Related papers: Polarized radiation from the spreading layer of th…
New-generation X-ray polarimeters currently under development promise to open a new window in the study of high-energy astrophysical sources. Among them, neutron stars appear particularly suited for polarization measurements. Radiation from…
We review the polarization properties of X-ray emission from highly magnetized neutron stars, focusing on emission from the stellar surfaces. We discuss how x-ray polarization can be used to constrain neutron star magnetic field and…
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…
We have developed a complete theory for the calculation of the observed Stokes parameters for radiation emitted from the surface of a rapidly rotating neutron star (NS) using the oblate Schwarzschild approximation. We accounted for the…
Since the opacity of a magnetized plasma depends on polarization of radiation, the radiation emergent from atmospheres of neutron stars with strong magnetic fields is expected to be strongly polarized. The degree of linear polarization,…
The X-ray radiation produced on the surface of accreting magnetised neutron stars is expected to be strongly polarised. A swing of the polarisation vector with the pulsar phase gives a direct measure of the source inclination and magnetic…
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…
Emission spectra from magnetars in the soft X-ray band likely contain a thermal component emerging directly from the neutron star surface. However, the lack of observed absorption-like features in quiescent spectra makes it difficult to…
The intense magnetic fields of neutron stars naturally lead to strong anisotropy and polarization of radiation emanating from their surfaces, both being sensitive to the hot spot position on the surface. Accordingly, pulse phase-resolved…
In this paper, we systematically calculate the polarization in soft X-rays emitted from magnetized neutron stars, which are expected to be observed by the next-generation X-ray satellites. Magnetars are one of the targets for these…
The surfaces of neutron stars are likely sources of strongly polarized soft X rays due to the presence of strong magnetic fields. Scattering transport in the surface layers is critical to the determination of the emergent anisotropy of…
Structures of X-ray emitting magnetic polar regions on neutron stars in X-ray pulsars are studied in a range of the accretion rate, 10$^{17}$ g s$^{-1} \sim 10^{18}$ g s$^{-1}$. It is shown that a thin but tall, radiation energy dominated,…
The observed polarization properties of thermal radiation from isolated, cooling neutron stars depend on both the emission processes at the surface and the effects of the magnetized vacuum which surrounds the star. Here we investigate the…
The study of polarized radiation transfer in the highly-magnetized surface locales of neutron stars is of great interest to the understanding of accreting X-ray pulsars, rotation-powered pulsars and magnetars. This paper explores scattering…
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…
In the atmospheric plasma of a strongly magnetized neutron star, vacuum polarization can induce a Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein like resonance across which a X-ray photon may (depending on its energy) convert from one mode into the other,…
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…
Over the next year, a new era of observations of compact objects in X-ray polarization will commence. Among the key targets for the upcoming Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission, will be the magnetars 4U 0142+61 and 1RXS…
We report on IXPE, NICER and XMM-Newton observations of the magnetar 1E 2259+586. We find that the source is significantly polarized at about or above 20% for all phases except for the secondary peak where it is more weakly polarized. The…
The goal of this work is to develop a simple analytic description of the emission properties (spectrum and polarization) of the condensed, strongly magnetized surface of neutron stars. We have improved the method of van Adelsberg et al.…