Abstract
The concepts of contribution functions (CF) and of mean depths of line formation of unpolarized light as well as of Stokes profiles will be critically discussed. After having outlined the historical development arguments are given in favour of the use of directly observable quantities such as the emergent line intensity or the polarized components seen through polarization optics only. The arguments are provided by a probability interpretation of the CF; the ambiguities of line depression CF as well as some physically strange features in Stokes profiles are avoided if the rules based on this interpretation are observed. Some problems of the interpretation of measurements in chromospheric lines will be discussed as well.
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Staude, J. Contribution functions for polarized radiative transfer. Sol Phys 164, 183–190 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00146632
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00146632