Other publication
Implications of IXPE's Polarization Results of BH X-Ray Binaries
Authors: Rodrigues Cavero Nicole, Krawczynski Henric, Dovčiak Michal, Muleri Fabio, Veledina Alexandra, Podgorný Jakub, Ratheesh Ajay, Accreting Stellar-Mass BH Working Group
Conference name: High Energy Astrophysics Division Meetings
Publisher: American Institute of Physics
Publishing place: Waikōloa, Hawaiʻi
Publication year: 2023
Journal: Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
Book title : HEAD20 Abstracts : The 20th Meeting of the High Energy Astrophysics Division
Journal name in source: Bulletin of the AAS
Volume: 55
Issue: 4
ISSN: 0002-7537
eISSN: 2330-9458
Web address : https://baas.aas.org/pub/2023n4i207p05/release/1
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/387034773
X-ray polarimetry offers a unique insight into black hole X-ray binary systems that are found predominantly in the high soft (HSS) and low hard (LHS) states. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) recently observed Cygnus X-1 and Cygnus X-3 in the LHS where black hole coronal emission tends to dominate. The polarization signature of this coronal Comptonized emission can be used to constrain the geometry of the corona, its viewing angle, and the origin of soft X-ray seed photons. IXPE also observed 4U1630-47 and LMC X-1 in the HSS where the polarization of thermal emission from the optically thick accretion disk can be used to rectify the degeneracies between black hole mass, spin, and inclination. We report on the physical consequences of these first IXPE observations and the science driven by this new chapter in X-ray polarimetry.
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