Related papers: Polarimetry with a soft x-ray spectrometer
One of the difficulties with performing polarization analysis is that the mean polarization fraction of sub-divided data sets is larger than the polarization fraction for the integrated measurement. The resulting bias is one of the…
The polarization of x-rays plays an outstanding role in experimental techniques such as non-resonant magnetic x-ray scattering and resonant x-ray scattering of magnetic and multipolar order. Different instrumental methods applied to…
The results of numerical calculations of linear polarization from magnetized spherical optically thick and optically thin envelopes are presented. We give the methods how to distinguish magnetized optically thin envelopes from optically…
Over the next year, a new era of observations of compact objects in X-ray polarization will commence. Among the key targets for the upcoming Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission, will be the magnetars 4U 0142+61 and 1RXS…
This lab note introduces the "Stokes Camera," a simple and novel experimental arrangement for real-time measurement of spatial amplitude and polarisation and thus spatially resolved Stokes parameters. It uses a polarisation sensitive camera…
We review the basic principles of X-ray polarimetry and current detector technologies based on the photoelectric effect, Bragg reflection, and Compton scattering. Recent technological advances in high-spatial-resolution gas-filled X-ray…
Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS) in the soft x-ray range is an element-specific energy-loss spectroscopy used to probe the electronic and magnetic excitations in strongly correlated solids. In the recent years, RIXS has been…
Observations show that the X-ray emission of the accreting weakly magnetized neutron stars is polarized. Here, we develop a theoretical model, where we assume the emission of the accreting neutron star coming from the spreading layer, the…
We present the results of a systematic observational campaign designed to search for microvariability in the optical polarization of BL Lac objects. We have observed a sample formed by 8 X-ray-selected and 10 radio-selected sources, looking…
New-generation X-ray polarimeters currently under development promise to open a new window in the study of high-energy astrophysical sources. Among them, neutron stars appear particularly suited for polarization measurements. Radiation from…
The new generation of X-ray polarisation detectors, gas pixel detectors, which will be employed by the future space missions IXPE and eXTP, allows for spatially resolved X-ray polarisation studies. This will be of particular interest for…
We designed and built a new astronomical photo-polarimeter that can measure linear polarization simultaneously in three spectral bands. It has a Calcite beamdisplacement prism as the analyzer. The ordinary and extra-ordinary emerging beams…
X-ray binaries hosting a compact object have been among the main targets of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) since its launch, due to their high brightness in the 2-8 keV energy band. The spectropolarimetric analysis performed…
We present a technique to determine the polarization properties of a telescope through observations of spectral lines that have no intrinsic linear polarization signals. For such spectral lines, any observed linear polarization must be…
A detailed and formal account of polarization measurements using Bayesian analysis is given based on the assumption of gaussian error for the Stokes parameters. This analysis is crucial for the measurement of the polarization degree and…
An electromagnetic wave can be uniquely characterized by the four Stokes parameters: I, Q, U, and V. Typical observations in astronomy rely solely on total intensity measurements of the incoming radiation (Stokes I). However, a significant…
We have developed a vacuum-ultraviolet spectropolarimeter to measure the linear polarization of spectral lines around the Lyman-$\alpha$ wavelength. The main components for polarimetry are a rotatable MgF$_2$ waveplate and a SiO$_2$/MgF$_2$…
The Stokes parameters have been found in the framework of quantum electrodynamics for the description of polarization of radiation emitted by relativistic positrons channeled between (110) planes in Si crystal. The degree of polarization,…
The maturity of current detectors based on technologies that range from solid state to gases renewed the interest for X-ray polarimetry, raising the enthusiasm of a wide scientific community to improve the performance of polarimeters as…
Optical fields polarized along three dimensions are frequent in optical microscopy and nanophotonics, and yet retrieving their polarization distribution is challenging. We present the experimental implementation of three-dimensional (3D)…