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arXiv · 1904.09313

Astro2020 Science White Paper: Using X-Ray Polarimetry to Probe the Physics of Black Holes and Neutron Stars

Henric Krawczynski·Giorgio Matt·Adam R. Ingram·Roberto Taverna·Roberto Turolla·Fabian Kislat·C. C. Teddy Cheung·Andrei Bykov·Kuver Sinha·Haocheng Zhang·Jeremy Heyl·Niccolo Bucciantini·Greg Madejski·Tim Kallman·Keith M. Jahoda·Quin Abarr·Matthew G. Baring·Luca Baldini·Mitchell Begelman·Markus Boettcher·Edward Cackett·Ilaria Caiazzo·Paolo Coppi·Enrico Costa·Jason Dexter·Jean-Francois Fortin·Charles Gammie·Jessica A. Gaskin·Dimitrios Giannios·Pranab Ghosh·Alice K. Harding·Dieter H. Hartmann·Kiyoshi Hayashida·Svetlana G. Jorstad·Philip Kaaret·Takao Kitaguchi·Luca Latronico·Thomas Maccarone·Alan Marscher·Herman Marshall·Mark McConnell·Jon M. Miller·Stephen L. O'Dell·Feryal Oezel·Takashi Okajima·Mark Pearce·Jeremy Perkins·Brian D. Ramsey·Roger W. Romani·Jeremy D. Schnittman·Carmelo Sgro·Paolo Soffitta·Hiromitsu Takahashi·Toru Tamagawa·John Tomsick·Martin C. Weisskopf·George Younes
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Abstract

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 about stellar remnants which are many orders of magnitude too small for direct imaging. The X-ray polarimetric data also reveal details about the emission mechanisms and the structure of the magnetic fields in and around the most extreme objects in the Universe. Whereas the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) to be launched in 2021 will obtain first results for bright objects, a follow-up mission could be one order of magnitude more sensitive and would be able to use a broader bandpass to perform physics type experiments for representative samples of sources.

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Henric Krawczynski, Giorgio Matt, Adam R. Ingram, Roberto Taverna, Roberto Turolla, Fabian Kislat, C. C. Teddy Cheung, Andrei Bykov, Kuver Sinha, Haocheng Zhang, Jeremy Heyl, Niccolo Bucciantini, Greg Madejski, Tim Kallman, Keith M. Jahoda, Quin Abarr, Matthew G. Baring, Luca Baldini, Mitchell Begelman, Markus Boettcher, Edward Cackett, Ilaria Caiazzo, Paolo Coppi, Enrico Costa, Jason Dexter, Jean-Francois Fortin, Charles Gammie, Jessica A. Gaskin, Dimitrios Giannios, Pranab Ghosh, Alice K. Harding, Dieter H. Hartmann, Kiyoshi Hayashida, Svetlana G. Jorstad, Philip Kaaret, Takao Kitaguchi, Luca Latronico, Thomas Maccarone, Alan Marscher, Herman Marshall, Mark McConnell, Jon M. Miller, Stephen L. O'Dell, Feryal Oezel, Takashi Okajima, Mark Pearce, Jeremy Perkins, Brian D. Ramsey, Roger W. Romani, Jeremy D. Schnittman, Carmelo Sgro, Paolo Soffitta, Hiromitsu Takahashi, Toru Tamagawa, John Tomsick, Martin C. Weisskopf, George Younes. 2019-04-19. Astro2020 Science White Paper: Using X-Ray Polarimetry to Probe the Physics of Black Holes and Neutron Stars. https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.09313

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