Approach). 7: Statistical Equilibrium Equations and Radiative Transfer Coefficients for Atomic Systems. 8: Radiative Transfer for Polarized Radiation. 9: Line Formation in a Magnetic Field. 10: Non-Equilibrium Atomic Physics. 11: Astrophysical Applications: Solar Magnetometry. 12: Astrophysical Applications: Radiation Anisotropy in Stellar Atmospheres. 13: Astrophysical Applications: The Outer Layers of Stellar Atmospheres. 14: Astrophysical Applications: Stellar Atmospheres. Appendix: A1. A Fortran Code for Computing 3-j, 6-j, and 9-j Symbols. A2. Sample Evaluation of a Quantity Involving the Contraction of 3-j Coefficients. A3. Momentum and Angular Momentum of the Electromagnetic Field. A4. Multipole Components of Collisional Rates. A5. Explicit Expression for the Exponential of the Propagation Matrix. A6. Diagonalization of the Propagation Matrix. A7. Formulae for the Calculation of the Evolution Operator. A8. The Feautrier Method: Numerical Details. A9. The Diagonal Element Lambda-Operator (DELO) Method: Numerical Details. A10. Equivalent Width in the Presence of Depth-Dependent Line Shifts. A11. Net Circular Polarization in Blends. A12. Evolution Operator in Stochastic Media. A13. Properties of the Generalized Profiles. A14. Properties of the Symbol [WKK'Q(&bgr;1L1S&bgr;uLu; B)]fs. A15. A Property of the Hopf Function. A16. A Numerical Algorithm for the Solution of the Hopf Equation. A17. Symmetry Properties of the Comoving-Frame Radiation Field Tensor for a Cylindrically Symmetrical Atmosphere. A18. Redistribution Matrix for a Maxwellian Distribution of Velocities. A19. Properties of the Kernel &Kgr;&kgr;QQ'(R£Y/Y£). A20. The Multipole Coupling Coefficients. A21. The Calculation of a Double Integral. A22. The Generalization of the √&egr;-Law. A23. The Generalized Multipole Coupling Coefficients. A24. Reduced Matrix Elements for Photoionization Cross Sections. List of Tables. References. Author Index. Subject Index.