Related papers: Comparative study of different scattering geometri…
The polarization of an X-ray beam that produces electrons with velocity components perpendicular to the beam generates an azimuthal distribution of the ejected electrons. We present methods for simulating and for analyzing the angular…
X-ray polarimetry promises to give qualitatively new information about high-energy astrophysical sources, such as binary black hole systems, micro-quasars, active galactic nuclei, and gamma-ray bursts. We designed, built and tested a hard…
Polarized scattering in planetary atmospheres is computed in the context of exoplanets. The problem of polarized radiative transfer is solved for a general case of absorption and scattering, while Rayleigh and Mie polarized scattering are…
A Monte Carlo method is used to calculate the profiles and the polarization of the Raman scattered O VI lines(lambda lambda 6827,7088) in symbiotic stars. A point-like isotropic UV radiation source is assumed and a simple spherical wind…
We present recent improvements in polarization analysis with the INTEGRAL SPI data. The SPI detector plane consists of 19 independent Ge crystals and can operate as a polarimeter. The anisotropy characteristics of Compton diffusions can…
Significance: The depolarization of circularly polarized light caused by scattering in turbid media reveals structural information about the dispersed particles, such as their size, density, and distribution, which is useful for…
Using the RHESSI satellite as a Compton polarimeter, a recent study claimed that the prompt emission of GRB021206 was almost fully linearly polarized. This was challenged by a subsequent reanalysis. We present an novel approach, applying…
Gaseous X-ray polarimetry refers to a class of detectors used for measuring the polarization of soft X-rays. The systematic effects of such detectors introduce residual modulation, leading to systematic biases in the polarization detection…
An X-ray photoelectric polarimeter based on the Gas Pixel Detector has been proposed to be included in many upcoming space missions to fill the gap of about 30 years from the first (and to date only) positive measurement of polarized X-ray…
POLAR is a compact wide field space-borne detector dedicated for precise measurements of the linear polarization of hard X-rays emitted by transient sources in the energy range from 50 keV to 500 keV. It consists of 1600 plastic…
Despite some success in explaining the observed polarisation angle swing of radio pulsars within the geometric rotating vector model, many deviations from the expected S-like swing are observed. In this paper we provide a simple and…
This paper describes the Polarization Spectroscopic Telescope Array (PolSTAR), a mission proposed to NASA's 2014 Small Explorer (SMEX) announcement of opportunity. PolSTAR measures the linear polarization of 3-50 keV (requirement; goal:…
Inverse Compton scattering (ICS) is a promising method for generating coherent and tunable x-rays in a compact setup. In this paper, we present a theoretical framework describing the output of an ICS x-ray source for arbitrary interaction…
Context: A fraction of active galactic nuclei (AGN) show dramatic X-ray spectral changes on the day-to-week time scales associated with variation in the line of sight of the cold absorber. Aims: We intend to model the polarization…
We present here a method to study the distribution of electron density fluctuations in pulsar directions as well as to estimate pulsar distances. The method, based on a simple two-component model of the scattering medium discussed by Gwinn…
Polarization is one of the fundamental natures of electromagnetic radiation. The detection of polarization or polarized photons from distant X-ray radiating systems (such as X-ray binaries (XBs), active galactic nuclei (AGN), pulsars, and…
Many optical measurement techniques, such as light scattering from wavelength-scale particles or detecting motion from a surface with an optical lever, encode information in a complex radiation pattern. Extracting all available information…
We present the first numerical radiative transfer simulation of multiple light scattering in dust configurations containing aligned non-spherical (spheroidal) dust grains. Such models are especially important if one wants to explain the…
Magnetic fields grown by instabilities driven by differential rotation are believed to be essential to accretion onto black holes. These instabilities saturate in a turbulent state; therefore, the spatial and temporal variability in the…
Super-Eddington accretion onto compact objects is expected to produce optically thick outflows with a funnel-shaped cavity that may collimate the emission. At inclinations higher than the grazing angle of the funnel, the central source is…