Analysis of Seeing-Induced Polarization Cross-Talk and Modulation Scheme Performance

TL;DR

This paper investigates how atmospheric seeing causes polarization cross-talk in Stokes polarimeters, affecting measurement noise, and compares the performance of different modulation schemes in dual-beam systems, providing a general formalism applicable beyond solar physics.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive formalism to analyze seeing-induced polarization cross-talk and compares modulation schemes, extending previous models to multiple cycles.

Findings

Seeing induces polarization cross-talk affecting noise statistics.

Dual-beam modulation schemes respond differently to seeing-induced correlations.

The extended formalism allows for broader application and comparison with earlier models.

Abstract

We analyze the generation of polarization cross-talk in Stokes polarimeters by atmospheric seeing, and its effects on the noise statistics of spectropolarimetric measurements for both single-beam and dual-beam instruments. We investigate the time evolution of seeing-induced correlations between different states of one modulation cycle, and compare the response to these correlations of two popular polarization modulation schemes in a dual-beam system. Extension of the formalism to encompass an arbitrary number of modulation cycles enables us to compare our results with earlier work. Even though we discuss examples pertinent to solar physics, the general treatment of the subject and its fundamental results might be useful to a wider community.