Gamma-Ray Burst Polarization: Limits from RHESSI Measurements

Details Gamma-Ray Burst Polarization: Limits from RHESSI Measurements Gamma-Ray Burst Polarization: Limits from RHESSI Measurements

2004-05-26

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0405525v2

The Astrophysical Journal, 613:1088-1100, 2004 October 1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

39 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication by the Astrophysical Journal

Scientific paper

10.1086/423163

Using the RHESSI satellite as a Compton polarimeter, a recent study claimed that the prompt emission of GRB021206 was almost fully linearly polarized. This was challenged by a subsequent reanalysis. We present an novel approach, applying our method to the same data. We identify Compton scattering candidates by carefully filtering events in energy, time, and scattering geometry. Our polarization search is based on time dependent scattering rates in perpendicular directions, thus optimally excluding systematic errors. We perform simulations to obtain the instrument's polarimetric sensitivity, and these simulations include photon polarization. For GRB021206, we formally find a linear polarization degree of 41% (+57% -44%), concluding that the data quality is insufficient to constrain the polarization degree in this case. We further applied our analysis to GRB030519B and found again a null result.

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