Related papers: Shape and ionization of equatorial matter near com…
Light scattered off particles can become linearly polarized. Stars surrounded by oblique, co-rotating envelopes are therefore expected to manifest periodic linear polarimetric variations. The electron scattering magnetospheres of magnetic…
The reflection spectrum produced by a cold medium illuminated by X-ray photons is not isotropic and its shape depends on the emission angle. In the reflection spectrum of an accretion disk of a black hole, the value of the emission angle…
Radiative emission from a semi-infinite unflanged circular cylindrical dielectric waveguide or optical fiber is studied for the case of axisymmetric modes of TM polarization on the basis of an iterative scheme. The first step of the scheme…
A variety of intriguing polarization patterns are created when polarization observations of the single pulses from radio pulsars are displayed in a two-dimensional projection of the Poincare sphere. In many pulsars, the projections produce…
Recent advances in ferroelectrics highlight the role of three-dimensional (3D) polar entities in forming topological polar textures and generating giant electromechanical responses, during polarization rotation. However, current electron…
A fraction of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the surface of a geometrically thin and optically thick accretion disk of a black hole returns to the disk because of the strong light bending in the vicinity of the compact object…
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) measured with high significance the X-ray polarization of the brightest Z-source Scorpius X-1, resulting in the nominal 2-8 keV energy band in a polarization degree of 1.0(0.2)% and a…
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…
Conventional X-ray methods use incoming plane waves and result in discrete diffraction patterns when scattered at crystals. Here we find, by a systematic method, incoming waveforms which exhibit discrete diffraction patterns when scattered…
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…
Thanks to IXPE , the X-ray spectro-polarimeter launched at the end of 2021, X-ray polarimetry has finally become an extraordinary tool in investigating the physics of accretion in low mass X-ray binaries. Similarly to what happened with…
We study light curves and spectra (equivalent widths of the iron line and some other spectral characteristics) which arise by reflection on the surface of an accretion disc, following its illumination by a primary off-axis source - an X-ray…
Earthshine observations offer a unique opportunity to study Earth as an exoplanet seen from the Moon. As the Sun-Earth-Moon geometry changes, Earth can be observed as a spatially unresolved exoplanet at different phase angles, providing…
Established x-ray diffraction methods allow for high-resolution structure determination of crystals, crystallized protein structures or even single molecules. While these techniques rely on coherent scattering, incoherent processes like…
High energy (67 keV) x-ray diffuse scattering measurements were performed on single crystals of Pb(Zn$_{1/3}$Nb$_{2/3}$)O$_3$-$x$PbTiO$_3$ (PZN-$x$PT). A novel technique was developed to map out the diffuse scattering distribution in all…
X-ray polarimetry is a new tool capable of probing the geometry of accretion onto weakly magnetized neutron stars. Here we present the first X-ray spectropolarimetric results from coordinated observations of the atoll source 4U 1735-44,…
Extremely strong magnetic fields change the vacuum index of refraction. Although this polarization dependent effect is small for typical neutron stars, it is large enough to decouple the polarization states of photons traveling within the…
We study the propagation effects of radio waves in a pulsar magnetosphere, composed of relativistic electron-positron pair plasmas streaming along the magnetic field lines and corotating with the pulsar. We critically examine the various…
A novel scheme is proposed to generate uniform relativistic electron layers for coherent Thomson backscattering. A few-cycle laser pulse is used to produce the electron layer from an ultra-thin solid foil. The key element of the new scheme…
Magnetars, the most strongly magnetised neutron stars, are among the most promising targets for X-ray polarimetry. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), the first satellite devoted to exploring the sky in polarised X-rays, has…