Interferometric Measurement of Polarization Distribution in Radio Sources

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Abstract
A new technique of measuring linear polarization is described. The Fourier synthesis of polarization distributions is discussed and the term ‘complex brightness’ is introduced to represent the linear polarization. The Fourier transform of the complex brightness distribution is shown to be in direct proportion to the output of an interferometer consisting of two aerials sensitive to circularly polarized radiation. The method is applied to a study of two distributed polarized sources, the Crab Nebula and 3C 315. In each case the polarization distribution at λ 21 cm in one dimension is synthesized with a resolution of 1′·2 arc; in addition a two-dimensional model is suggested for each source.

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