POLARIZATION FEATURES OF SOLAR RADIO-EMISSION AND POSSIBLE EXISTENCE OF CURRENT SHEETS IN ACTIVE REGIONS

We show that it is possible to account for the polarization features o f solar radio emission provided the linear mode coupling theory is pro perly applied and the presence of current sheets in the corona is take n into account. We present a schematic model, including a current shee t that can explain the polarization features of both the low frequency slowly varying component and the bipolar noise storm radiation; the t wo radiations face similar propagation conditions through a current sh eet and hence display similar polarization behavior. We discuss the ap plications of the linear mode coupling theory to the following types o f solar radio emission: the slowly varying component, the microwave ra dio bursts, metric type U bursts, and bipolar noise storms.