The review considers the influence of Bloch surface waves on the optical and magneto-optical effects observed in photonic crystals; for example, the Goos–Hänchen effect, the Faraday effect, optical trapping and so on. Prospects for using Bloch surface waves for spatial light modulation, for controlling the polarization of light, for optical trapping and control of micro-objects are discussed.

The Parkes Galactic Meridian Survey (PGMS) is a 5 × 90 strip to map the polarized synchrotron emission along a Galactic meridian from the Galactic plane down to the south Galactic pole. The survey is carried out at the Parkes radio telescope at a frequency of 2.3 GHz with 30 adjacent 8-MHz bands which enable Faraday Rotation studies. The scientific goal is twofold: (1) To probe the Galactic mag...

Faraday rotation measurements are used to constrain simple models representing possible extremes of the structure of extra-galactic magnetic fields (EGMFs). Relevant fields are found quite generally to be at the μG level rather than the nG level usually assumed. Even the highest energy cosmic ray protons should experience large deflections over distances of order 1 Mpc. Such large deflections a...

We raise the question of whether velocities of left and right circularly-polarized photons might be different (for reasons other than the well-known Faraday effect). Such a difference could manifest itself either in the time profiles of pulsed or bursting astronomical sources or in the rotation of the direction of polarization of linearly polarized radiation from them. The existing observations...

We present the first 6.7 GHz methanol maser linear polarization map of the extended filamentary maser structure around the compact H region W3(OH). The methanol masers show linear polarization up to ∼ 8 per cent and the polarization angles indicate a magnetic field direction along the North-South maser structure. The polarization angles are consistent with those measured for the OH masers, ta...

We present new submillimeter polarimetric observations of the Galactic center region, made using the SPARO polarimeter that operates at the South Pole. Compared with previous submillimeter polarimetry of this region, our measurements cover much more sky area, and they imply that the molecular gas in the central few hundred pc is threaded by a large scale toroidal magnetic field. We consider thi...

The existence of a primordial magnetic field at the last scattering surface may induce a measurable Faraday rotation in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background. We calculate the magnitude of this effect by evolving the radiative transfer equations for the microwave background polarization through the epoch of last scatter, in the presence of a magnetic field. For a primordial field ...

We study electromagnetic properties of periodic composite structures, such as photonic crystals, involving lossy components. We show that in many cases a properly designed periodic structure can dramatically suppress the losses associated with the absorptive component, while preserving or even enhancing its useful functionality. As an example, we consider magnetic photonic crystals, in which th...

Cheng Wang 1,*, Liang Chen 1, Haisheng Zhao 2, Zheng Lu 3, Mingming Bian 3, Running Zhang 3 and Jian Feng 2 1 Qian Xuesen Laboratory of Space Technology, China Academy of Space Technology, Beijing 100094, China; [email protected] 2 National Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Environment, China Research Institute of Radiowave Propagation, Qingdao 266107, China; [email protected] (H.Z.); f...

We review observations of extended regions of radio emission in clusters; these include diffuse emission in 'relics', and the large central regions commonly referred to as 'halos'. The spectral observations, as well as Faraday rotation measurements of background and cluster radio sources, provide the main evidence for large-scale intracluster magnetic fields and significant densities of relativ...