Polarization of Astronomical Maser Radiation. II. Polarization Modes and Unsaturated Growth

Abstract

Maser polarization is analyzed in the limit of overlapping Zeeman components (gν B Δν D , where gν B is the Zeeman splitting and Δν D is the Doppler width). All the discrepancies among the conflicting conclusions of previous studies that identified maser polarizations in this limit are fully resolved. In the case of m-independent pumping, proper application of the eigenvalue technique of Goldreich, Seeley, & Swan shows that the polarization eigenvectors are the same for saturated and unsaturated masers and are independent of spin for pure spin states, in agreement with the results of the first paper in this series. Stable eigenvectors correspond to the peak of the polarization mode distribution of self-amplified radiation at any degree of saturation