A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

X-Ray Polarimetry as a Tool to Constrain Orbital Parameters in X-Ray Binaries




AuthorsRankin John, Kravtsov Vadim, Muleri Fabio, Poutanen Juri, Marin Frédéric, Capitanio Fiamma, Matt Giorgio, Costa Enrico, Marco Alessandro Di, Fabiani Sergio, La Monaca Fabio, Marra Lorenzo, Soffitta Paolo

PublisherThe American Astronomical Society

Publication year2024

JournalAstrophysical Journal

Journal name in sourceThe Astrophysical Journal

Article number34

Volume962

Issue1

eISSN1538-4357

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1991

Web address https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1991

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/386840119

Preprint addresshttps://arxiv.org/abs/2312.16967


Abstract
X-ray binary systems consist of a companion star and a compact object in close orbit. Thanks to their copious X-ray emission, these objects have been studied in detail using X-ray spectroscopy and timing. The inclination of these systems is a major uncertainty in the determination of the mass of the compact object using optical spectroscopic methods. In this paper, we present a new method to constrain the inclination of X-ray binaries, which is based on the modeling of the polarization of X-rays photons produced by a compact source and scattered off the companion star. We describe our method and explore the potential of this technique in the specific case of the low-mass X-ray binary GS 1826−238 observed by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer observatory.

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Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 15:20