Hybrid approach for treating the depolarization of the solar lines of the Ba ii, Ca ii, and Mg ii ions by collisions

Abstract

ABSTRACT Isotropic collisions between atoms of hydrogen and solar ions emitting polarized light contribute to reducing the observed polarization (depolarization). The aim of this work is to apply a hybrid method in order to provide new collisional depolarization rates of the 2P1/2 and 2P3/2 states of the Mg ii, Ca ii, and Ba ii ions. The hybrid method proposed in this work takes into account the spin effects in the calculation of the interaction potential and in the treatment of the collision dynamics. We detect the region of the interaction potential that is of importance in the determination of the depolarization rates. We conclude that the best strategy is to combine semiclassical and quantum potentials in order to build the so-called hybrid potentials. The dynamics of collisions proposed in this work is based on coupled differential equations that take into account the effects of the spins of the Mg ii, Ca ii, and Ba ii ions and the spin of the hydrogen. Hybrid depolarization rates are then inferred by solving the dynamics of collisions and using hybrid potentials. Comparison with previous quantum and semiclassical rates is presented. Our results should be of use for interpreting solar spectropolarimetric observations and our method can be applied to other ions.