Related papers: Hard X-ray polarimetry with Caliste, a high perfor…
We have measured the linear polarisation of hard X-ray emission from the Crab in a previously unexplored energy interval, 20-120 keV. The introduction of two new observational parameters, the polarisation fraction and angle stands to…
After about 16 years since its first outburst, the transient neutron star low-mass X-ray binary XTE J1701$-$462 turned on again in September 2022, allowing for the first study of its X-ray polarimetric characteristics by a dedicated…
The methods to measure the polarization of the x-rays from highly charged heavy ions with a significantly higher accuracy than the existing technology is needed to explore relativistic and quantum electrodynamics (QED) effects including the…
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 high-energy emission ($400$ keV $- 2$ MeV) of Cygnus X-1 --the most well-studied Galactic black hole-- was recently found to be strongly polarized. The origin of this radiation is still unknown. In this work, we suggest that it is the…
We examine the potential for gamma-ray conversion to electron-positron pairs, either in the field of a nucleus or of an electron of a detector, to measure the fraction P of linear polarization of cosmic gamma sources. For this purpose we…
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…
In astronomy there are basically four kinds of observations to extract the information carried by electromagnetic radiation: photometry, imaging, spectroscopy and polarimetry. By optimal exploitation of the first three techniques, X-ray…
High energy polarization can be an indication of geometry, orientation, and other physical phenomena for a variety of sources, but has heretofore been a virtually unmeasured phenomenon. PoGOLite is a balloon-borne instrument intended to…
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…
We discuss a model of an X-ray illuminating source above an accretion disk of a rotating black hole. Within the so called lamp-post scheme we compute the expected (observed) polarization properties of the radiation reaching an observer. We…
We report on an X-ray polarimetric observation of the high-mass X-ray binary LMC X-1 in the high/soft state, obtained by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) in October 2022. The measured polarization is below the minimum…
There is growing interest in high-energy astrophysics community for the development of sensitive instruments in the hard X-ray energy extending to few hundred keV. This requires position sensitive detector modules with high efficiency in…
POLAR is a new satellite-born detector aiming to measure the polarization of an unprecedented number of Gamma-Ray Bursts in the 50-500 keV energy range. The instrument, launched on-board the Tiangong-2 Chinese Space lab on the 15th of…
Polarimetry provides key physical information on the properties of interacting binary systems, sometimes difficult to obtain by any other type of observation. Indeed, radiation processes such as scattering by free electrons in the hot…
The measurement of the linear polarization is one of the hot topics of High Energy Astrophysics. Gas detectors based on photoelectric effect have paved the way for the design of sensitive instruments and mission proposals based on them have…
Well over 700 exoplanets have been detected to date. Only a handful of these have been observed directly. Direct observation is extremely challenging due to the small separation and very large contrast involved. Imaging polarimetry offers a…
Emission from blazar jets in the ultraviolet, optical, and infrared is polarized. If these low-energy photons were inverse-Compton scattered, the upscattered high-energy photons retain a fraction of the polarization. Current and future…
We are developing an imaging polarimeter by combining a fine-pixel CMOS image sensor with a coded aperture mask as part of the cipher project, aiming to achieve X-ray polarimetry in the energy range of…
The MIT X-ray Polarimetry Beamline is a facility that we developed for testing components for possible use in X-ray polarimetry. Over the past few years, we have demonstrated that the X-ray source can generate nearly 100% polarized X-rays…