Related papers: X-ray Polarization in Relativistic Jets
Supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) launch relativistic jets that shine through the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Blazars are a subclass of AGN where non-thermal radiation from the jet is strongly beamed, as the jet…
We propose that the polarization of the emission from the X-ray binary Cygnus X-1, measured using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), is imprinted by bulk Comptonization of coronal emission in a mildly relativistic wind or jet…
Astrophysical jets exist from the stellar scale up to AGN, and seem to share common features particularly in the radio. But while AGN jets are known to emit X-rays, the situation for XRB jets is not so clear. Radio jets have been resolved…
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), Seyfert galaxies and quasars, are powered by luminous accretion and often accompanied by winds which are powerful enough to affect the AGN mass budget, and whose observational appearance bears an imprint of…
We investigate with relativistic MHD simulations the dissipation physics of BL Lac jets, by studying the synchrotron polarization signatures of particles accelerated by the kink instability in a magnetically-dominated plasma column. The…
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…
Since the discovery of kiloparsec-scale X-ray emission from quasar jets, the physical processes responsible for their high-energy emission have been poorly defined. A number of mechanisms are under active debate, including synchrotron…
X-ray polarimetry is a fine tool to probe the accretion geometry and physical processes operating in the proximity of compact objects, black holes and neutron stars. Recent discoveries made by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer put our…
Relativistic jets of plasma are a key ingredient of many types of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Today we know that AGNs are powered by the accretion of inter stellar material into the gravitational field of a Super Massive Black Hole and…
Here, we demonstrate that polarization properties show a wide diversity depending on viewing angles. To simulate images of a supermassive black hole and surrounding plasma, we performed a full-polarimetric general relativistic radiative…
Inverse Compton scattering by the thermal motions of electrons is believed to produce polarized hard X-rays in active galactic nuclei and black-hole binaries. Meanwhile, plasma within the plunging region of the black hole free falls into…
The emission processes responsible for the observed X-rays from radio jets are commonly believed to be non-thermal, but in any particular case, it is unclear if synchrotron emission or one or more varieties of inverse Compton emission…
X-ray polarimetry has the potential to make key-contributions to our understanding of galactic compact objects like binary black hole systems and neutron stars, and extragalactic objects like active galactic nuclei, blazars, and Gamma Ray…
Astrophysical jets exist in both XRBs and AGN, and seem to share common features, particularly in the radio. While AGN jets are known to emit X-rays, the situation for XRB jets is not so clear. Radio jets have been resolved in several XRBs…
Both observational evidence and theoretical considerations from MHD simulations of jets suggest that the relativistic jets of active galactic nuclei (AGN) are radially stratified, with a fast inner spine surrounded by a slower-moving outer…
The jets emanating from the centers of active galactic nuclei (AGN) are among the most energetic objects in the universe. Investigating how the morphology of the jet's synchrotron emission depends on the magnetic nature of the jet's…
Quasars with flat radio spectra and one-sided, arc-second scale, ~100 mJy GHz radio jets are found to have similar scale X-ray jets in about 60% of such objects, even in short 5 to 10 ks Chandra observations. Jets emit in the GHz band via…
In this paper, analytical arguments are presented that there exists a synchrotron X-ray jet on large scales in most radio-loud AGNs, based on the knowledge of the nature and physics of blazars. In blue blazars and blue-blazar-like radio…
X-ray polarization should provide new probes of magnetic field geometry and acceleration physics near the base of blazar jets, but near-future missions will have limited sensitivity. We thus use existing lower energy data and X-ray…
Radiation of X-ray bursts and of accretion shocks in weakly magnetized neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries is produced in plane-parallel atmospheres dominated by electron scattering. We first discuss polarization produced by single…