Related papers: Analyzing the Data from X-ray Polarimeters with St…
Was the Milky Way galaxy a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN) in the past? Can we find traces of remnant structures supporting this idea? What is the three-dimensional arrangement of matter around our central supermassive black…
X-ray astronomy allows study of objects which may be associated with compact objects, i.e. neutron stars or black holes, and also may contain strong magnetic fields. Such objects are categorically non-spherical, and likely non-circular when…
Synchrotron radiation facilities provide highly polarized X-ray beams across a wide energy range. However, the exact type and degree of polarization varies according to the beamline and experimental setup. To accurately determine the angle…
We present experimental results on a method to perform polarimetry on ensembles of single photons. Our setup is based on a measurement method known to be optimal for estimating the state of two level systems. The setup has no moving parts…
We present new calculations of X-ray polarization from black hole accretion disks in the thermally-dominated state, using a Monte-Carlo ray-tracing code in full general relativity. In contrast to many previously published studies, our…
The study of anomalous electromagnetic emission in the sky is the basis of indirect searches for dark matter. It is also a powerful tool to constrain the radiative decay of active neutrinos. Until now, quantitative analyses have focused on…
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…
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)…
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…
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…
Information about the three-dimensional structure of solar magnetic fields is encoded in the polarized spectra of solar radiation by a host of physical processes. To extract this information, solar spectra must be obtained in a variety of…
X-ray polarimetry missions like IXPE will be able to measure for the first time the polarization properties of accreting, weakly magnetized neutron stars in Low Mass X-ray Binaries. In this work we present simulations of the expected X-ray…
Magnetars are believed to host the strongest magnetic fields in the present universe ($B\gtrsim10^{14}$ G) and the study of their persistent emission in the X-ray band offers an unprecendented opportunity to gain insight into physical…
A physical theory is presented for polarized light from an aspect of polarization singularity.This is carried out by analyzing the evolution equation of the Stokes parameters that is derived from the nonlinear Schrodinger type equation. The…
Accretion disks around stellar-mass black holes (BHs) emit radiation peaking in the soft X-rays when the source is in the thermal state. The emerging photons are polarized and, for symmetry reasons, the polarization integrated over the…
Context: Polarimetry is a very powerful tool to uncover various properties of astronomical objects that remain otherwise hidden in standard imaging or spectroscopic observations. However, the reliable measurement of the low polarization…
The effects of strong gravity on the polarization of the Compton reflection from an X-ray illuminated accretion disc are studied. The gravitational field of a rotating black hole influences Stokes parameters of the radiation along the…
Stokes parameters are a standard tool in quantum optics. They involve averaged intensities at exits of polarizers. If the overall measured intensity fluctuates, as e.g. for states with undefined photon numbers, the instances of its…
The polarization state of starlight reflected by a planetary atmosphere uniquely reveals coverage, particle size, and composition of aerosols as well as changing cloud patterns. It is not possible to obtain a comparable level of detailed…
X-ray polarimetry offers a unique window into neutron star physics and can provide answers to questions that cannot otherwise be probed. The up-and-coming REDSoX sounding rocket mission will be the first experiment equipped with a detector…