Related papers: HX-POL - A Balloon-Borne Hard X-Ray Polarimeter
The POLAR-2 mission consists of 3 instruments designed with the combined aim of producing a deeper understanding of Gamma-Ray Bursts. To achieve this, POLAR-2 relies on polarisation measurements and, for the first time will provide these…
Time-variable polarization is an extremely valuable observational tool to probe the dynamical physical conditions of blazar jets. Since 2008, we have been monitoring the flux and linear polarization of a sample of gamma-ray bright blazars…
Vela X-1 is one of the most archetypal wind-fed X-ray pulsars (XRPs), and the emergence of its orthogonal polarization states reveals distinctive polarimetric properties. Using data from Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)…
We present near-simultaneous X-ray and optical polarization measurements in the high synchrotron peaked (HSP) blazar Mrk 421. The X-ray polarimetric observations were carried out using {\it Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer} ({\it IXPE})…
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…
Time-resolved optical and infrared polarimetric observations of black hole and neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries are presented. Data were acquired with the VLT, UKIRT and HIPPO on the SAAO 1.9-m. We find that for some sources in…
In this paper we investigate the impact of using a polarization modulator in the Short Wavelenght Instrument for the Polarization Explorer (SWIPE) of the Large Scale Polarization Explorer (LSPE). The experiment is optimized to measure the…
We present the first contemporaneous X-ray and optical polarimetric measurement of the extremely high synchrotron peaked (EHSP) blazar H 1426+428. The X-ray polarimetric observations were undertaken using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry…
Sensitive wide-field observations of polarized thermal emission from interstellar dust grains will allow astronomers to address key outstanding questions about the life cycle of matter and energy driving the formation of stars and the…
The Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) is an imaging instrument onboard AstroSat. This instrument operates as a nearly open all-sky detector above ~60 keV, making possible long integrations irrespective of the spacecraft pointing. We…
We devised and built a versatile facility for the calibration of the next generation X-ray polarimeters with unpolarized and polarized radiation. The former is produced at 5.9 keV by means of a Fe55 radioactive source or by X-ray tubes,…
In view of the realistic possibility for operating high-energy polarized proton beams in future collider machines, it is highly desirable to propose for such beams, an absolute calibration allowing to measure accurately their degree of…
We review the state of the art for measuring the X-ray polarization of neutron stars. We discuss how valuable precision measurements of the degree and position angle of polarization as a function of energy and, where relevant, of pulse…
This white paper highlights compact object and fundamental physics science opportunities afforded by high-throughput broadband (0.1-60 keV) X-ray polarization observations. X-ray polarimetry gives new observables with geometric information…
The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry (BLASTPol) is a suborbital mapping experiment designed to study the role magnetic fields play in star formation. BLASTPol has had two science flights from McMurdo…
We present measurements of hard x-rays in the 50-300 keV range from copper plasmas produced by 100 fs, 806 nm laser pulses at a peak intensity ~ 1016 W cm-2. Surface roughness, even at the tens of nanometer level, is shown to influence the…
Thomson scattering of intense laser pulses from relativistic electrons allows us to generate high-brightness and tunable-polarization X/{\gamma}-ray pulses. This paper demonstrates the polarization control of the Thomson scattering source…
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…
X-ray polarization is a unique new probe of the particle acceleration in astrophysical jets made possible through the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. Here we report on the first dense X-ray polarization monitoring campaign on the blazar…
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…