arXiv subjects

Jacco Vink

Publications and source records attributed to Jacco Vink.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

The detection of polarized x-ray emission from the magnetar 1E 2259+586

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 polarization degree is strongest during the primary minimum which is also the phase where an absorption feature has been identified previously (Pizzocaro et al. 2019). The polarization angle of the photons are consistent with a rotating vector model with a mode switch between the primary minimum and the rest of the rotation of the neutron star. We propose a scenario in which the emission at the source is weakly polarized (as in a condensed surface) and, as the radiation passes through a plasma arch, resonant cyclotron scattering off of protons produces the observed polarized radiation. This confirms the magnetar nature of the source with a surface field greater than about 10 15 G

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arXiv2023

X-ray Polarization Reveals the Precessions of the Neutron Star in Hercules X-1

In an accreting X-ray pulsar, a neutron star accretes matter from a stellar companion through an accretion disk. The high magnetic field of the rotating neutron star disrupts the inner edge of the disc, funneling the gas to flow onto the magnetic poles on its surface. Hercules X-1 is in many ways the prototypical X-ray pulsar; it shows persistent X-ray emission and it resides with its companion HZ Her, a two-solar-mass star, at about 7~kpc from Earth. Its emission varies on three distinct timescales: the neutron star rotates every 1.2~seconds, it is eclipsed by its companion each 1.7~days, and the system exhibits a superorbital period of 35~days which has remained remarkably stable since its discovery. Several lines of evidence point to the source of this variation as the precession of the accretion disc, the precession of the neutron star or both. Despite the many hints over the past fifty years, the precession of the neutron star itself has yet not been confirmed or refuted. We here present X-ray polarization measurements with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) which probe the spin geometry of the neutron star. These observations provide direct evidence that the 35-day-period is set by the free precession of the neutron star crust, which has the important implication that its crust is somewhat asymmetric fractionally by a few parts per ten million. Furthermore, we find indications that the basic spin geometry of the neutron star is altered by torques on timescale of a few hundred days.

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arXiv2023

Potential of the Cherenkov Telescope Array for studying the young nearby supernova remnants

Modern imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes have extensively observed young nearby supernova remnants (SNRs), with ages of about 1000 years or less, in the very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray band. These efforts resulted in the detection of VHE emission from three young SNRs - Cassiopeia A, Tycho, and SN 1006 - and provided significant evidence for emission from the more distant Kepler's SNR. However, many questions on the production of VHE gamma rays in these remnants remain unanswered. Using detailed physical models for Tycho's SNR based on the CR-hydro-NEI code and physically motivated models for the other young nearby remnants, we simulated observations with the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) of these gamma-ray sources. We highlight properties of these remnants accessible for investigation with future CTA observations and discuss which questions are expected to be answered.

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arXiv2023

On the influence of shock-cloud interactions on the nonthermal X-ray emission from the supernova remnant RCW 86

It is an open issue how the surrounding environment of supernova remnant shocks affect nonthermal X-rays from accelerated electrons, with or without interacting dense material. We have conducted spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy of the shock-cloud interacting region of RCW 86 with XMM-Newton. It is found that bright soft X-ray filaments surround the dense cloud observed with 12CO and HI emission lines. These filaments are brighter in thermal X-ray emission, and fainter and possibly softer in synchrotron X-rays, compared to those without interaction. Our results show that the shock decelerates due to the interaction with clouds, which results in an enhancements of thermal X-ray emission. This could possibly also explain the softer X-ray synchrotron component, because it implies that those shocks that move through a low density environment, and therefore decelerate much less, can be more efficient accelerators. This is similar to SN 1006 and Tycho, and is in contrast to RX J1713.7-3946. This difference among remnants may be due to the clumpiness of dense material interacting with the shock, which should be examined with future observations.

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arXiv2023

The Polarized Cosmic Hand: IXPE Observations of PSR B1509-58/MSH 15-52

We describe IXPE polarization observations of the Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) MSH15-52, the `Cosmic Hand'. We find X-ray polarization across the PWN, with B field vectors generally aligned with filamentary X-ray structures. High significance polarization is seen in arcs surrounding the pulsar and toward the end of the `jet', with polarization degree PD>70%, thus approaching the maximum allowed synchrotron value. In contrast, the base of the jet has lower polarization, indicating a complex magnetic field at significant angle to the jet axis. We also detect significant polarization from PSR B1509-58 itself. Although only the central pulse-phase bin of the pulse has high individual significance, flanking bins provide lower significance detections and, in conjunction with the X-ray image and radio polarization, can be used to constrain rotating vector model solutions for the pulsar geometry.

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arXiv2023

Magnetic structures and turbulence in SN 1006 revealed with imaging X-ray polarimetry

Young supernova remnants (SNRs) strongly modify surrounding magnetic fields, which in turn play an essential role in accelerating cosmic rays (CRs). X-ray polarization measurements probe magnetic field morphology and turbulence at the immediate acceleration site. We report the X-ray polarization distribution in the northeastern shell of SN1006 from a 1 Ms observation with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). We found an average polarization degree of $22.4\pm 3.5\%$ and an average polarization angle of $-45.4\pm 4.5^\circ$ (measured on the plane of the sky from north to east). The X-ray polarization angle distribution reveals that the magnetic fields immediately behind the shock in the northeastern shell of SN 1006 are nearly parallel to the shock normal or radially distributed, similar to that in the radio observations, and consistent with the quasi-parallel CR acceleration scenario. The X-ray emission is marginally more polarized than that in the radio band. The X-ray polarization degree of SN 1006 is much larger than that in Cas A and Tycho, together with the relatively tenuous and smooth ambient medium of the remnant, favoring that CR-induced instabilities set the turbulence in SN 1006 and CR acceleration is environment-dependent.

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arXiv2023

Jitter radiation as an alternative mechanism for the nonthermal X-ray emission of Cassiopeia A

Synchrotron radiation from relativistic electrons is usually invoked as the responsible for the nonthermal emission observed in Supernova Remnants (SNRs). Diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) is the most popular mechanism to explain the process of particles acceleration and within its framework a crucial role is played by the turbulent magnetic-field. However, the standard models commonly used to fit X-ray synchrotron emission do not take into account the effects of turbulence in the shape of the resulting photon spectra. An alternative mechanism that properly includes such effects is the jitter radiation, that provides for an additional power-law beyond the classical synchrotron cutoff. We fitted a jitter spectral model to Chandra, NuSTAR, SWIFT/BAT and INTEGRAL/ISGRI spectra of Cassiopeia A and found that it describes the X-ray soft-to-hard range better than any of the standard cutoff models. The jitter radiation allows us to measure the index of the magnetic turbulence spectrum $ν_B$ and the minimum scale of the turbulence $λ_{\rm{min}}$ across several regions of Cas A, with best-fit values $ν_B \sim 2-2.4$ and $λ_{\rm{min}} \lesssim 100$ km.

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arXiv2023

IXPE and XMM-Newton observations of the Soft Gamma Repeater SGR 1806-20

Recent observations with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) of two anomalous X-ray pulsars provided evidence that X-ray emission from magnetar sources is strongly polarized. Here we report on the joint IXPE and XMM-Newton observations of the soft γ-repeater SGR 1806-20. The spectral and timing properties of SGR 1806-20 derived from XMM-Newton data are in broad agreement with previous measurements; however, we found the source at an all-time-low persistent flux level. No significant polarization was measured apart from the 4-5 keV energy range, where a probable detection with PD=31.6\pm 10.5% and PA=-17.6\pm 15 deg was obtained. The resulting polarization signal, together with the upper limits we derive at lower and higher energies 2-4 and 5-8 keV, respectively) is compatible with a picture in which thermal radiation from the condensed star surface is reprocessed by resonant Compton scattering in the magnetosphere, similar to what proposed for the bright magnetar 4U 0142+61.

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arXiv2023

Molecular environment of the thermal composite supernova remnant G352.7$-$0.1

Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) play an important role in our understanding of supernovae and their feedback on the interstellar environment. SNR G352.7$-$0.1 is special for its thermal composite morphology and double-ring structure. We have performed spectroscopic mapping in $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO $J=2$-1 lines toward G352.7$-$0.1 with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope. Broad $^{12}$CO lines are found in the northeastern ring at a local-standard-of-rest velocity range of $\sim-50$-$-30$ km s$^{-1}$, suggesting that the remnant is interacting with molecular clouds (MCs) at $\sim-51$ km s$^{-1}$. Thus, we adopt a distance of $\sim10.5$ kpc for this SNR. The momentum and kinetic energy of the shocked gas along the line of sight are estimated to be $\sim10^2{\rm M_{sun}}$ km s$^{-1}$ and $\sim10^{46}$ erg, respectively. We also find an expanding structure around the remnant, which is possibly related to the wind-blown bubble of the progenitor star. From the Fermi-LAT data in an energy range of 0.1-500 GeV, we find no gamma-ray counterparts of G352.7$-$0.1.

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arXiv2023

Search for gamma rays from SNe with a variable-size sliding-time-window analysis of the Fermi-LAT data

We present a systematic search for gamma-ray emission from supernovae (SNe) in the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) Pass 8 data. The sample of targets consists of 55,880 candidates from the Open Supernova Catalog. We searched for gamma rays from SNe by means of a variable-size sliding-time-window analysis. Our results confirm the presence of transient gamma-ray emission from the sources of non-AGN classes, including transitional pulsars, solar flares, gamma-ray bursts, novae, and the Crab Nebula, which are projected near some of these SN's positions, and also strengthen support to the variable signal in the direction of SN iPTF14hls. The analysis is successful in finding both short (e.g. solar flares) and long (e.g. transitional pulsars) high flux states. Our search reveals two new gamma-ray transient signals occurred in 2019 in the directions of optical transients that are SN candidates, AT2019bvr and AT2018iwp, with their flux increases within 6 months after the dates of SN's discoveries. These signals are bright and their variability is at a higher statistical level than that of iPTF14hls. An exploration of archival multi-wavelength observations towards their positions is necessary to establish their association with SNe or other classes of sources. Our analysis, in addition, shows a bright transient gamma-ray signal at low Galactic latitudes in the direction of PSR J0205+6449. In addition, we report the results of an all-sky search for gamma-ray transient sources. This provided two additional candidates to gamma-ray transient sources.

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arXiv2023

X-ray pulsar GRO J1008$-$57 as an orthogonal rotator

X-ray polarimetry is a unique way to probe the geometrical configuration of highly magnetized accreting neutron stars (X-ray pulsars). GRO J1008$-$57 is the first transient X-ray pulsar observed at two different flux levels by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) during its outburst in November 2022. We find the polarization properties of GRO J1008$-$57 to be independent of its luminosity, with the polarization degree varying between nondetection and about 15% over the pulse phase. Fitting the phase-resolved spectro-polarimetric data with the rotating vector model allowed us to estimate the pulsar inclination (130 deg, which is in good agreement with the orbital inclination), the position angle (75 deg) of the pulsar spin axis, and the magnetic obliquity (74 deg). This makes GRO J1008$-$57 the first confidently identified nearly orthogonal rotator among X-ray pulsars. We discuss our results in the context of the neutron star atmosphere models and theories of the axis alignment of accreting pulsars.

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arXiv2023

X-ray polarization evidence for a 200 years-old flare of Sgr A$^*$

The center of the Milky Way Galaxy hosts a $\sim$4 million solar mass black hole (Sgr A$^*$) that is currently very quiescent with a luminosity many orders of magnitude below those of active galactic nuclei. Reflection of X-rays from Sgr A$^*$ by dense gas in the Galactic Center region offers a means to study its past flaring activity on times scales of hundreds and thousands of years. The shape of the X-ray continuum and the strong fluorescent iron line observed from giant molecular clouds in the vicinity of Sgr A$^*$ are consistent with the reflection scenario. If this interpretation is correct, the reflected continuum emission should be polarized. Here we report observations of polarized X-ray emission in the direction of the Galactic center molecular clouds using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). We measure a polarization degree of 31\% $\pm$ 11\%, and a polarization angle of $-$48$^\circ$ $\pm$ 11$^\circ$. The polarization angle is consistent with Sgr A$^*$ being the primary source of the emission, while the polarization degree implies that some 200 years ago the X-ray luminosity of Sgr A$^*$ was briefly comparable to a Seyfert galaxy.

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arXiv2023

Vela pulsar wind nebula x-rays are polarized to near the synchrotron limit

Pulsar wind nebulae are formed when outflows of relativistic electrons and positrons hit the surrounding supernova remnant or interstellar medium at a shock front. The Vela pulsar wind nebula is powered by a young pulsar (B0833-45, age 11 kyr) and located inside an extended structure called Vela X, itself inside the supernova remnant. Previous X-ray observations revealed two prominent arcs, bisected by a jet and counter jet. Radio maps have shown high linear polarization of 60 per cent in the outer regions of the nebula. Here we report X-ray observation of the inner part of the nebula, where polarization can exceed 60 per cent at the leading edge, which approaches the theoretical limit of what can be produced by synchrotron emission. We infer that, in contrast with the case of the supernova remnant, the electrons in the pulsar wind nebula are accelerated with little or no turbulence in a highly uniform magnetic field.

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arXiv2023

IXPE observations of the quintessential wind-accreting X-ray pulsar Vela X-1

The radiation from accreting X-ray pulsars was expected to be highly polarized, with some estimates for the polarization degree of up to 80%. However, phase-resolved and energy-resolved polarimetry of X-ray pulsars is required in order to test different models and to shed light on the emission processes and the geometry of the emission region. Here we present the first results of the observations of the accreting X-ray pulsar Vela X-1 performed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). Vela X-1 is considered to be the archetypal example of a wind-accreting high-mass X-ray binary system, consisting of a highly magnetized neutron star accreting matter from its supergiant stellar companion. The spectro-polarimetric analysis of the phase-averaged data for Vela X-1 reveals a polarization degree (PD) of 2.3$\pm$0.4% at the polarization angle (PA) of -47.3$\pm$5.4 deg. A low PD is consistent with the results obtained for other X-ray pulsars and is likely related to the inverse temperature structure of the neutron star atmosphere. The energy-resolved analysis shows the PD above 5 keV reaching 6-10%, and a 90 deg difference in the PA compared to the data in the 2-3 keV range. The phase-resolved spectro-polarimetric analysis finds a PD in the range 0-9% with the PA varying between -80 and 40 deg.

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arXiv2023

A strong X-ray polarization signal from the magnetar 1RXS J170849.0-400910

Magnetars are the most strongly magnetized neutron stars, and one of the most promising targets for X-ray polarimetric measurements. We present here the first Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observation of the magnetar 1RXS J170849.0-400910, jointly analysed with a new Swift observation and archival NICER data. The total (energy and phase integrated) emission in the 2-8 keV energy range is linerarly polarized, at a ~35% level. The phase-averaged polarization signal shows a marked increase with energy, ranging from ~20% at 2-3 keV up to ~80% at 6-8 keV, while the polarization angle remain constant. This indicates that radiation is mostly polarized in a single direction. The spectrum is well reproduced by a combination of either two thermal (blackbody) components or a blackbody and a power law. Both the polarization degree and angle also show a variation with the spin phase, and the former is almost anti-correlated with the source counts in the 2-8 keV and 2-4 keV bands. We discuss the possible implications and interpretations, based on a joint analysis of the spectral, polarization and pulsation properties of the source. A scenario in which the surface temperature is not homogeneous, with a hotter cap covered by a gaseous atmosphere and a warmer region in a condensed state, provides a satisfactory description of both the phase- and energy-dependent spectro-polarimetric data. The (comparatively) small size of the two emitting regions, required to explain the observed pulsations, does not allow to reach a robust conclusion about the presence of vacuum birefringence effects.

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arXiv2023

X-ray polarimetry reveals the magnetic field topology on sub-parsec scales in Tycho's supernova remnant

Supernova remnants are commonly considered to produce most of the Galactic cosmic rays via diffusive shock acceleration. However, many questions about the physical conditions at shock fronts, such as the magnetic-field morphology close to the particle acceleration sites, remain open. Here we report the detection of a localized polarization signal from some synchrotron X-ray emitting regions of Tycho's supernova remnant made by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. The derived polarization degree of the X-ray synchrotron emission is 9+/-2% averaged over the whole remnant, and 12+/-2% at the rim, higher than the 7-8% polarization value observed in the radio band. In the west region the polarization degree is 23+/-4%. The X-ray polarization degree in Tycho is higher than for Cassiopeia A, suggesting a more ordered magnetic-field or a larger maximum turbulence scale. The measured tangential polarization direction corresponds to a radial magnetic field, and is consistent with that observed in the radio band. These results are compatible with the expectation of turbulence produced by an anisotropic cascade of a radial magnetic-field near the shock, where we derive a magnetic-field amplification factor of 3.4+/-0.3. The fact that this value is significantly smaller than those expected from acceleration models is indicative of highly anisotropic magnetic-field turbulence, or that the emitting electrons either favor regions of lower turbulence, or accumulate close to where the magnetic-field orientation is preferentially radially oriented due to hydrodynamical instabilities.

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arXiv2023

Determination of X-ray pulsar geometry with IXPE polarimetry

Using observations of X-ray pulsar Her X-1 by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, we report on a highly significant ($>17σ$) detection of the polarization signal from an accreting neutron star. The observed degree of the linear polarization of $\sim$10\% is found to be far below theoretical expectations for this object, and stays low throughout the spin cycle of the pulsar. Both the polarization degree and the angle exhibit variability with pulse phase, which allowed us to measure the pulsar spin position angle 57(2) deg and the magnetic obliquity 12(4) deg, which is an essential step towards detailed modelling of the intrinsic emission of X-ray pulsars. Combining our results with the optical polarimetric data, we find that the spin axis of the neutron star and the angular momentum of the binary orbit are misaligned by at least $\sim$20 deg, which is a strong argument in support of the models explaining stability of the observed super-orbital variability with the precession of the neutron star.

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arXiv2022

What sources are the dominant Galactic cosmic-ray accelerators?

Supernova remnants (SNRs) have long been considered to be the dominant source of Galactic cosmic rays, which implied that they provided most of the energy to power cosmic rays as well as being PeVatrons. The lack of evidence for PeV cosmic rays in SNRs, as well as theoretical considerations, has made this scenario untenable. At the same time the latest LHAASO and other gamma-ray results suggest that PeVatrons lurk inside starforming regions. Here I will discuss why SNRs should still be considered the main sources of Galactic cosmic rays at least up to 10 TeV, but that the cosmic-ray data allow for a second component of cosmic rays with energies up to several PeV. This second component could be a subset of supernovae/SNRs, reacceleration inside starforming regions, or pulsars. As a special case I show that the recent observations of Westerlund 1 by H.E.S.S. suggest a low value of the diffusion coefficient inside this region, which is, together with an Alfvén speed > 100 km/s, a prerequisite for making a starforming region collectively a PeVatron due to second order Fermi acceleration.

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