Polarization effects in stellar interferometry

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Abstract
We develop a general formalism for describing the polarization effects in stellar interferometers. We show that celestial field rotation and phase delays between the s and p fringe patterns are first order effects. Experiments in laboratory partially check our modeling and thanks to these measurements we optimize a field rotator to compensate the visibility losses due to celestial field rotation. Then we predict the visibility functions of the Grand Interfe´rome`tre a` 2 Te´lescopes (GI2T) of the Observatoire de la Coˆte d’Azur with its present beam combiner and with the future Recombinateur pour Grand Interfe´rome`tre (REGAIN): the field rotator enables an increase in the observation time by more than 3 hours. Finally, we compare our results to observations done with the GI2T and we emphasize the importance of such calibrations with a polarimetric mode whose principle is validated. © 1996 Society of Photo−Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

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