1. Polarization Perspectives on Hercules X-1: Further Constraining the Geometry
- Author
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Zhao, Qingchang, Li, Hancheng, Tao, Lian, Feng, Hua, Zhang, Shuangnan, Walter, Roland, Ge, Mingyu, Tong, Hao, Ji, Long, Zhang, Liang, Qu, Jinlu, Huang, Yue, Ma, Xiang, Zhang, Shu, Yin, Qianqing, Yin, Hongxing, Ma, Ruican, Zhao, Shujie, Li, Panping, Yang, Zixu, Liu, Hexin, Yu, Wei, Huang, Yiming, Li, Zexi, Li, Yajun, Xiao, Jingyu, and Zhao, Kang
- Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena - Abstract
We conduct a comprehensive analysis of the accreting X-ray pulsar, Hercules X-1, utilizing data from IXPE and NuSTAR. IXPE performed five observations of Her X-1, consisting of three in the Main-on state and two in the Short-on state. Our time-resolved analysis uncovers the linear correlations between the flux and polarization degree as well as the pulse fraction and polarization degree. Geometry parameters are rigorously constrained by fitting the phase-resolved modulations of Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature and polarization angle with a simple dipole model and Rotating Vector Model respectively, yielding roughly consistent results. The changes of $\chi_{\rm p}$ (the position angle of the pulsar's spin axis on the plane of the sky) between different Main-on observations suggest the possible forced precession of the neutron star crust. Furthermore, a linear association between the energy of Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature and polarization angle implies the prevalence of a dominant dipole magnetic field, and their phase-resolved modulations likely arise from viewing angle effects., Comment: Accepted for MNRAS
- Published
- 2024