We present the results of a systematic observational campaign designed to search for microvariability in the optical polarization of BL Lac objects. We have observed a sample formed by 8 X-ray-selected and 10 radio-selected sources, looking for rapid changes in both the degree of linear polarization and the corresponding polarization angle. The whole campaign was carried out along the last thre...

The recent detection of linear polarization from GRB120206 has piqued the interest of the community in this relatively unexplored avenue of research. Here, we review the current status and prospects for GRB polarimetry at hard X-ray and soft γ-ray energies. After reviewing the most recent results, we present a brief survey of current and planned experiments that are capable of making GRB polari...

We present polarization profiles at 1.4 and 3.1 GHz for 14 young pulsars with characteristic ages less than 75 kyr. Careful calibration ensures that the absolute position angle of the linearly polarized radiation at the pulsar is obtained. In combination with previously published data we draw three main conclusions about the pulse profiles of young pulsars. (1) Pulse profiles are simple and con...

Optical linear polarization measurements are presented for about 30 Vega-like stars. These are then compared with the polarization observed for normal field stars. A significant fraction of the Vega-like stars are found to show polarization much in excess of that expected to be due to interstellar matter along the line of sight to the star. The excess polarization must be intrinsic to the star,...

Research efforts in linear polarization imaging have largely targeted the development of novel polarizing filters with improved performance and the monolithic integration of image sensors and polarization filter arrays. However, as pixel sizes in CMOS image sensors continue to decrease, the same limitations that have an impact on color and monochrome CMOS image sensors will undoubtedly affect p...

We present results from archival Very Large Array (VLA) data and new VLA observations to investigate the long term behavior of the circular polarization of M81*, the nuclear radio source in the nearby galaxy M81. We also used the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) array to observe M81* at 86 and 230 GHz. M81* is unpolarized in the linear sense at a frequency as high as 86 GHz and sho...

The recent detection of linear polarization from GRB120206 has piqued the interest of the community in this relatively unexplored avenue of research. Here, we review the current status and prospects for GRB polarimetry at hard X-ray and soft γ-ray energies. After reviewing the most recent results, we present a brief survey of current and planned experiments that are capable of making GRB polari...

We present measured radio emission from cosmic-ray-induced air showers under thunderstorm conditions. We observe for these events large differences in intensity, linear polarization and circular polarization from the events measured under fair-weather conditions. This can be explained by the effects of atmospheric electric fields in thunderclouds. Therefore, measuring the intensity and polariza...

A reconfigurable patch antenna consisting of a square patch with two cross-shaped diagonal slots is presented. The proposed design approach is based on the use of two pairs of switches in order to obtain both frequency and polarization reconfigurability. Specifically, three different polarization states have been obtained: a Right-Hand Circular Polarization, a Left-Hand Circular Polarization an...

We collected optical and near IR linear polarization data obtained over 20–30 years for a sample of 51 blazars. For each object, we calculated the probability that the distribution of position angles was isotropic. The distribution of these probabilities was sharply peaked, with 27 blazars showing a probability < 15% of an isotropic distribution of position angles. For these 27 objects we defin...