Stokes Inversion Techniques: Recent Advances and New Challenges

Inversion techniques (ITs) allow us to infer the magnetic, dynamic, and thermal properties of the solar atmosphere from polarization line profiles. In recent years, major progress has come from the application of ITs to state-of-the-art observations. This paper summarizes the main results achieved both in the photosphere and in the chromosphere. It also discusses the challenges facing ITs in the near future. Understanding the limitations of spectral lines, implementing more complex atmospheric models, and devising efficient strategies of data analysis for upcoming ground-based and space-borne instruments, are among the most important issues that need to be addressed. It is argued that proper interpretations of diffraction-limited Stokes profiles will not be possible without accounting for gradients of the atmospheric parameters along the line of sight. The feasibility of determining gradients in real time from space-borne observations is examined.