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Enigmas in measurements of solar magnetic field

Bulletin of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory

Abstract

The mean magnetic field (MMF) of the photosphere of the Sun as a star was measured in 2001–2010 at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory using two Fe I absorption lines with λ = 524.7 nm and λ = 525.0 nm. The regression coefficient b for 1054 pairs of daily values measured simultaneously on both lines equals 0.82 (a correlation coefficient is 0.94; magnetic field strengths determined by the line with λ = 525.0 nm are lower than those for the line with λ = 524.7 nm). However, the b value varied significantly along with phases of the 11-year cycle from 0.88 in 2003 to 0.49 in 2009. It is difficult to ascribe these variations to purely instrumental or solar causes. Moreover, the semiannual value of b decreased with the decrease in the absolute strength of the MMF, which contradicts the model of thin magnetic flux ropes of the photosphere. Similar behavior of b was also observed in the comparison of MMF measured at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and Stanford by the line with λ = 525.0 nm. The inconsistency of the results obtained by these two iron lines on different instruments has been noted. It has been concluded that the variance in and odd behavior of b are predetermined not only by the instrument and the Sun (by the so-called fine structure of the photosphere field), but also by the act of measuring. When recording solar (and stellar) magnetic fields and modeling atmospheric processes, quantum effects have to be taken into account, such as nonlocality, indistinguishability, and the entanglement of photons, as well as that a photon only acquires its properties at the exact moment of its detection. The best approximation to reality can be achieved by averaging the MMF measurements carried out with different magnetographs and in different spectral lines.

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Correspondence to V. A. Kotov.

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Original Russian Text © V.A. Kotov, 2012, published in Izvestiya Krymskoi Astrofizicheskoi Observatorii, 2012, Vol. 108, pp. 35–47.

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Kotov, V.A. Enigmas in measurements of solar magnetic field. Bull.Crim. Astrophys. Observ. 108, 20–29 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3103/S019027171201010X

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S019027171201010X

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