Novel instruments for high-precision imaging polarimetry have opened new possibilities, not only for diagnostics of magnetic fields, but also for exploring effects in radiative scattering, atomic physics, spectral line formation and radiative transfer. The observational advances have stimulated various theoretical developments, for instance in vector radiative transfer and techniques for inverting polarized line profiles. The present volume gives a comprehensive and up-to-date account of this rapidly evolving and interdisciplinary field of science. It is based on the oral presentations given at the 2nd International Workshop on Solar Polarization held in Bangalore, India, in October 1998.

Much progress has been made in recent years in understanding the complex physics of polarized radiation in the sun and stars. This physics includes vector radiative transfer and spectral line formation in the presence of magnetic fields, scattering theory and coherence effects, partial redistribution and turbulent magnetic fields, numerical techniques and Stokes inversion, as well as concepts for polarimetric imaging with a precision limited only by photon statistics. The present volume gives a comprehensive and up-to-date account of this rapidly evolving field of science.