Stefano Covino

INAF – Brera Astronomical Observatory

torek, 4. 3. 2008, ob 14h v F6

The study of polarisation from astrophysical sources is an important tool to derive fundamental information about emission processes, source geometry, interstellar medium, etc. However, it is also well known that optical polarimetry is a rather difficult technique, requiring high S/N, large telescopes and delicate data analysis to give meaningful results. In spite of that, optical polarimetry in the context of GRB afterglow
studies, have always been considered one of the best available probes to discriminate among competitor models, to derive information about the source evolution, etc. In this talk I will review the best results obtained so far with optical polarimetry of GRB afterglows, and discuss in some detail the most promising advancements for the future.