Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Sep 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011xau5.confe..26g&link_type=abstract
"The Second Ferrara Workshop on "X-ray Astrophysics up to 511 keV", held in Ferrara (Italy), September 14 - 16, 2011, article #2
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
The upcoming GEMS mission will enable us, for the first time, to measure soft X-ray polarization of bright astrophysical objects as a function of photon energy. This will give important insights because the X-ray polarization is connected to fundamental emission and radiative transfer processes. Significant and even strong polarization can be induced by scattering processes in the accretion and ejection flow around compact objects. It may further be modified by the structure of non-Newtonian spacetime. When strong magnetic fields are present they also alter the polarization state of an X- ray photon. The information derived from X-ray polarimetry is particularly helpful when combined with simultaneous, multiple waveband spectroscopy and timing results as it thereby helps to break degeneracy in complex modeling. In my talk, I review theoretical methods and predictions relating future X-ray polarimetry observations to the properties of accreting black holes, neutron stars and surrounding outflows or jets. In particular, I show how X-ray polarization will put constraints on the black hole angular momentum in X-ray binaries and on the emission and scattering geometry in active galactic nuclei. I summarize the state-of-the-art observational techniques and discuss prospects as well as useful future directions for X-ray polarimetry.
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