Polarized Radiation from Close Binaries

Abstract

Comprehensive reviews of results from polarimetric observations of close binary stars include the brief survey by Koch (1988) and the compendium by Coyne et al. (1988). These have cutoff dates in the late 1980’s. By now, almost 700 binary systems are known to have been observed polarimetrically and a total of 98 new observational series has been presented since 1985. Most of these are of visibleband, linear data but more than 30% contain circular component radio, IR, or visible-band measures. The organization of this chapter is complementary to that of Koch’s earlier review and the reader can easily gauge the evolutionary states of close binaries which have recently seemed to be most rewarding for both observation and analysis.