Polarimetry with the Giant Magellan Telescope: A Scientific Justification & Technical Requirements Document
Abstract
The photons we collect from astronomical sources are encoded with information about the physics behind their origin. To fully probe that physics, we must maximize the information we extract from those photons. At optical and near-infrared wavelengths, this is typically done with the use of filters or a disperser to extract flux as a function of color. An often disregarded piece of information that is also carried by those photons is the polarization state. Astronomical polarimetry is capable of revealing details about the source geometry and magnetic fields that are often unresolvable and, therefore, inaccessible by any other means. Polarimetry is typically a photon-starved science because crucial model discriminators are often only revealed when precisions of 0.1% in the degree of polarization are achieved. For spectropolarimetry, this necessitates the collection of over one million photons at each spectral bin, which demands the use of large aperture telescopes for typical objects of interest. The future completion of Giant Segmented Mirror Telescopes (GSMTs) promises the long-awaited light grasp to initiate an unprecedented era of discovery with astronomical polarimetry.
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BibTeX
@misc{williams2026polarimetry,
title = {{Polarimetry with the Giant Magellan Telescope: A Scientific Justification & Technical Requirements Document}},
author = {G. Grant Williams and Ramya M Anche and B-G Anderson and G. C. Anupama and Stefano Bagnulo and Alex Carciofi and Seok Jun Chang and Ewan Douglas and Jennifer L. Hoffman and Helen Jermak and Christoph Keller and Ludmilla Kolokolova and Hee-Won Lee and Douglas C. Leonard and Nikos Mandarakas and Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer and Claudia Oliveira and Chris Packham and Rafael Ribeiro and Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez and Manisha Shrestha and Paul Smith and Konstantinos Tassis and Jake D. Turner and Lifan Wang and J. Craig Wheeler and Klaas Wiersema and Padma Yanamandra-Fisher and Yujin Yang and Ann Zabludoff},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.05864},
eprint = {2611.05864},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05864},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Polarimetry with the Giant Magellan Telescope: A Scientific Justification & Technical Requirements Document
AU - G. Grant Williams
AU - Ramya M Anche
AU - B-G Anderson
AU - G. C. Anupama
AU - Stefano Bagnulo
AU - Alex Carciofi
AU - Seok Jun Chang
AU - Ewan Douglas
AU - Jennifer L. Hoffman
AU - Helen Jermak
AU - Christoph Keller
AU - Ludmilla Kolokolova
AU - Hee-Won Lee
AU - Douglas C. Leonard
AU - Nikos Mandarakas
AU - Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer
AU - Claudia Oliveira
AU - Chris Packham
AU - Rafael Ribeiro
AU - Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez
AU - Manisha Shrestha
AU - Paul Smith
AU - Konstantinos Tassis
AU - Jake D. Turner
AU - Lifan Wang
AU - J. Craig Wheeler
AU - Klaas Wiersema
AU - Padma Yanamandra-Fisher
AU - Yujin Yang
AU - Ann Zabludoff
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.05864
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05864
AB - The photons we collect from astronomical sources are encoded with information about the physics behind their origin. To fully probe that physics, we must maximize the information we extract from those photons. At optical and near-infrared wavelengths, this is typically done with the use of filters or a disperser to extract flux as a function of color. An often disregarded piece of information that is also carried by those photons is the polarization state. Astronomical polarimetry is capable of revealing details about the source geometry and magnetic fields that are often unresolvable and, therefore, inaccessible by any other means. Polarimetry is typically a photon-starved science because crucial model discriminators are often only revealed when precisions of 0.1% in the degree of polarization are achieved. For spectropolarimetry, this necessitates the collection of over one million photons at each spectral bin, which demands the use of large aperture telescopes for typical objects of interest. The future completion of Giant Segmented Mirror Telescopes (GSMTs) promises the long-awaited light grasp to initiate an unprecedented era of discovery with astronomical polarimetry.
ER -