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1. First Very Long Baseline Interferometry Detections at 870{\mu}m

Author: Raymond, Alexander W., Doeleman, Sheperd S., Asada, Keiichi, Blackburn, Lindy, Bower, Geoffrey C., Bremer, Michael, Broguiere, Dominique, Chen, Ming-Tang, Crew, Geoffrey B., Dornbusch, Sven, Fish, Vincent L., García, Roberto, Gentaz, Olivier, Goddi, Ciriaco, Han, Chih-Chiang, Hecht, Michael H., Huang, Yau-De, Janssen, Michael, Keating, Garrett K., Koay, Jun Yi, Krichbaum, Thomas P., Lo, Wen-Ping, Matsushita, Satoki, Matthews, Lynn D., Moran, James M., Norton, Timothy J., Patel, Nimesh, Pesce, Dominic W., Ramakrishnan, Venkatessh, Rottmann, Helge, Roy, Alan L., Sánchez, Salvador, Tilanus, Remo P. J., Titus, Michael, Torne, Pablo, Wagner, Jan, Weintroub, Jonathan, Wielgus, Maciek, Young, André, Akiyama, Kazunori, Albentosa-Ruíz, Ezequiel, Alberdi, Antxon, Alef, Walter, Algaba, Juan Carlos, Anantua, Richard, Azulay, Rebecca, Bach, Uwe, Baczko, Anne-Kathrin, Ball, David, Baloković, Mislav, Bandyopadhyay, Bidisha, Barrett, John, Bauböck, Michi, Benson, Bradford A., Bintley, Dan, Blundell, Raymond, Bouman, Katherine L., Boyce, Hope, Brissenden, Roger, Britzen, Silke, Broderick, Avery E., Bronzwaer, Thomas, Bustamante, Sandra, Carlstrom, John E., Chael, Andrew, Chan, Chi-kwan, Chang, Dominic O., Chatterjee, Koushik, Chatterjee, Shami, Chen, Yongjun, Cheng, Xiaopeng, Cho, Ilje, Christian, Pierre, Conroy, Nicholas S., Conway, John E., Crawford, Thomas M., Cruz-Osorio, Alejandro, Cui, Yuzhu, Dahale, Rohan, Davelaar, Jordy, De Laurentis, Mariafelicia, Deane, Roger, Dempsey, Jessica, Desvignes, Gregory, Dexter, Jason, Dhruv, Vedant, Dihingia, Indu K., Dzib, Sergio A., Eatough, Ralph P., Emami, Razieh, Falcke, Heino, Farah, Joseph, Fomalont, Edward, Fontana, Anne-Laure, Ford, H. Alyson, Foschi, Marianna, Fraga-Encinas, Raquel, Freeman, William T., Friberg, Per, Fromm, Christian M., Fuentes, Antonio, Galison, Peter, Gammie, Charles F., Georgiev, Boris, Gold, Roman, Gómez-Ruiz, Arturo I., Gómez, José L., Gu, Minfeng, Gurwell, Mark, Hada, Kazuhiro, Haggard, Daryl, Hesper, Ronald, Heumann, Dirk, Ho, Luis C., Ho, Paul, Honma, Mareki, Huang, Chih-Wei L., Huang, Lei, Hughes, David H., Ikeda, Shiro, Impellizzeri, C. M. Violette, Inoue, Makoto, Issaoun, Sara, James, David J., Jannuzi, Buell T., Jeter, Britton, Jiang, Wu, Jiménez-Rosales, Alejandra, Johnson, Michael D., Jorstad, Svetlana, Jones, Adam C., Joshi, Abhishek V., Jung, Taehyun, Karuppusamy, Ramesh, Kawashima, Tomohisa, Kettenis, Mark, Kim, Dong-Jin, Kim, Jae-Young, Kim, Jongsoo, Kim, Junhan, Kino, Motoki, Kocherlakota, Prashant, Kofuji, Yutaro, Koch, Patrick M., Koyama, Shoko, Kramer, Carsten, Kramer, Joana A., Kramer, Michael, Kubo, Derek, Kuo, Cheng-Yu, La Bella, Noemi, Lee, Sang-Sung, Levis, Aviad, Li, Zhiyuan, Lico, Rocco, Lindahl, Greg, Lindqvist, Michael, Lisakov, Mikhail, Liu, Jun, Liu, Kuo, Liuzzo, Elisabetta, Lobanov, Andrei P., Loinard, Laurent, Lonsdale, Colin J., Lowitz, Amy E., Lu, Ru-Sen, MacDonald, Nicholas R., Mahieu, Sylvain, Maier, Doris, Mao, Jirong, Marchili, Nicola, Markoff, Sera, Marrone, Daniel P., Marscher, Alan P., Martí-Vidal, Iván, Medeiros, Lia, Menten, Karl M., Mizuno, Izumi, Mizuno, Yosuke, Montgomery, Joshua, Moriyama, Kotaro, Moscibrodzka, Monika, Mulaudzi, Wanga, Müller, Cornelia, Müller, Hendrik, Mus, Alejandro, Musoke, Gibwa, Myserlis, Ioannis, Nagai, Hiroshi, Nagar, Neil M., Nakamura, Masanori, Narayanan, Gopal, Natarajan, Iniyan, Nathanail, Antonios, Fuentes, Santiago Navarro, Neilsen, Joey, Ni, Chunchong, Nowak, Michael A., Oh, Junghwan, Okino, Hiroki, Sánchez, Héctor Raúl Olivares, Oyama, Tomoaki, Özel, Feryal, Palumbo, Daniel C. M., Paraschos, Georgios Filippos, Park, Jongho, Parsons, Harriet, Pen, Ue-Li, Piétu, Vincent, PopStefanija, Aleksandar, Porth, Oliver, Prather, Ben, Principe, Giacomo, Psaltis, Dimitrios, Pu, Hung-Yi, Raffin, Philippe A., Rao, Ramprasad, Rawlings, Mark G., Ricarte, Angelo, Ripperda, Bart, Roelofs, Freek, Romero-Cañizales, Cristina, Ros, Eduardo, Roshanineshat, Arash, Ruiz, Ignacio, Ruszczyk, Chet, Rygl, Kazi L. J., Sánchez-Argüelles, David, Sánchez-Portal, Miguel, Sasada, Mahito, Satapathy, Kaushik, Savolainen, Tuomas, Schloerb, F. Peter, Schonfeld, Jonathan, Schuster, Karl-Friedrich, Shao, Lijing, Shen, Zhiqiang, Small, Des, Sohn, Bong Won, SooHoo, Jason, Salas, León David Sosapanta, Souccar, Kamal, Srinivasan, Ranjani, Stanway, Joshua S., Sun, He, Tazaki, Fumie, Tetarenko, Alexandra J., Tiede, Paul, Toma, Kenji, Toscano, Teresa, Traianou, Efthalia, Trent, Tyler, Trippe, Sascha, Turk, Matthew, van Bemmel, Ilse, van Langevelde, Huib Jan, van Rossum, Daniel R., Vos, Jesse, Ward-Thompson, Derek, Wardle, John, Washington, Jasmin E., Wharton, Robert, Wiik, Kaj, Witzel, Gunther, Wondrak, Michael F., Wong, George N., Wu, Qingwen, Yadlapalli, Nitika, Yamaguchi, Paul, Yfantis, Aristomenis, Yoon, Doosoo, Younsi, Ziri, Yu, Wei, Yuan, Feng, Yuan, Ye-Fei, Zensus, J. Anton, Zhang, Shuo, Zhao, Guang-Yao, and Zhao, Shan-Shan
Subjects: Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: The first very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) detections at 870$\mu$m wavelength (345$\,$GHz frequency) are reported, achieving the highest diffraction-limited angular resolution yet obtained from the surface of the Earth, and the highest-frequency example of the VLBI technique to date. These include strong detections for multiple sources observed on inter-continental baselines between telescopes in Chile, Hawaii, and Spain, obtained during observations in October 2018. The longest-baseline detections approach 11$\,$G$\lambda$ corresponding to an angular resolution, or fringe spacing, of 19$\mu$as. The Allan deviation of the visibility phase at 870$\mu$m is comparable to that at 1.3$\,$mm on the relevant integration time scales between 2 and 100$\,$s. The detections confirm that the sensitivity and signal chain stability of stations in the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) array are suitable for VLBI observations at 870$\mu$m. Operation at this short wavelength, combined with anticipated enhancements of the EHT, will lead to a unique high angular resolution instrument for black hole studies, capable of resolving the event horizons of supermassive black holes in both space and time., Comment: Corresponding author: S. Doeleman
Published: 2024
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2. Analysis of Crab X-ray Polarization using Deeper IXPE Observations

Author: Wong, Josephine, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Bucciantini, Niccoló, Romani, Roger W., Yang, Yi-Jung, Liu, Kuan, Deng, Wei, Goya, Kazuho, Xie, Fei, Pilia, Maura, Kaaret, Philip, Weisskopf, Martin C., Silvestri, Stefano, Ng, C. -Y., Chen, Chien-Ting, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccoló, Di Marco, Alessandro, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel Lawrence, Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Sgró, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey, Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Wu, Kinwah, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We present Crab X-ray polarization measurements using IXPE data with a total exposure of 300ks, three times more than the initial 2022 discovery paper. Polarization is detected in three times more pulsar phase bins, revealing an S-shaped $+40^\circ$ polarization angle sweep in the main pulse and ${>}1\sigma$ departures from the OPTIMA optical polarization in both pulses, suggesting different radiation mechanisms or sites for the polarized emission at the two wavebands. Our polarization map of the inner nebula reveals a toroidal magnetic field, as seen in prior IXPE analyses. Along the southern jet, the magnetic field orientation relative to the jet axis changes from perpendicular to parallel and the polarization degree decreases by ${\sim}6\%$. These observations may be explained by kink instabilities along the jet or a collision with a dense, jet-deflecting medium at the tip. Using spectropolarimetric analysis, we find asymmetric polarization in the four quadrants of the inner nebula, as expected for a toroidal field geometry, and a spatial correlation between polarization degree and photon index., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables. Accepted by The Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2024

3. A multi-wavelength study to decipher the 2017 flare of the blazar OJ 287

Author: Acharyya, A., Adams, C. B., Archer, A., Bangale, P., Bartkoske, J. T., Batista, P., Benbow, W., Brill, A., Caldwell, J. P., Carini, M., Christiansen, J. L., Chromey, A. J., Errando, M., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Foote, J., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Gallagher, G., Hanlon, W., Hanna, D., Hervet, O., Hinrichs, C. E., Hoang, J., Holder, J., Humensky, T. B., Jin, W., Johnson, M. N., Kaaret, P., Kertzman, M., Kherlakian, M., Kieda, D., Kleiner, T. K., Korzoun, N., Krennrich, F., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Lundy, M., Maier, G., EMcGrath, C., Millard, M. J., Millis, J., Mooney, C. L., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Pohl, M., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Rabinowitz, P. L., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Ribeiro, D., Roache, E., Ryan, J. L., Sadeh, I., Sadun, A. C., Saha, L., Santander, M., Sembroski, G. H., Shahinyan, K., Shang, R., Splettstoesser, M., Tak, D., Talluri, A. K., Tucci, J. V., Williams, D. A., Wong, S. L., Jorstad, S. G., Lico, R., Lusen, P., and Marscher, A. P.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Abstract: In February 2017, the blazar OJ~287 underwent a period of intense multiwavelength activity. It reached a new historic peak in the soft X-ray (0.3-10 keV) band, as measured by Swift-XRT. This event coincides with a very-high-energy (VHE) $\gamma$-ray outburst that led VERITAS to detect emission above 100 GeV, with a detection significance of $10\sigma$ (from 2016 December 9 to 2017 March 31). The time-averaged VHE $\gamma$-ray spectrum was consistent with a soft power law ($\Gamma = -3.81 \pm 0.26$) and an integral flux corresponding to $\sim2.4\%$ that of the Crab Nebula above the same energy. Contemporaneous data from multiple instruments across the electromagnetic spectrum reveal complex flaring behavior, primarily in the soft X-ray and VHE bands. To investigate the possible origin of such an event, our study focuses on three distinct activity states: before, during, and after the February 2017 peak. The spectral energy distributions during these periods suggest the presence of at least two non-thermal emission zones, with the more compact one responsible for the observed flare. Broadband modeling results and observations of a new radio knot in the jet of OJ~287 in 2017 are consistent with a flare originating from a strong recollimation shock outside the radio core., Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2024

4. X-ray and multiwavelength polarization of Mrk 501 from 2022 to 2023

Author: Chen, Chien-Ting J., Liodakis, Ioannis, Middei, Riccardo, Kim, Dawoon E., Di Gesu, Laura, Di Marco, Alessandro, Ehlert, Steven R., Errando, Manel, Negro, Michela, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Marscher, Alan P., Wu, Kinwah, Agudo, Iván, Poutanen, Juri, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Kouch, Pouya M., Lindfors, Elina, Borman, George A., Grishina, Tatiana S., Kopatskaya, Evgenia N., Larionova, Elena G., Morozova, Daria A., Savchenko, Sergey S., Troitsky, Ivan S., Troitskaya, Yulia V., Vasilyev, Andrey A., Zhovtan, Alexey V., Aceituno, Francisco José, Bonnoli, Giacomo, Casanova, Víctor, Escudero, Juan, Agís-González, Beatriz, Husillos, César, Santos, Jorge Otero, Sota, Alfredo, Piirola, Vilppu, Myserlis, Ioannis, Angelakis, Emmanouil, Kraus, Alexander, Gurwell, Mark, Keating, Garrett, Rao, Ramprasad, Kang, Sincheol, Lee, Sang-Sung, Kim, Sang-Hyun, Cheong, Whee Yeon, Jeong, Hyeon-Woo, Song, Chanwoo, Berdyugin, Andrei V., Kagitani, Masato, Kravtsov, Vadim, Nitindala, Anagha P., Sakanoi, Takeshi, Imazawa, Ryo, Sasada, Mahito, Fukazawa, Yasushi, Kawabata, Koji S., Uemura, Makoto, Nakaoka, Tatsuya, Akitaya, Hiroshi, Casadio, Carolina, Sievers, Albrecht, Antonelli, Lucio Angelo, Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccoló, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Lalla, Niccoló, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Muleri, Fabio, Ng, C. -Y., O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel Lawrence, Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgró, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Abstract: We present multiwavelength polarization measurements of the luminous blazar Mrk~501 over a 14-month period. The 2--8 keV X-ray polarization was measured with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) with six 100-ks observations spanning from 2022 March to 2023 April. Each IXPE observation was accompanied by simultaneous X-ray data from NuSTAR, Swift/XRT, and/or XMM-Newton. Complementary optical-infrared polarization measurements were also available in the B, V, R, I, and J bands, as were radio polarization measurements from 4.85 GHz to 225.5 GHz. Among the first five IXPE observations, we did not find significant variability in the X-ray polarization degree and angle with IXPE. However, the most recent sixth observation found an elevated polarization degree at $>3\sigma$ above the average of the other five observations. The optical and radio measurements show no apparent correlations with the X-ray polarization properties. Throughout the six IXPE observations, the X-ray polarization degree remained higher than, or similar to, the R-band optical polarization degree, which remained higher than the radio value. This is consistent with the energy-stratified shock scenario proposed to explain the first two IXPE observations, in which the polarized X-ray, optical, and radio emission arises from different regions., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
Published: 2024

5. Testing particle acceleration in blazar jets with continuous high-cadence optical polarization observations

Author: Liodakis, Ioannis, Kiehlmann, Sebastian, Marscher, Alan P., Zhang, Haocheng, Blinov, Dmitry, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Agudo, Iván, Benítez, Erika, Berdyugin, Andrei, Bonnoli, Giacomo, Casadio, Carolina, Chen, Chien-Ting, Chen, Wen-Ping, Ehlert, Steven R., Escudero, Juan, Grishina, Tatiana S., Hiriart, David, Hsu, Angela, Imazawa, Ryo, Jermak, Helen E., Jose, Jincen, Kaaret, Philip, Kopatskaya, Evgenia N., Lalchand, Bhavana, Larionova, Elena G., Lindfors, Elina, López, José M., McCall, Callum, Morozova, Daria A., Palaiologou, Efthymios, Pandey, Shivangi, Poutanen, Juri, Rakshit, Suvendu, Reig, Pablo, Sasada, Mahito, Savchenko, Sergey S., Shablovinskaya, Elena, Neha, Sharma, Shrestha, Manisha, Steele, Iain A., Troitskiy, Ivan S., Troitskaya, Yulia V., Uemura, Makoto, Vasilyev, Andrey A., Weaver, Zachary, Wiersema, Klaas, and Weisskopf, Martin C.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: Variability can be the pathway to understanding the physical processes in astrophysical jets, however, the high-cadence observations required to test particle acceleration models are still missing. Here we report on the first attempt to produce continuous, >24 hour polarization light curves of blazars using telescopes distributed across the globe and the rotation of the Earth to avoid the rising Sun. Our campaign involved 16 telescopes in Asia, Europe, and North America. We observed BL Lacertae and CGRaBS J0211+1051 for a combined 685 telescope hours. We find large variations in the polarization degree and angle for both sources in sub-hour timescales as well as a ~180 degree rotation of the polarization angle in CGRaBS J0211+1051 in less than two days. We compared our high-cadence observations to Particle-In-Cell magnetic reconnection and turbulent plasma simulations. We find that although the state of the art simulation frameworks can produce a large fraction of the polarization properties, they do not account for the entirety of the observed polarization behavior in blazar jets., Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in A&A. The data used in the paper are available here: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IETSXS
Published: 2024
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6. An IXPE-Led X-ray Spectro-Polarimetric Campaign on the Soft State of Cygnus X-1: X-ray Polarimetric Evidence for Strong Gravitational Lensing

Author: Steiner, James F., Nathan, Edward, Hu, Kun, Krawczynski, Henric, Dovciak, Michal, Veledina, Alexandra, Muleri, Fabio, Svoboda, Jiri, Alabarta, Kevin, Parra, Maxime, Bhargava, Yash, Matt, Giorgio, Poutanen, Juri, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Tennant, Allyn F., Baglio, M. Cristina, Baldini, Luca, Barnier, Samuel, Bhattacharyya, Sudip, Bianchi, Stefano, Brigitte, Maimouna, Cabezas, Mauricio, Cangemi, Floriane, Capitanio, Fiamma, Casey, Jacob, Cavero, Nicole Rodriguez, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chun, Sohee, Churazov, Eugene, Costa, Enrico, Di Lalla, Niccolo, Di Marco, Alessandro, Egron, Elise, Ewing, Melissa, Fabiani, Sergio, Garcia, Javier A., Green, David A., Grinberg, Victoria, Hadrava, Petr, Ingram, Adam, Kaaret, Philip, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kravtsov, Vadim, Kubatova, Brankica, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Loktev, Vladislav, Malacaria, Christian, Marin, Frederic, Marinucci, Andrea, Maryeva, Olga, Mastroserio, Guglielmo, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Negro, Michela, Omodei, Nicola, Podgorny, Jakub, Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Rhodes, Lauren, Russell, David M., Slechta, Miroslav, Soffitta, Paolo, Spooner, Sean, Suleimanov, Valery, Tombesi, Francesco, Trushkin, Sergei A., Weisskopf, Martin C., Zane, Silvia, Zdziarski, Andrzej A., Zhang, Sixuan, Zhang, Wenda, Zhou, Menglei, Agudo, Ivan, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgro, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Thomas, Nicholas E., Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Wu, Kinwah, and Xie, Fei
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We present the first X-ray spectropolarimetric results for Cygnus X-1 in its soft state from a campaign of five IXPE observations conducted during 2023 May-June. Companion multiwavelength data during the campaign are likewise shown. The 2-8 keV X-rays exhibit a net polarization degree PD=1.99%+/-0.13% (68% confidence). The polarization signal is found to increase with energy across IXPE's 2-8 keV bandpass. The polarized X-rays exhibit an energy-independent polarization angle of PA=-25.7+/-1.8 deg. East of North (68% confidence). This is consistent with being aligned to Cyg X-1's AU-scale compact radio jet and its pc-scale radio lobes. In comparison to earlier hard-state observations, the soft state exhibits a factor of 2 lower polarization degree, but a similar trend with energy and a similar (also energy-independent) position angle. When scaling by the natural unit of the disk temperature, we find the appearance of a consistent trendline in the polarization degree between soft and hard states. Our favored polarimetric model indicates Cyg X-1's spin is likely high (a* above ~0.96). The substantial X-ray polarization in Cyg X-1's soft state is most readily explained as resulting from a large portion of X-rays emitted from the disk returning and reflecting off the disk surface, generating a high polarization degree and a polarization direction parallel to the black hole spin axis and radio jet. In IXPE's bandpass, the polarization signal is dominated by the returning reflection emission. This constitutes polarimetric evidence for strong gravitational lensing of X-rays close to the black hole., Comment: 20 pages, accepted for publication in ApJL
Published: 2024

7. The Black Hole Explorer: Motivation and Vision

Author: Johnson, Michael D., Akiyama, Kazunori, Baturin, Rebecca, Bilyeu, Bryan, Blackburn, Lindy, Boroson, Don, Cardenas-Avendano, Alejandro, Chael, Andrew, Chan, Chi-kwan, Chang, Dominic, Cheimets, Peter, Chou, Cathy, Doeleman, Sheperd S., Farah, Joseph, Galison, Peter, Gamble, Ronald, Gammie, Charles F., Gelles, Zachary, Gomez, Jose L., Gralla, Samuel E., Grimes, Paul, Gurvits, Leonid I., Hadar, Shahar, Haworth, Kari, Hada, Kazuhiro, Hecht, Michael H., Honma, Mareki, Houston, Janice, Hudson, Ben, Issaoun, Sara, Jia, He, Jorstad, Svetlana, Kauffmann, Jens, Kovalev, Yuri Y., Kurczynski, Peter, Lafon, Robert, Lupsasca, Alexandru, Lehmensiek, Robert, Ma, Chung-Pei, Marrone, Daniel P., Marscher, Alan P., Melnick, Gary J., Narayan, Ramesh, Niinuma, Kotaro, Noble, Scott C., Palmer, Eric J., Palumbo, Daniel C. M., Paritsky, Lenny, Peretz, Eliad, Pesce, Dominic, Plavin, Alexander, Quataert, Eliot, Rana, Hannah, Ricarte, Angelo, Roelofs, Freek, Shtyrkova, Katia, Sinclair, Laura C., Small, Jeffrey, Kumara, Sridharan Tirupati, Srinivasan, Ranjani, Strominger, Andrew, Tiede, Paul, Tong, Edward, Wang, Jade, Weintroub, Jonathan, Wielgus, Maciek, Wong, George, and Zhang, Xinyue Alice
Subjects: Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Abstract: We present the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX), a mission that will produce the sharpest images in the history of astronomy by extending submillimeter Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to space. BHEX will discover and measure the bright and narrow "photon ring" that is predicted to exist in images of black holes, produced from light that has orbited the black hole before escaping. This discovery will expose universal features of a black hole's spacetime that are distinct from the complex astrophysics of the emitting plasma, allowing the first direct measurements of a supermassive black hole's spin. In addition to studying the properties of the nearby supermassive black holes M87* and Sgr A*, BHEX will measure the properties of dozens of additional supermassive black holes, providing crucial insights into the processes that drive their creation and growth. BHEX will also connect these supermassive black holes to their relativistic jets, elucidating the power source for the brightest and most efficient engines in the universe. BHEX will address fundamental open questions in the physics and astrophysics of black holes that cannot be answered without submillimeter space VLBI. The mission is enabled by recent technological breakthroughs, including the development of ultra-high-speed downlink using laser communications, and it leverages billions of dollars of existing ground infrastructure. We present the motivation for BHEX, its science goals and associated requirements, and the pathway to launch within the next decade., Comment: Proceedings for SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation
Published: 2024
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8. Probing the polarized emission from SMC X-1: the brightest X-ray pulsar observed by IXPE

Author: Forsblom, Sofia V., Tsygankov, Sergey S., Poutanen, Juri, Doroshenko, Victor, Mushtukov, Alexander A., Ng, Mason, Ravi, Swati, Marshall, Herman L., Di Marco, Alessandro, La Monaca, Fabio, Malacaria, Christian, Mastroserio, Guglielmo, Loktev, Vladislav, Possenti, Andrea, Suleimanov, Valery F., Taverna, Roberto, Agudo, Ivan, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolo, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Dovciak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frederic, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgro, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: Recent observations of X-ray pulsars (XRPs) performed by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) have made it possible to investigate the intricate details of these objects in a new way, thanks to the added value of X-ray polarimetry. Here we present the results of the IXPE observations of SMC X-1, a member of the small group of XRPs displaying super-orbital variability. SMC X-1 was observed by IXPE three separate times during the high state of its super-orbital period. The observed luminosity in the 2-8 keV energy band of $L=2\times10^{38}$ erg/s makes SMC X-1 the brightest XRP ever observed by IXPE. We detect significant polarization in all three observations, with values of the phase-averaged polarization degree (PD) and polarization angle (PA) of $3.2\pm0.8$% and $97\deg\pm8\deg$ for Observation 1, $3.0\pm0.9$% and $90\deg\pm8\deg$ for Observation 2, and $5.5\pm1.1$% and $80\deg\pm6\deg$ for Observation 3, for the spectro-polarimetric analysis. The observed PD shows an increase over time with decreasing luminosity, while the PA decreases in decrements of 10\deg. The phase-resolved spectro-polarimetric analysis reveals significant detection of polarization in three out of seven phase bins, with the PD ranging between 2% and 10%, and a corresponding range in the PA from $\sim$70\deg\ to $\sim$100\deg. The pulse-phase resolved PD displays an apparent anti-correlation with the flux. Using the rotating vector model, we obtain constraints on the pulsar's geometrical properties for the individual observations. The position angle of the pulsar displays an evolution over time supporting the idea that we observe changes related to different super-orbital phases. Scattering in the wind of the precessing accretion disk may be responsible for the behavior of the polarimetric properties observed during the high-state of SMC X-1's super-orbital period., Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, submitted to A&A
Published: 2024

9. IXPE observation of PKS 2155-304 reveals the most highly polarized blazar

Author: Kouch, Pouya M., Liodakis, Ioannis, Middei, Riccardo, Kim, Dawoon E., Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Ehlert, Steven R., Di Gesu, Laura, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Agudo, Iván, Madejski, Grzegorz M., Romani, Roger W., Errando, Manel, Lindfors, Elina, Nilsson, Kari, Toppari, Ella, Potter, Stephen B., Imazawa, Ryo, Sasada, Mahito, Fukazawa, Yasushi, Kawabata, Koji S., Uemura, Makoto, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Nakaoka, Tatsuya, Akitaya, Hiroshi, McCall, Callum, Jermak, Helen E., Steele, Iain A., Myserlis, Ioannis, Gurwell, Mark, Keating, Garrett K., Rao, Ramprasad, Kang, Sincheol, Lee, Sang-Sung, Kim, Sang-Hyun, Cheong, Whee Yeon, Jeong, Hyeon-Woo, Angelakis, Emmanouil, Kraus, Alexander, Aceituno, Francisco José, Bonnoli, Giacomo, Casanova, Víctor, Escudero, Juan, Agís-González, Beatriz, Husillos, César, Morcuende, Daniel, Otero-Santos, Jorge, Sota, Alfredo, Bachev, Rumen, Antonelli, Lucio Angelo, Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Di Marco, Alessandro, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, Ng, C. -Y., O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel Lawrence, Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We report the X-ray polarization properties of the high-synchrotron-peaked (HSP) blazar PKS 2155$-$304 based on observations with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). We observed the source between Oct 27 and Nov 7, 2023. We also conducted an extensive contemporaneous multiwavelength (MW) campaign. We find that during the first half ($T_1$) of the IXPE pointing, the source exhibited the highest X-ray polarization degree detected for an HSP blazar thus far, (30.7$\pm$2.0)%, which dropped to (15.3$\pm$2.1)% during the second half ($T_2$). The X-ray polarization angle remained stable during the IXPE pointing at 129.4$^\circ$$\pm$1.8$^\circ$ and 125.4$^\circ$$\pm$3.9$^\circ$ during $T_1$ and $T_2$, respectively. Meanwhile, the optical polarization degree remained stable during the IXPE pointing, with average host-galaxy-corrected values of (4.3$\pm$0.7)% and (3.8$\pm$0.9)% during the $T_1$ and $T_2$, respectively. During the IXPE pointing, the optical polarization angle changed achromatically from $\sim$140$^\circ$ to $\sim$90$^\circ$ and back to $\sim$130$^\circ$. Despite several attempts, we only detected (99.7% conf.) the radio polarization once (during $T_2$, at 225.5 GHz): with degree (1.7$\pm$0.4)% and angle 112.5$^\circ$$\pm$5.5$^\circ$. The direction of the broad pc-scale jet is rather ambiguous and has been found to point to the east and south at different epochs; however, on larger scales (> 1.5 pc) the jet points toward the southeast ($\sim$135$^\circ$), similar to all of the MW polarization angles. Moreover, the X-ray to optical polarization degree ratios of $\sim$7 and $\sim$4 during $T_1$ and $T_2$, respectively, are similar to previous IXPE results for several HSP blazars. These findings, combined with the lack of correlation of temporal variability between the MW polarization properties, agree with an energy-stratified shock-acceleration scenario in HSP blazars., Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, 4 tables, Accepted for publication in A&A
Published: 2024
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10. The flaring activity of blazar AO 0235+164 during year 2021

Author: Pedrosa, Juan Escudero, Agudo, Iván, Moritz, Till, Marscher, Alan P., Jorstad, Svetlana, Tramacere, Andrea, Casadio, Carolina, Thum, Clemens, Myserlis, Ioannis, Sievers, Albrecht, Otero-Santos, Jorge, Morcuende, Daniel, López-Coto, Rubén, D'Ammando, Filippo, Bonnoli, Giacomo, Gurwell, Mark, Gómez, José Luis, Rao, Ramprasad, and Keating, Garrett
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: Context. The blazar AO 0235+164, located at redshift $z=0.94$, has displayed interesting and repeating flaring activity in the past, the latest episodes occurring in 2008 and 2015. In 2020, the source brightened again, starting a new flaring episode that peaked in 2021. Aims. We study the origin and properties of the 2021 flare in relation to previous studies and the historical behavior of the source, in particular to the 2008 and 2015 flaring episodes. Methods. We analyze the multi-wavelength photo-polarimetric evolution of the source. From Very Long Baseline Array images, we derive the kinematic parameters of new components associated with the 2021 flare. We use this information to constrain a model for the spectral energy distribution of the emission during the flaring period. We propose an analytical geometric model to test whether the observed wobbling of the jet is consistent with precession. Results. We report the appearance of two new components that are ejected in a different direction than previously, confirming the wobbling of the jet. We find that the direction of ejection is consistent with that of a precessing jet.The derived period independently agrees with the values commonly found in the literature. Modeling of the spectral energy distribution further confirm that the differences between flares can be attributed to geometrical effects., Comment: Accepted 15 May 2024
Published: 2024
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11. Evidence of jet activity from the secondary black hole in the OJ287 binary system

Author: Valtonen, Mauri J., Zola, Staszek, Gupta, Alok C., Kishore, Shubham, Gopakumar, Achamveedu, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Wiita, Paul J., Gu, Minfeng, Nilsson, Kari, Marscher, Alan P., Zhang, Zhongli, Hudec, Rene, Matsumoto, Katsura, Drozdz, Marek, Ogloza, Waldemar, Berdyugin, Andrei V., Reichart, Daniel E., Mugrauer, Markus, Dey, Lankeswar, Pursimo, Tapio, Lehto, Harry J., Ciprini, Stefano, Nakaoka, T., Uemura, M., Imazawa, Ryo, Zejmo, Michal, Kouprianov, Vladimir V., Davidson, Jr., James W., Sadun, Alberto, Strobl, Jan, Weaver, Z. R., and Jelinek, Martin
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We report the study of a huge optical intraday flare on November 12, 2021, at 2 am UT, in the blazar OJ287. In the binary black hole model it is associated with an impact of the secondary black hole on the accretion disk of the primary. Our multifrequency observing campaign was set up to search for such a signature of the impact, based on a prediction made eight years earlier. The first I-band results of the flare have already been reported by \cite{2024ApJ...960...11K}. Here we combine these data with our monitoring in the R-band. There is a big change in the R-I spectral index by $1.0\pm0.1$ between the normal background and the flare, suggesting a new component of radiation. The polarization variation during the rise of the flare suggests the same. The limits on the source size place it most reasonably in the jet of the secondary black hole. We then ask why we have not seen this phenomenon before. We show that OJ287 was never before observed with sufficient sensitivity on the night when the flare should have happened according to the binary model. We also study the probability that this flare is just an oversized example of intraday variability, using the Krakow-dataset of intense monitoring between 2015 and 2023. We find that the occurrence of a flare of this size and rapidity is unlikely. In the Appendix, we give the full orbit-linked historical light curve of OJ287 as well as the dense monitoring sample of Krakow., Comment: to Appear in Astrophysical Journal Letters
Published: 2024

12. Studying geometry of the ultraluminous X-ray pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124 using X-ray and optical polarimetry

Author: Poutanen, Juri, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Doroshenko, Victor, Forsblom, Sofia V., Jenke, Peter, Kaaret, Philip, Berdyugin, Andrei V., Blinov, Dmitry, Kravtsov, Vadim, Liodakis, Ioannis, Tzouvanou, Anastasia, Di Marco, Alessandro, Heyl, Jeremy, La Monaca, Fabio, Mushtukov, Alexander A., Pavlov, George G., Salganik, Alexander, Veledina, Alexandra, Weisskopf, Martin C., Zane, Silvia, Loktev, Vladislav, Suleimanov, Valery F., Wilson-Hodge, Colleen, Berdyugina, Svetlana V., Kagitani, Masato, Piirola, Vilppu, Sakanoi, Takeshi, Agudo, Ivan, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolo, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Dovciak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Latronico, Luca, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frederic, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgro, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Wu, Kinwah, and Xie, Fei
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Abstract: Discovery of pulsations from a number of ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) sources proved that accretion onto neutron stars can produce luminosities exceeding the Eddington limit by a couple of orders of magnitude. The conditions necessary to achieve such high luminosities as well as the exact geometry of the accretion flow in the neutron star vicinity are, however, a matter of debate. The pulse phase-resolved polarization measurements that became possible with the launch of the IXPE can be used to determine the pulsar geometry and its orientation relative to the orbital plane. They provide an avenue to test different theoretical models of ULX pulsars. In this paper we present the results of three IXPE observations of the first Galactic ULX pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124 during its 2023 outburst. We find strong variations of the polarization characteristics with the pulsar phase. The average polarization degree increases from about 5% to 15% as the flux dropped by a factor of three in the course of the outburst. The polarization angle (PA) as function of the pulsar phase shows two peaks in the first two observations, but changes to a characteristic sawtooth pattern in the remaining data set. This is not consistent with a simple rotating vector model. Assuming the existence of an additional constant polarized component, we were able to fit the three observations with a common rotating vector model and obtain constraints on the pulsar geometry. In particular, we find the pulsar angular momentum inclination with respect to the line-of-sight of 15-40 deg, the magnetic obliquity of 60-80 deg, and the pulsar spin position angle of -50 deg, which differs from the constant component PA of about 10 deg. Combining these X-ray measurements with the optical PA, we find evidence for a 30 deg misalignment between the pulsar spin and the binary orbital axis., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, submitted to A&A
Published: 2024

13. Discovery of a shock-compressed magnetic field in the north-western rim of the young supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946 with X-ray polarimetry

Author: Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Prokhorov, Dmitry, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Slane, Patrick, Vink, Jacco, Cardillo, Martina, Yang, Yi-Jung, Silvestri, Stefano, Zhou, Ping, Costa, Enrico, Omodei, Nicola, Ng, C. -Y., Soffitta, Paolo, Weisskopf, Martin C., Baldini, Luca, Di Marco, Alessandro, Doroshenko, Victor, Heyl, Jeremy, Kaaret, Philip, Kim, Dawoon E., Marin, Frédéric, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Sgrò, Carmelo, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Xie, Fei, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, O'Dell, Stephen L., Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Spandre, Gloria, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Wu, Kinwah, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Abstract: Supernova remnants (SNRs) provide insights into cosmic-ray acceleration and magnetic field dynamics at shock fronts. Recent X-ray polarimetric measurements by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) have revealed radial magnetic fields near particle acceleration sites in young SNRs, including Cassiopeia A, Tycho, and SN 1006. We present here the spatially-resolved IXPE X-ray polarimetric observation of the northwestern rim of SNR RX J1713.7-3946. For the first time, our analysis shows that the magnetic field in particle acceleration sites of this SNR is oriented tangentially with respect to the shock front. Because of the lack of precise Faraday-rotation measurements in the radio band, this was not possible before. The average measured polarization degree (PD) of the synchtrotron emission is 12.5 {\pm} 3.3%, lower than the one measured by IXPE in SN 1006, comparable to the Tycho one, but notably higher than the one in Cassiopeia A. On sub-parsec scales, localized patches within RX J1713.7-3946 display PD up to 41.5 {\pm} 9.5%. These results are compatible with a shock-compressed magnetic field. However, in order to explain the observed PD, either the presence of a radial net magnetic field upstream of the shock, or partial reisotropization of the turbulence downstream by radial magneto-hydrodynamical instabilities, can be invoked. From comparison of PD and magnetic field distribution with {\gamma}-rays and 12 CO data, our results provide new inputs in favor of a leptonic origin of the {\gamma}-ray emission., Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, published in ApJ Letters
Published: 2024
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14. Investigating the Properties of the Relativistic Jet and Hot Corona in AGN with X-ray Polarimetry

Author: Kim, Dawoon E., Di Gesu, Laura, Marin, Frédéric, Marscher, Alan P., Matt, Giorgio, Soffitta, Paolo, Tombesi, Francesco, Costa, Enrico, and Donnarumma, Immacolata
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: X-ray polarimetry has been suggested as a prominent tool for investigating the geometrical and physical properties of the emissions from active galactic nuclei (AGN). The successful launch of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) on 9 December 2021 has expanded the previously restricted scope of polarimetry into the X-ray domain, enabling X-ray polarimetric studies of AGN. Over a span of two years, IXPE has observed various AGN populations, including blazars and radio-quiet AGN. In this paper, we summarize the remarkable discoveries achieved thanks to the opening of the new window of X-ray polarimetry of AGN through IXPE observations. We will delve into two primary areas of interest: first, the magnetic field geometry and particle acceleration mechanisms in the jets of radio-loud AGN, such as blazars, where the relativistic acceleration process dominates the spectral energy distribution; and second, the geometry of the hot corona in radio-quiet AGN. Thus far, the IXPE results from blazars favor the energy-stratified shock acceleration model, and they provide evidence of helical magnetic fields inside the jet. Concerning the corona geometry, the IXPE results are consistent with a disk-originated slab-like or wedge-like shape, as could result from Comptonization around the accretion disk., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables; Accepted for publication in Galaxies, Special Issue "Multi-Phase Fueling and Feedback Processes in Jetted AGN."
Published: 2024

15. The power of relativistic jets: a comparative study

Author: Foschini, Luigi, Barba, Benedetta Dalla, Tornikoski, Merja, Andernach, Heinz, Marziani, Paola, Marscher, Alan P., Jorstad, Svetlana G., Järvelä, Emilia, Antón, Sonia, and Bontà, Elena Dalla
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We present the results of a comparison between different methods to estimate the power of relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei (AGN). We selected a sample of 32 objects (21 flat-spectrum radio quasars, 7 BL Lacertae Objects, 2 misaligned AGN, and 2 changing-look AGN) from the Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA) observations at 43 GHz of the Boston University blazar program. We then calculated the total, radiative, and kinetic jet power from both radio and high-energy gamma-ray observations, and compare the values. We found an excellent agreement between the radiative power calculated by using the Blandford and K\"onigl model with 37 or 43 GHz data, and the values derived from the high-energy $\gamma-$ray luminosity. The agreement is still acceptable if 15 GHz data are used, although with a larger dispersion, but it improves if we use a constant fraction of the $\gamma-$ray luminosity. We found a good agreement also for the kinetic power calculated with Blandford and K\"onigl model with 15 GHz data, and the value from the extended radio emission. We also propose some easy-to-use equations to estimate the jet power., Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication on Universe, Special Issue: Recent Advances in Gamma Ray Astrophysics and Future Perspectives
Published: 2024

16. The variability patterns of the TeV blazar PG 1553+113 from a decade of MAGIC and multi-band observations

Author: MAGIC Collaboration, Abe, H., Abe, S., Abhir, J., Acciari, V. A., Agudo, I., Aniello, T., Ansoldi, S., Antonelli, L. A., Engels, A. Arbet, Arcaro, C., Artero, M., Asano, K., Baack, D., Babić, A., Baquero, A., de Almeida, U. Barres, Batković, I., Baxter, J., González, J. Becerra, Bernardini, E., Bernete, J., Berti, A., Besenrieder, J., Bigongiari, C., Biland, A., Blanch, O., Bonnoli, G., Bošnjak, Ž., Burelli, I., Busetto, G., Campoy-Ordaz, A., Carosi, A., Carosi, R., Carretero-Castrillo, M., Castro-Tirado, A. J., Chai, Y., Cifuentes, A., Cikota, S., Colombo, E., Contreras, J. L., Cortina, J., Covino, S., D'Amico, G., D'Elia, V., Da Vela, P., Dazzi, F., De Angelis, A., De Lotto, B., Del Popolo, A., Delfino, M., Delgado, J., Mendez, C. Delgado, Depaoli, D., Di Pierro, F., Di Venere, L., Prester, D. Dominis, Donini, A., Dorner, D., Doro, M., Elsaesser, D., Emery, G., Escudero, J., Fariña, L., Fattorini, A., Foffano, L., Font, L., Fukami, S., Fukazawa, Y., López, R. J. García, Gasparyan, S., Gaug, M., Paiva, J. G. Giesbrecht, Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Gliwny, P., Grau, R., Green, J. G., Hadasch, D., Hahn, A., Heckmann, L., Herrera, J., Hovatta, T., Hrupec, D., Hütten, M., Imazawa, R., Inada, T., Iotov, R., Ishio, K., Martínez, I. Jiménez, Jormanainen, J., Kerszberg, D., Kluge, G. W., Kobayashi, Y., Kouch, P. M., Kubo, H., Kushida, J., Lezáun, M. Láinez, Lamastra, A., Leone, F., Lindfors, E., Liodakis, I., Lombardi, S., Longo, F., López-Moya, M., López-Oramas, A., Loporchio, S., Lorini, A., Fraga, B. Machado de Oliveira, Majumdar, P., Makariev, M., Maneva, G., Mang, N., Manganaro, M., Mannheim, K., Mariotti, M., Martínez, M., Martínez-Chicharro, M., Mas-Aguilar, A., Mazin, D., Menchiari, S., Mender, S., Miceli, D., Miener, T., Miranda, J. M., Mirzoyan, R., González, M. Molero, Molina, E., Mondal, H. A., Moralejo, A., Morcuende, D., Nakamori, T., Nanci, C., Neustroev, V., Nigro, C., Nikolić, L., Nilsson, K., Nishijima, K., Ekoume, T. Njoh, Noda, K., Nozaki, S., Ohtani, Y., Okumura, A., Otero-Santos, J., Paiano, S., Palatiello, M., Paneque, D., Paoletti, R., Paredes, J. M., Pavlović, D., Persic, M., Pihet, M., Pirola, G., Podobnik, F., Moroni, P. G. Prada, Prandini, E., Principe, G., Priyadarshi, C., Rhode, W., Ribó, M., Rico, J., Righi, C., Sahakyan, N., Saito, T., Satalecka, K., Saturni, F. G., Schleicher, B., Schmidt, K., Schmuckermaier, F., Schubert, J. L., Schweizer, T., Sciaccaluga, A., Sitarek, J., Spolon, A., Stamerra, A., Strišković, J., Strom, D., Suda, Y., Suutarinen, S., Tajima, H., Takeishi, R., Tavecchio, F., Temnikov, P., Terauchi, K., Terzić, T., Teshima, M., Tosti, L., Truzzi, S., Tutone, A., Ubach, S., van Scherpenberg, J., Ventura, S., Verguilov, V., Viale, I., Vigorito, C. F., Vitale, V., Walter, R., Wunderlich, C., Yamamoto, T., collaborators, MWL, Jermak, H., Steele, I. A., Smith, P. S., Blinov, D., Raiteri, C. M., Villata, M., Mirzaqulov, D. O., Kurtanidze, S. O., Carosati, D., Savchenko, S. S., Acosta-Pulido, J. A., Borman, G. A., Bozhilov, V., Carnerero, M. I., Chigladze, R. A., Damljanovic, G., Ehgamberdiev, S. A., Feige, M., Grishina, T. S., Gupta, A. C., Hagen-Thorn, V. A., Ibryamov, S., Ivanidze, R. Z., Jorstad, S. G., Kania, J., Kimeridze, G. N., Kopatskaya, E. N., Kopp, M., Kunkel, L., Kurtanidze, O. M., Larionov, V. M., Larionova, E. G., Larionova, L. V., Lorey, C., Marchini, A., Marscher, A. P., Minev, M., Morozova, D. A., Nikolashvili, M. G., Ovcharov, E., Reinhart, D., Sadun, A. C., Scherbantin, A., Schneider, L., Semkov, E., Sigua, L. A., Steineke, R., Troitskaya, Yu. V., Troitskiy, I. S., Valcheva, A., Vasilyev, A. A., Vince, O., Zaharieva, E., Zottmann, N., Kiehlmann, S., Readhead, A., Max-Moerbeck, W., Reeves, R. A., Sandrinelli, A., Ramazani, V. Fallah, Giroletti, M., Righini, S., Marchili, N., Patricelli, B., Ghirlanda, G., and Lico, R.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: PG 1553+113 is one of the few blazars with a convincing quasi-periodic emission in the gamma-ray band. The source is also a very high-energy (VHE; >100 GeV) gamma-ray emitter. To better understand its properties and identify the underlying physical processes driving its variability, the MAGIC Collaboration initiated a multiyear, multiwavelength monitoring campaign in 2015 involving the OVRO 40-m and Medicina radio telescopes, REM, KVA, and the MAGIC telescopes, Swift and Fermi satellites, and the WEBT network. The analysis presented in this paper uses data until 2017 and focuses on the characterization of the variability. The gamma-ray data show a (hint of a) periodic signal compatible with literature, but the X-ray and VHE gamma-ray data do not show statistical evidence for a periodic signal. In other bands, the data are compatible with the gamma-ray period, but with a relatively high p-value. The complex connection between the low and high-energy emission and the non-monochromatic modulation and changes in flux suggests that a simple one-zone model is unable to explain all the variability. Instead, a model including a periodic component along with multiple emission zones is required., Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 19 pages, 9 figures. Corresponding authors: Elisa Prandini, Antonio Stamerra, Talvikki Hovatta
Published: 2024
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17. X-ray polarization measurement of the gold standard of radio-quiet active galactic nuclei : NGC 1068

Author: Marin, F., Marinucci, A., Laurenti, M., Kim, D. E., Barnouin, T., Di Marco, A., Ursini, F., Bianchi, S., Ravi, S., Marshall, H. L., Matt, G., Chen, C. -T., Gianolli, V. E., Ingram, A., Maksym, W. P., Panagiotou, C., Podgorny, J., Puccetti, S., Ratheesh, A., Tombesi, F., Agudo, I., Antonelli, L. A., Bachetti, M., Baldini, L., Baumgartner, W., Bellazzini, R., Bongiorno, S., Bonino, R., Brez, A., Bucciantini, N., Capitanio, F., Castellano, S., Cavazzuti, E., Ciprini, S., Costa, E., De Rosa, A., Del Monte, E., Di Gesu, L., Di Lalla, N., Donnarumma, I., Doroshenko, V., Dovciak, M., Ehlert, S., Enoto, T., Evangelista, Y., Fabiani, S., Ferrazzoli, R., Garcia, J., Gunji, S., Heyl, J., Iwakiri, W., Jorstad, S., Kaaret, P., Karas, V., Kislat, F., Kitaguchi, T., Kolodziejczak, J., Krawczynski, H., La Monaca, F., Latronico, L., Liodakis, I., Madejski, G., Maldera, S., Manfreda, A., Marscher, A., Massaro, F., Mitsuishi, I., Mizuno, T., Muleri, F., Negro, M., Ng, S., O'Dell, S., Omodei, N., Oppedisano, C., Papitto, A., Pavlov, G., Perri, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Petrucci, P. -O., Pilia, M., Possenti, A., Poutanen, J., Ramsey, B., Rankin, J., Roberts, O., Romani, R., Sgro, C., Slane, P., Soffitta, P., Spandre, G., Swartz, D., Tamagawa, T., Tavecchio, F., Taverna, R., Tawara, Y., Tennant, A., Thomas, N., Trois, A., Tsygankov, S., Turolla, R., Vink, J., Weisskopf, M., Wu, K., Xie, F., and Zane, S.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies, J.2.3, J.2.9
Abstract: We used the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite to measure, for the first time, the 2-8 keV polarization of NGC 1068. We pointed IXPE for a net exposure time of 1.15 Ms on the target, in addition to two ~ 10 ks each Chandra snapshots in order to account for the potential impact of several ultraluminous X-ray source (ULXs) within IXPE's field-of-view. We measured a 2 - 8 keV polarization degree of 12.4% +/- 3.6% and an electric vector polarization angle of 101{\deg} +/- 8{\deg} at 68% confidence level. If we exclude the spectral region containing the bright Fe K lines and other soft X-ray lines where depolarization occurs, the polarization fraction rises up to 21.3% +/- 6.7% in the 3.5 - 6.0 keV band, with a similar polarization angle. The observed polarization angle is found to be perpendicular to the parsec scale radio jet. Using a combined Chandra and IXPE analysis plus multi-wavelength constraints, we estimated that the circumnuclear "torus" may sustain a half-opening angle of 50{\deg} - 55{\deg} (from the vertical axis of the system). Thanks to IXPE, we have measured the X-ray polarization of NGC 1068 and found comparable results, both in terms of polarization angle orientation with respect to the radio-jet and torus half-opening angle, to the X-ray polarimetric measurement achieved for the other archetypal Compton-thick AGN : the Circinus galaxy. Probing the geometric arrangement of parsec-scale matter in extragalactic object is now feasible thanks to X-ray polarimetry., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, submited to A&A
Published: 2024
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18. First detection of polarization in X-rays for PSR B0540-69 and its nebula

Author: Xie, Fei, Wong, Josephine, La Monaca, Fabio, Romani, Roger W., Heyl, Jeremy, Kaaret, Philip, Di Marco, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Liu, Kuan, Ng, Chi-Yung, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Weisskopf, Martin C., Costa, Enrico, Soffitta, Paolo, Muleri, Fabio, Bachetti, Matteo, Pilia, Maura, Rankin, John, Fabiani, Sergio, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio A., Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Negro, Michela, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Wu, Kinwah, Zane, Silvia, Wadiasingh, Zorawar, Ho, Wynn C. G., Harding, Alice K., Gendreau, Keith C., and Arzoumanian, Zaven
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We report on X-ray polarization measurements of the extra-galactic Crab-like PSR B0540-69 and its Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), using a ~850 ks Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) exposure. The PWN is unresolved by IXPE. No statistically significant polarization is detected for the image-averaged data, giving a 99% confidence polarization upper limit (MDP99) of 5.3% in 2-8 keV energy range. However, a phase-resolved analysis detects polarization for both the nebula and pulsar in the 4-6 keV energy range. For the PWN defined as the off-pulse phases, the polarization degree (PD) of (24.5 ${\pm}$ 5.3)% and polarization angle (PA) of (78.1 ${\pm}$ 6.2){\deg} is detected at 4.6${\sigma}$ significance level, consistent with the PA observed in the optical band. In a single on-pulse window, a hint of polarization is measured at 3.8${\sigma}$ with polarization degree of (50.0 ${\pm}$ 13.1)% and polarization angle of (6.2 ${\pm}$ 7.4){\deg}. A 'simultaneous' PSR/PWN analysis finds two bins at the edges of the pulse exceeding 3${\sigma}$ PD significance, with PD of (68 ${\pm}$ 20)% and (62 ${\pm}$ 20)%; intervening bins at 2-3${\sigma}$ significance have lower PD, hinting at additional polarization structure., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, author's version of the paper accepted for publication in ApJ
Published: 2024

19. Ordered magnetic fields around the 3C 84 central black hole

Author: Paraschos, G. F., Kim, J. -Y., Wielgus, M., Röder, J., Krichbaum, T. P., Ros, E., Agudo, I., Myserlis, I., Moscibrodzka, M., Traianou, E., Zensus, J. A., Blackburn, L., Chan, C. -K., Issaoun, S., Janssen, M., Johnson, M. D., Fish, V. L., Akiyama, K., Alberdi, A., Alef, W., Algaba, J. C., Anantua, R., Asada, K., Azulay, R., Bach, U., Baczko, A. -K., Ball, D., Baloković, M., Barrett, J., Bauböck, M., Benson, B. A., Bintley, D., Blundell, R., Bouman, K. L., Bower, G. C., Boyce, H., Bremer, M., Brinkerink, C. D., Brissenden, R., Britzen, S., Broderick, A. E., Broguiere, D., Bronzwaer, T., Bustamante, S., Byun, D. -Y., Carlstrom, J. E., Ceccobello, C., Chael, A., Chang, D. O., Chatterjee, K., Chatterjee, S., Chen, M. T., Chen, Y., Cheng, X., Cho, I., Christian, P., Conroy, N. S., Conway, J. E., Cordes, J. M., Crawford, T. M., Crew, G. B., Cruz-Osorio, A., Cui, Y., Dahale, R., Davelaar, J., De Laurentis, M., Deane, R., Dempsey, J., Desvignes, G., Dexter, J., Dhruv, V., Doeleman, S. S., Dougal, S., Dzib, S. A., Eatough, R. P., Emami, R., Falcke, H., Farah, J., Fomalont, E., Ford, H. A., Foschi, M., Fraga-Encinas, R., Freeman, W. T., Friberg, P., Fromm, C. M., Fuentes, A., Galison, P., Gammie, C. F., García, R., Gentaz, O., Georgiev, B., Goddi, C., Gold, R., Gómez-Ruiz, A. I., Gómez, J. L., Gu, M., Gurwell, M., Hada, K., Haggard, D., Haworth, K., Hecht, M. H., Hesper, R., Heumann, D., Ho, L. C., Ho, P., Honma, M., Huang, C. L., Huang, L., Hughes, D. H., Ikeda, S., Impellizzeri, C. M. V., Inoue, M., James, D. J., Jannuzi, B. T., Jeter, B., Jaing, W., Jiménez-Rosales, A., Jorstad, S., Joshi, A. V., Jung, T., Karami, M., Karuppusamy, R., Kawashima, T., Keating, G. K., Kettenis, M., Kim, D. -J., Kim, J., Kino, M., Koay, J. Y., Kocherlakota, P., Kofuji, Y., Koch, P. M., Koyama, S., Kramer, C., Kramer, J. A., Kramer, M., Kuo, C. -Y., La Bella, N., Lauer, T. R., Lee, D., Lee, S. -S., Leung, P. K., Levis, A., Li, Z., Lico, R., Lindahl, G., Lindqvist, M., Lisakov, M., Liu, J., Liu, K., Liuzzo, E., Lo, W. -P., Lobanov, A. P., Loinard, L., Lonsdale, C. J., Lowitz, A. E., Lu, R. -S., MacDonald, N. R., Mao, J., Marchili, N., Markoff, S., Marrone, D. P., Marscher, A. P., Martí-Vidal, I., Matsushita, S., Matthews, L. D., Medeiros, L., Menten, K. M., Michalik, D., Mizuno, I., Mizuno, Y., Moran, J. M., Moriyama, K., Mulaudzi, W., Müller, C., Müller, H., Mus, A., Musoke, G., Nadolski, A., Nagai, H., Nagar, N. M., Nakamura, M., Narayanan, G., Natarajan, I., Nathanail, A., Fuentes, S. Navarro, Neilsen, J., Neri, R., Ni, C., Noutsos, A., Nowak, M. A., Oh, J., Okino, H., Olivares, H., Ortiz-León, G. N., Oyama, T., Özel, F., Palumbo, D. C. M., Park, J., Parsons, H., Patel, N., Pen, U. -L., Piétu, V., Plambeck, R., PopStefanija, A., Porth, O., Pötzl, F. M., Prather, B., Preciado-López, J. A., Psaltis, D., Pu, H. -Y., Ramakrishnan, V., Rao, R., Rawlings, M. G., Raymond, A. W., Rezzolla, L., Ricarte, A., Ripperda, B., Roelofs, F., Rogers, A., Romero-Cañizales, C., Roshanineshat, A., Rottmann, H., Roy, A. L., Ruiz, I., Ruszczyk, C., Rygl, K. L. J., Sánchez, S., Sánchez-Argüelles, D., Sánchez-Portal, M., Sasada, M., Satapathy, K., Savolainen, T., Schloerb, F. P., Schonfeld, J., Schuster, K., Shao, L., Shen, Z., Small, D., Sohn, B. W., SooHoo, J., Salas, L. D. Sosapanta, Souccar, K., Sun, H., Tazaki, F., Tetarenko, A. J., Tiede, P., Tilanus, R. P. J., Titus, M., Torne, P., Toscano, T., Trent, T., Trippe, S., Turk, M., van Bemmel, I., van Langevelde, H. J., van Rossum, D. R., Vos, J., Wagner, J., Ward-Thompson, D., Wardle, J., Washington, J. E., Weintroub, J., Wharton, R., Wiik, K., Witzel, G., Wondrak, M. F., Wong, G. N., Wu, Q., Yadlapalli, N., Yamaguchi, P., Yfantis, A., Yoon, D., Young, A., Young, K., Younsi, Z., Yu, W., Yuan, F., Yuan, Y. -F., Zhang, S., Zhao, G. Y., and Zhao, S. -S.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Abstract: 3C84 is a nearby radio source with a complex total intensity structure, showing linear polarisation and spectral patterns. A detailed investigation of the central engine region necessitates the use of VLBI above the hitherto available maximum frequency of 86GHz. Using ultrahigh resolution VLBI observations at the highest available frequency of 228GHz, we aim to directly detect compact structures and understand the physical conditions in the compact region of 3C84. We used EHT 228GHz observations and, given the limited (u,v)-coverage, applied geometric model fitting to the data. We also employed quasi-simultaneously observed, multi-frequency VLBI data for the source in order to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the core structure. We report the detection of a highly ordered, strong magnetic field around the central, SMBH of 3C84. The brightness temperature analysis suggests that the system is in equipartition. We determined a turnover frequency of $\nu_m=(113\pm4)$GHz, a corresponding synchrotron self-absorbed magnetic field of $B_{SSA}=(2.9\pm1.6)$G, and an equipartition magnetic field of $B_{eq}=(5.2\pm0.6)$G. Three components are resolved with the highest fractional polarisation detected for this object ($m_\textrm{net}=(17.0\pm3.9)$%). The positions of the components are compatible with those seen in low-frequency VLBI observations since 2017-2018. We report a steeply negative slope of the spectrum at 228GHz. We used these findings to test models of jet formation, propagation, and Faraday rotation in 3C84. The findings of our investigation into different flow geometries and black hole spins support an advection-dominated accretion flow in a magnetically arrested state around a rapidly rotating supermassive black hole as a model of the jet-launching system in the core of 3C84. However, systematic uncertainties due to the limited (u,v)-coverage, however, cannot be ignored., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, published in A&A
Published: 2024
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20. Complex rotational dynamics of the neutron star in Hercules X-1 revealed by X-ray polarization

Author: Heyl, Jeremy, Doroshenko, Victor, González-Caniulef, Denis, Caiazzo, Ilaria, Poutanen, Juri, Mushtukov, Alexander, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Kirmizibayrak, Demet, Bachetti, Matteo, Pavlov, George G., Forsblom, Sofia V., Malacaria, Christian, Suleimanov, Valery F., Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio Angelo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Di Marco, Alessandro, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, Ng, C.-Y., O’Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Peirson, Abel Lawrence, Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Published: 2024
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21. Cygnus X-3 revealed as a Galactic ultraluminous X-ray source by IXPE

Author: Veledina, Alexandra, Muleri, Fabio, Poutanen, Juri, Podgorný, Jakub, Dovčiak, Michal, Capitanio, Fiamma, Churazov, Eugene, De Rosa, Alessandra, Di Marco, Alessandro, Forsblom, Sofia V., Kaaret, Philip, Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Loktev, Vladislav, Lutovinov, Alexander A., Molkov, Sergey V., Mushtukov, Alexander A., Ratheesh, Ajay, Rodriguez Cavero, Nicole, Steiner, James F., Sunyaev, Rashid A., Tsygankov, Sergey S., Weisskopf, Martin C., Zdziarski, Andrzej A., Bianchi, Stefano, Bright, Joe S., Bursov, Nikolaj, Costa, Enrico, Egron, Elise, Garcia, Javier A., Green, David A., Gurwell, Mark, Ingram, Adam, Kajava, Jari J. E., Kale, Ruta, Kraus, Alex, Malyshev, Denys, Marin, Frédéric, Matt, Giorgio, McCollough, Michael, Mereminskiy, Ilya A., Nizhelsky, Nikolaj, Piano, Giovanni, Pilia, Maura, Pittori, Carlotta, Rao, Ramprasad, Righini, Simona, Soffitta, Paolo, Shevchenko, Anton, Svoboda, Jiri, Tombesi, Francesco, Trushkin, Sergei A., Tsybulev, Peter, Ursini, Francesco, Wu, Kinwah, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Negro, Michela, Ng, Chi-Yung, O’Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Roberts, Oliver, Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Doug, Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Trois, Alessio, Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Published: 2024
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22. Discovery of a strong rotation of the X-ray polarization angle in the galactic burster GX 13+1

Author: Bobrikova, Anna, Forsblom, Sofia V., Di Marco, Alessandro, La Monaca, Fabio, Poutanen, Juri, Ng, Mason, Ravi, Swati, Loktev, Vladislav, Kajava, Jari J. E., Ursini, Francesco, Veledina, Alexandra, Rogantini, Daniele, Salmi, Tuomo, Bianchi, Stefano, Capitanio, Fiamma, Done, Chris, Fabiani, Sergio, Gnarini, Andrea, Heyl, Jeremy, Kaaret, Philip, Matt, Giorgio, Muleri, Fabio, Nitindala, Anagha P., Rankin, John, Weisskopf, Martin C., Agudo, Ivan, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolo, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovciak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frederic, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Negro, Michela, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Ratheesh, Ajay J., Roberts, Oliver, Romani, Roger W., Sgro, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Wu, Kinwah, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: Weakly magnetized neutron stars in X-ray binaries show complex phenomenology with several spectral components that can be associated with the accretion disk, boundary and/or spreading layer, a corona, and a wind. Spectroscopic information alone is, however, not enough to disentangle these components. Additional information about the nature of the spectral components and in particular the geometry of the emission region can be provided by X-ray polarimetry. One of the objects of the class, a bright, persistent, and rather peculiar galactic Type I X-ray burster was observed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) and the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission Newton (XMM-Newton). Using the XMM-Newton data we estimated the current state of the source as well as detected strong absorption lines associated with the accretion disk wind. IXPE data showed the source to be significantly polarized in the 2-8 keV energy band with the overall polarization degree (PD) of 1.4% at a polarization angle (PA) of -2 degrees (errors at 68% confidence level). During the two-day long observation, we detected rotation of the PA by about 70 degrees with the corresponding changes in the PD from 2% to non-detectable and then up to 5%. These variations in polarization properties are not accompanied by visible changes in spectroscopic characteristics. The energy-resolved polarimetric analysis showed a significant change in polarization, from being strongly dependent on energy at the beginning of the observation to being almost constant with energy in the later parts of the observation. As a possible interpretation, we suggest the presence of a constant component of polarization, strong wind scattering, or different polarization of the two main spectral components with individually peculiar behavior. The rotation of the PA suggests a 30-degree misalignment of the neutron star spin from the orbital axis., Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures
Published: 2024
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23. Detection of X-ray Polarization from the Blazar 1ES 1959+650 with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

Author: Errando, Manel, Liodakis, Ioannis, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Middei, Riccardo, Negro, Michela, Peirson, Abel Lawrence, Perri, Matteo, Puccetti, Simonetta, Rabinowitz, Pazit L., Agudo, Iván, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Savchenko, Sergey S., Blinov, Dmitry, Bourbah, Ioakeim G., Kiehlmann, Sebastian, Kontopodis, Evangelos, Mandarakas, Nikos, Romanopoulos, Stylianos, Skalidis, Raphael, Vervelaki, Anna, Aceituno, Francisco José, Bernardos, Maria I., Bonnoli, Giacomo, Casanova, Víctor, Agís-González, Beatriz, Husillos, César, Marchini, Alessandro, Sota, Alfredo, Kouch, Pouya M., Lindfors, Elina, Casadio, Carolina, Escudero, Juan, Myserlis, Ioannis, Imazawa, Ryo, Sasada, Mahito, Fukazawa, Yasushi, Kawabata, Koji S., Uemura, Makoto, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Nakaoka, Tatsuya, Akitaya, Hiroshi, Gurwell, Mark, Keating, Garrett K., Rao, Ramprasad, Ingram, Adam, Massaro, Francesco, Antonelli, Lucio Angelo, Bonino, Raffaella, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Cibrario, Nicolò, Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Pierro, Federico, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Ehlert, Steven R., Fenu, Francesco, Gau, Ephraim, Karas, Vladimir, Kim, Dawoon E., Krawczynski, Henric, Laurenti, Marco, Lisalda, Lindsey, López-Coto, Rubén, Madejski, Grzegorz, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Muleri, Fabio, Pacciani, Luigi, Paggi, Alessandro, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Cavero, Nicole Rodriguez, Romani, Roger W., Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Tugliani, Stefano, Wu, Kinwah, Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Costa, Enrico, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Di Marco, Alessandro, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Kaaret, Philip, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Matt, Giorgio, Ng, C. -Y., O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: Observations of linear polarization in the 2-8 keV energy range with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) explore the magnetic field geometry and dynamics of the regions generating non-thermal radiation in relativistic jets of blazars. These jets, particularly in blazars whose spectral energy distribution peaks at X-ray energies, emit X-rays via synchrotron radiation from high-energy particles within the jet. IXPE observations of the X-ray selected BL Lac-type blazar 1ES 1959+650 in 2022 May 3-4 showed a significant linear polarization degree of $\Pi_\mathrm{x} = 8.0\% \pm 2.3\%$ at an electric-vector position angle $\psi_\mathrm{x} = 123^\circ \pm 8^\circ$. However, in 2022 June 9-12, only an upper limit of $\Pi_\mathrm{x} \leq 5.1\%$ could be derived (at the 99% confidence level). The degree of optical polarization at that time $\Pi_\mathrm{O} \sim 5\%$ is comparable to the X-ray measurement. We investigate possible scenarios for these findings, including temporal and geometrical depolarization effects. Unlike some other X-ray selected BL Lac objects, there is no significant chromatic dependence of the measured polarization in 1ES 1959+650, and its low X-ray polarization may be attributed to turbulence in the jet flow with dynamical timescales shorter than 1 day., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2024
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24. Lost in the curve: Investigating the disappearing knots in the blazar 3C 454.3

Author: Traianou, Efthalia, Krichbaum, Thomas P., Gómez, José L., Lico, Rocco, Paraschos, Georgios Filippos, Cho, Ilje, Ros, Eduardo, Zhao, Guang-Yao, Liodakis, Ioannis, Dahale, Rohan, Toscano, Teresa, Fuentes, Antonio, Foschi, Marianna, Casadio, Carolina, MacDonald, Nicholas, Kim, Jae-Young, Hervet, Olivier, Jorstad, Svetlana, Lobanov, Andrei P., Hodgson, Jeffrey, Myserlis, Ioannis, Agudo, Ivan, Zensus, Anton J., and Marscher, Alan P.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: One of the most well-known extragalactic sources in the sky, quasar 3C 454.3, shows a curved parsec-scale jet that has been exhaustively monitored with very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) over the recent years. In this work, we present a comprehensive analysis of four years of high-frequency VLBI observations at 43 GHz and 86 GHz, between 2013-2017, in total intensity and linear polarization. The images obtained from these observations enabled us to study the jet structure and the magnetic field topology of the source on spatial scales down to 4.6 parsec in projected distance. The kinematic analysis reveals the abrupt vanishing of at least four new superluminal jet features in a characteristic jet region (i.e., region C), which is located at an approximate distance of 0.6 milliarcseconds from the VLBI core. Our results support a model in which the jet bends, directing the relativistic plasma flow almost perfectly toward our line of sight, co-spatially with the region where components appear to stop., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures
Published: 2023

25. X-Ray Polarimetry of the Dipping Accreting Neutron Star 4U 1624-49

Author: Saade, M. Lynne, Kaaret, Philip, Gnarini, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Ursini, Francesco, Bianchi, Stefano, Bobrikova, Anna, La Monaca, Fabio, Di Marco, Alessandro, Capitanio, Fiamma, Veledina, Alexandra, Agudo, Ivan, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesù, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolo, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovciak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Emote, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frederic, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizudo, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Oliver, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgro, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Zwartz, Douglas Z., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tenant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We present the first X-ray polarimetric study of the dipping accreting neutron star 4U 1624$-$49 with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). We report a detection of polarization in the non-dip time intervals with a confidence level of 99.99%. We find an average polarization degree (PD) of $3.1\pm0.7$% and a polarization angle of $81\pm6$ degrees east of north in the 2-8 keV band. We report an upper limit on the PD of 22% during the X-ray dips with 95% confidence. The PD increases with energy, reaching from $3.0\pm0.9$% in the 4-6 keV band to $6\pm2$% in the 6-8 keV band. This indicates the polarization likely arises from Comptonization. The high PD observed is unlikely to be produced by Comptonization in the boundary layer or spreading layer alone. It can be produced by the addition of an extended geometrically thin slab corona covering part of the accretion disk, as assumed in previous models of dippers, and/or a reflection component from the accretion disk.
Published: 2023

26. First characterization of the emission behavior of Mrk421 from radio to VHE gamma rays with simultaneous X-ray polarization measurements

Author: Abe, S., Abhir, J., Acciari, V. A., Agudo, I., Aniello, T., Ansoldi, S., Antonelli, L. A., Engels, A. Arbet, Arcaro, C., Artero, M., Asano, K., Babić, A., Baquero, A., de Almeida, U. Barres, Barrio, J. A., Batković, I., Baxter, J., González, J. Becerra, Bednarek, W., Bernardini, E., Bernete, J., Berti, A., Besenrieder, J., Bigongiari, C., Biland, A., Blanch, O., Bonnoli, G., Bošnjak, Ž., Burelli, I., Busetto, G., Campoy-Ordaz, A., Carosi, A., Carosi, R., Carretero-Castrillo, M., Castro-Tirado, A. J., Ceribella, G., Chai, Y., Cifuentes, A., Cikota, S., Colombo, E., Contreras, J. L., Cortina, J., Covino, S., D'Ammando, F., D'Amico, G., D'Elia, V., Da Vela, P., Dazzi, F., De Angelis, A., De Lotto, B., de Menezes, R., Del Popolo, A., Delgado, J., Mendez, C. Delgado, Di Pierro, F., Di Venere, L., Prester, D. Dominis, Donini, A., Dorner, D., Doro, M., Elsaesser, D., Emery, G., Escudero, J., Fariña, L., Fattorini, A., Foffano, L., Font, L., Fröse, S., Fukami, S., Fukazawa, Y., López, R. J. García, Garczarczyk, M., Gasparyan, S., Gaug, M., Paiva, J. G. Giesbrecht, Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Gliwny, P., Godinović, N., Gradetzke, T., Grau, R., Green, D., Green, J. G., Günther, P., Hadasch, D., Hahn, A., Hassan, T., Heckmann, L., Herrera, J., Hrupec, D., Hütten, M., Imazawa, R., Inada, T., Ishio, K., Martínez, I. Jiménez, Jormanainen, J., Kerszberg, D., Kluge, G. W., Kobayashi, Y., Kouch, P. M., Kubo, H., Kushida, J., Lezáun, M. Láinez, Lamastra, A., Leone, F., Lindfors, E., Linhoff, L., Lombardi, S., Longo, F., López-Coto, R., López-Moya, M., López-Oramas, A., Loporchio, S., Lorini, A., Fraga, B. Machado de Oliveira, Majumdar, P., Makariev, M., Maneva, G., Mang, N., Manganaro, M., Mangano, S., Mannheim, K., Mariotti, M., Martínez, M., Martínez-Chicharro, M., Mas-Aguilar, A., Mazin, D., Menchiari, S., Mender, S., Miceli, D., Miener, T., Miranda, J. M., Mirzoyan, R., González, M. Molero, Molina, E., Mondal, H. A., Moralejo, A., Morcuende, D., Nakamori, T., Nanci, C., Nava, L., Neustroev, V., Nickel, L., Rosillo, M. Nievas, Nigro, C., Nikolić, L., Nilsson, K., Nishijima, K., Ekoume, T. Njoh, Noda, K., Nozaki, S., Ohtani, Y., Okumura, A., Otero-Santos, J., Paiano, S., Palatiello, M., Paneque, D., Paoletti, R., Paredes, J. M., Pavlović, D., Peresano, M., Persic, M., Pihet, M., Pirola, G., Podobnik, F., Moroni, P. G. Prada, Prandini, E., Principe, G., Priyadarshi, C., Rhode, W., Ribó, M., Rico, J., Righi, C., Sahakyan, N., Saito, T., Satalecka, K., Saturni, F. G., Schleicher, B., Schmidt, K., Schmuckermaier, F., Schubert, J. L., Schweizer, T., Sciaccaluga, A., Sitarek, J., Sliusar, V., Sobczynska, D., Stamerra, A., Strišković, J., Strom, D., Strzys, M., Suda, Y., Suutarinen, S., Tajima, H., Takahashi, M., Takeishi, R., Tavecchio, F., Temnikov, P., Terauchi, K., Terzić, T., Teshima, M., Tosti, L., Truzzi, S., Tutone, A., Ubach, S., van Scherpenberg, J., Acosta, M. Vazquez, Ventura, S., Viale, I., Vigorito, C. F., Vitale, V., Vovk, I., Walter, R., Will, M., Wunderlich, C., Yamamoto, T., Liodakis, I., Jorstad, S. G., Gesu, L. D., Donnarumma, I., Kim, D. E., Marscher, A. P., Middei, R., Perri, M., Puccetti, S., Verrecchia, F., Leto, C., Pérez, I. De La Calle, Jiménez-Bailón, E., Blinov, D., Bourbah, I. G., Kiehlmann, S., Kontopodis, E., Mandarakas, N., Skalidis, R., Vervelaki, A., Aceituno, F. J., Agís-González, B., Sota, A., Sasada, M., Kawabata, K. S., Uemura, M., Mizuno, T., Akitaya, H., Casadio, C., Myserlis, I., Sievers, A., Lähteenmäki, A., Syrjärinne, I., Tornikoski, M., Salomé, Q., Gurwell, M., Keating, G. K., and Rao, R.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We perform the first broadband study of Mrk421 from radio to TeV gamma rays with simultaneous measurements of the X-ray polarization from IXPE. The data were collected within an extensive multiwavelength campaign organized between May and June 2022 using MAGIC, Fermi-LAT, NuSTAR, XMM-Newton, Swift, and several optical and radio telescopes to complement IXPE. During the IXPE exposures, the measured 0.2-1 TeV flux is close to the quiescent state and ranges from 25% to 50% of the Crab Nebula without intra-night variability. Throughout the campaign, the VHE and X-ray emission are positively correlated at a $4\sigma$ significance level. The IXPE measurements unveil a X-ray polarization degree that is a factor of 2-5 higher than in the optical/radio bands; that implies an energy-stratified jet in which the VHE photons are emitted co-spatially with the X-rays, in the vicinity of a shock front. The June 2022 observations exhibit a rotation of the X-ray polarization angle. Despite no simultaneous VHE coverage being available during a large fraction of the swing, the Swift-XRT monitoring unveils an X-ray flux increase with a clear spectral hardening. It suggests that flares in high synchrotron peaked blazars can be accompanied by a polarization angle rotation, as observed in some flat spectrum radio quasars. Finally, during the polarization angle rotation, NuSTAR data reveal two contiguous spectral hysteresis loops in opposite directions (clockwise and counter-clockwise), implying important changes in the particle acceleration efficiency on $\sim$hour timescales., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 29 pages, 22 figures. Corresponding authors: Axel Arbet Engels, Felix Schmuckermaier, David Paneque
Published: 2023

27. Pulsar-wind-nebula-powered Galactic center X-ray filament G0.13-0.11: Proof of the synchrotron nature by IXPE

Author: Churazov, Eugene, Khabibullin, Ildar, Barnouin, Thibault, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Costa, Enrico, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Marco, Alessandro, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Forman, William, Kaaret, Philip, Kim, Dawoon E., Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Kraft, Ralph, Marin, Frédéric, Matt, Giorgio, Negro, Michela, Romani, Roger W., Silvestri, Stefano, Soffitta, Paolo, Sunyaev, Rashid, Svoboda, Jiri, Vikhlinin, Alexey, Weisskopf, Martin C., Xie, Fei, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, García, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Wu, Kinwah, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We report the discovery of X-ray polarization from the X-ray-bright filament. G0.13-0.11 in the Galactic center (GC) region. This filament features a bright, hard X-ray source that is most plausibly a pulsar wind nebula (PWN) and an extended and structured diffuse component. Combining the polarization signal from IXPE with the imaging/spectroscopic data from Chandra, we find that X-ray emission of G0.13-0.11 is highly polarized PD=$57(\pm18)$% in the 3-6 keV band, while the polarization angle is PA=$21^\circ(\pm9^\circ)$. This high degree of polarization proves the synchrotron origin of the X-ray emission from G0.13-0.11. In turn, the measured polarization angle implies that the X-ray emission is polarized approximately perpendicular to a sequence of nonthermal radio filaments that may be part of the GC Radio Arc. The magnetic field on the order of $100\,{\rm\mu G}$ appears to be preferentially ordered along the filaments. The above field strength is the fiducial value that makes our model self-consistent, while the other conclusions are largely model independent., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A
Published: 2023
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28. Highly Significant Detection of X-Ray Polarization from the Brightest Accreting Neutron Star Sco X-1

Author: La Monaca, Fabio, Di Marco, Alessandro, Poutanen, Juri, Bachetti, Matteo, Motta, Sara E., Papitto, Alessandro, Pilia, Maura, Xie, Fei, Bianchi, Stefano, Bobrikova, Anna, Costa, Enrico, Deng, Wei, Ge, Mingyu, Illiano, Giulia, Jia, Shu-Mei, Krawczynski, Henric, Lai, Eleonora V., Liu, Kuan, Mastroserio, Guglielmo, Muleri, Fabio, Rankin, John, Soffitta, Paolo, Veledina, Alexandra, Ambrosino, Filippo, Del Santo, Melania, Chen, Wei, Garcia, Javier A., Kaaret, Philip, Russell, Thomas D., Wei, Wen-Hao, Zhang, Shuang-Nan, Zuo, Chao, Arzoumanian, Zaven, Cocchi, Massimo, Gnarini, Andrea, Farinelli, Ruben, Gendreau, Keith C., Ursini, Francesco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Zane, Silvia, Agudo, Ivan, Antonelli, Lucio Angelo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting J., Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovciak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashidadag, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Fre'de'ric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Negro, Michela, Ng, Stephen Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Pavlov, George, Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas, Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, and Wu, Kinwah
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) measured with high significance the X-ray polarization of the brightest Z-source Scorpius X-1, resulting in the nominal 2-8 keV energy band in a polarization degree of 1.0(0.2)% and a polarization angle of 8(6){\deg} at 90% of confidence level. This observation was strictly simultaneous with observations performed by NICER, NuSTAR, and Insight-HXMT, which allowed for a precise characterization of its broad-band spectrum from soft to hard X-rays. The source has been observed mainly in its soft state, with short periods of flaring. We also observed low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations. From a spectro-polarimetric analysis, we associate a polarization to the accretion disk at <3.2% at 90% of confidence level, compatible with expectations for an electron-scattering dominated optically thick atmosphere at the Sco X-1 inclination of 44{\deg}; for the higher-energy Comptonized component, we obtain a polarization of 1.3(0.4)%, in agreement with expectations for a slab of Thomson optical depth of ~7 and an electron temperature of ~3 keV. A polarization rotation with respect to previous observations by OSO-8 and PolarLight, and also with respect to the radio-jet position angle, is observed. This result may indicate a variation of the polarization with the source state that can be related to relativistic precession or to a change in the corona geometry with the accretion flow.
Published: 2023
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29. Tracking the X-ray Polarization of the Black Hole Transient Swift J1727.8-1613 during a State Transition

Author: Ingram, Adam, Bollemeijer, Niek, Veledina, Alexandra, Dovciak, Michal, Poutanen, Juri, Egron, Elise, Russell, Thomas D., Trushkin, Sergei A., Negro, Michela, Ratheesh, Ajay, Capitanio, Fiamma, Connors, Riley, Neilsen, Joseph, Kraus, Alexander, Iacolina, Maria Noemi, Pellizzoni, Alberto, Pilia, Maura, Carotenuto, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mastroserio, Guglielmo, Kaaret, Philip, Bianchi, Stefano, Garcia, Javier A., Bachetti, Matteo, Wu, Kinwah, Costa, Enrico, Ewing, Melissa, Kravtsov, Vadim, Krawczynski, Henric, Loktev, Vladislav, Marinucci, Andrea, Marra, Lorenzo, Mikusincova, Romana, Nathan, Edward, Parra, Maxime, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Righini, Simona, Soffitta, Paolo, Steiner, James F., Svoboda, Jiri, Tombesi, Francesco, Tugliani, Stefano, Ursini, Francesco, Yang, Yi-Jung, Zane, Silvia, Zhang, Wenda, Agudo, Ivan, Antonelli, Lucio A., Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolo, Di Marco, Alessandro, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frederic, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgro, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., and Xie, Fei
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We report on an observational campaign on the bright black hole X-ray binary Swift J1727.8$-$1613 centered around five observations by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). These observations track for the first time the evolution of the X-ray polarization of a black hole X-ray binary across a hard to soft state transition. The 2--8 keV polarization degree decreased from $\sim$4\% to $\sim$3\% across the five observations, but the polarization angle remained oriented in the North-South direction throughout. Based on observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), we find that the intrinsic 7.25 GHz radio polarization aligns with the X-ray polarization. Assuming the radio polarization aligns with the jet direction (which can be tested in the future with higher spatial resolution images of the jet), our results imply that the X-ray corona is extended in the disk plane, rather than along the jet axis, for the entire hard intermediate state. This in turn implies that the long ($\gtrsim$10 ms) soft lags that we measure with the Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) are dominated by processes other than pure light-crossing delays. Moreover, we find that the evolution of the soft lag amplitude with spectral state does not follow the trend seen for other sources, implying that Swift J1727.8$-$1613 is a member of a hitherto under-sampled sub-population., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 21 pages, 8 figures
Published: 2023

30. X-Ray Polarized View on the Accretion Geometry in the X-Ray Binary Circinus X-1

Author: Rankin, John, La Monaca, Fabio, Di Marco, Alessandro, Poutanen, Juri, Bobrikova, Anna, Kravtsov, Vadim, Muleri, Fabio, Pilia, Maura, Veledina, Alexandra, Fender, Rob, Kaaret, Philip, Kim, Dawoon E., Marinucci, Andrea, Marshall, Herman L., Papitto, Alessandro, Tennant, Allyn F., Tsygankov, Sergey S., Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, Zane, Silvia, Ambrosino, Filippo, Farinelli, Ruben, Gnarini, Andrea, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, di Lalla, Niccolò, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marscher, Alan P., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Negro, Michela, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, and Xie, Fei
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: Cir X-1 is a neutron star X-ray binary characterized by strong variations in flux during its eccentric $\sim$16.6 days orbit. There are also strong variations in the spectral state, and historically it has shown both atoll and Z state properties. We observed the source with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer during two orbital segments, 6 days apart, for a total of 263~ks. We find an X-ray polarization degree in these segments of $1.6\%\pm0.3\%$ and $1.4\%\pm0.3\%$ at polarization angles of $37^\circ\pm5^\circ$ and $-12^\circ\pm7^\circ$, respectively. Thus we observed a rotation of the polarization angle by $49^\circ\pm8^\circ$ along the orbit. Because variations of accretion flow, and then of the hardness ratio, are expected during the orbit, we also studied the polarization binned in hardness ratio, and found the polarization angle differing by $67^\circ\pm11^\circ$ between the lowest and highest values of the hardness ratio. We discuss possible interpretations of this result that could indicate a possible misalignment between the symmetry axes of the accretion disk and the Comptonizing region caused by the misalignment of the neutron star's angular momentum with respect to the orbital one., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJL
Published: 2023
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31. X-ray Polarization Reveals the Precessions of the Neutron Star in Hercules X-1

Author: Heyl, Jeremy, Doroshenko, Victor, González-Caniulef, Denis, Caiazzo, Ilaria, Poutanen, Juri, Mushtukov, Alexander, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Kirmizibayrak, Demet, Bachetti, Matteo, Pavlov, George G., Forsblom, Sofia V., Malacaria, Christian, Suleimanov, Valery F., Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio Angelo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Di Marco, Alessandro, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, Ng, C. -Y., O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Peirson, Abel Lawrence, Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: 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., Comment: 37 pages
Published: 2023

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

Author: Heyl, Jeremy, Taverna, Roberto, Turolla, Roberto, Israel, Gian Luca, Ng, Mason, Kirmizibayrak, Demet, González-Caniulef, Denis, Caiazzo, Ilaria, Zane, Silvia, Ehlert, Steven R., Negro, Michela, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio Angelo, Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Di Marco, Alessandro, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Ng, C. -Y., O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel Lawrence, Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, and Xie, Fei
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: 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 1015 G, Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables
Published: 2023

33. Multi-band Cross-correlated Radio Variability of the Blazar 3C 279

Author: A, Krishna Mohana, Gupta, Alok C., Marscher, Alan P., Sotnikova, Yulia V., Jorstad, S. G., Wiita, Paul J., Cui, Lang, Aller, Margo F., Aller, Hugh D., Kovalev, Yu. A., Kovalev, Y. Y., Liu, Xiang, Mufakharov, T. V., Popkov, A. V., Mingaliev, M. G., Erkenov, A. K., Nizhelsky, N. A., Tsybulev, P. G., Zhao, Wei, Weaver, Z. R., and Morozova, D. A.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We present the results of our study of cross-correlations between long-term multi-band observations of the radio variability of the blazar 3C 279. More than a decade (2008-2022) of radio data were collected at seven different frequencies ranging from 2 GHz to 230 GHz. The multi-band radio light curves show variations in flux, with the prominent flare features appearing first at higher-frequency and later in lower-frequency bands. This behavior is quantified by cross-correlation analysis, which finds that the emission at lower-frequency bands lags that at higher-frequency bands. Lag versus frequency plots are well fit by straight lines with negative slope, typically ~-30 day/GHz. We discuss these flux variations in conjunction with the evolution of bright moving knots seen in multi-epoch VLBA maps to suggest possible physical changes in the jet that can explain the observational results. Some of the variations are consistent with the predictions of shock models, while others are better explained by a changing Doppler beaming factor as the knot trajectory bends slightly, given a small viewing angle to the jet., Comment: Submitted revised version to MNRAS journal, 11 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables
Published: 2023
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34. Quasi-simultaneous Optical Flux and Polarization Variability of the Binary Super Massive Black Hole Blazar OJ 287 from 2015 to 2023: Detection of an Anticorrelation in Flux and Polarization Variability

Author: Gupta, Alok C., Kushwaha, Pankaj, Valtonen, Mauri J., Savchenko, Sergey S., Jorstad, Svetlana G., Imazawa, Ryo, Wiita, Paul J., Gu, Minfeng, Marscher, Alan P., Zhang, Zhongli, Bachev, Rumen, Borman, G. A., Gaur, Haritma, Grishina, T. S., Hagen-Thorn, V. A., Kopatskaya, E. N., Larionov, V. M., Larionova, E. G., Larionova, L. V., Morozova, D. A., Nakaoka, T., Strigachev, A., Troitskaya, Yulia V., Troitsky, I. S., Uemura, M., Vasilyev, A. A., Weaver, Z. R., and Zhovtan, A. V.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We study the optical flux and polarization variability of the binary black hole blazar OJ 287 using quasi-simultaneous observations from 2015 to 2023 carried out using telescopes in the USA, Japan, Russia, Crimea, and Bulgaria. This is one of the most extensive quasi-simultaneous optical flux and polarization variability studies of OJ 287. OJ 287 showed large amplitude, ~3.0 mag flux variability, large changes of ~37% in degree of polarization, and a large swing of ~215 degrees in the angle of the electric vector of polarization. During the period of observation, several flares in flux were detected. Those flares are correlated with a rapid increase in the degree of polarization and swings in electric vector of polarization angle. A peculiar behavior of anticorrelation between flux and polarization degree, accompanied by a nearly constant polarization angle, was detected from JD 2,458,156 to JD 2,458,292. We briefly discuss some explanations for the flux and polarization variations observed in OJ 287., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, Published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2023 November 1
Published: 2023
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35. Filamentary structures as the origin of blazar jet radio variability

Author: Fuentes, Antonio, Gómez, José L., Martí, José M., Perucho, Manel, Zhao, Guang-Yao, Lico, Rocco, Lobanov, Andrei P., Bruni, Gabriele, Kovalev, Yuri Y., Chael, Andrew, Akiyama, Kazunori, Bouman, Katherine L., Sun, He, Cho, Ilje, Traianou, Efthalia, Toscano, Teresa, Dahale, Rohan, Foschi, Marianna, Gurvits, Leonid I., Jorstad, Svetlana, Kim, Jae-Young, Marscher, Alan P., Mizuno, Yosuke, Ros, Eduardo, and Savolainen, Tuomas
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Abstract: Supermassive black holes at the centre of active galactic nuclei power some of the most luminous objects in the Universe. Typically, very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations of blazars have revealed only funnel-like morphologies with little information of the ejected plasma internal structure, or lacked the sufficient dynamic range to reconstruct the extended jet emission. Here we show microarcsecond-scale angular resolution images of the blazar 3C 279 obtained at 22 GHz with the space VLBI mission RadioAstron, which allowed us to resolve the jet transversely and reveal several filaments produced by plasma instabilities in a kinetically dominated flow. Our high angular resolution and dynamic range image suggests that emission features traveling down the jet may manifest as a result of differential Doppler-boosting within the filaments, as opposed to the standard shock-in-jet model invoked to explain blazar jet radio variability. Moreover, we infer that the filaments in 3C 279 are possibly threaded by a helical magnetic field rotating clockwise, as seen in the direction of the flow motion, with an intrinsic helix pitch angle of ~45 degrees in a jet with a Lorentz factor of ~13 at the time of observation., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures. Initial version of an article published in Nature Astronomy
Published: 2023
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36. The Repeating Flaring Activity of Blazar AO 0235+164

Author: Pedrosa, Juan Escudero, Agudo, Iván, Tramacere, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Jorstad, Svetlana, Weaver, Z. R., Casadio, Carolina, Thum, Clemens, Myserlis, Ioannis, Fuentes, Antonio, Traianou, Efthalia, Kim, Jae-Young, Kramer, Joana, López-Coto, Rubén, D'Ammando, Filippo, Bernardos, M., Bonnoli, Giacomo, Blinov, Dmitriy A., Borman, G. A., Grishina, T. S., Hagen-Thorn, V. A., Kopatskaya, E. N., Larionova, E. G., Larionov, V. M., Larionova, L. V., Morozova, D. A., Savchenko, S. S., Troitskiy, I. S., Troitskaya, Y. V., and Vasilyev, A. A.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: Context. Blazar AO 0235+164, located at redshift z = 0.94, has undergone several sharp multi-spectral-range flaring episodes during the last decades. In particular, the episodes peaking in 2008 and 2015, that received extensive multi-wavelength coverage, exhibited interesting behavior. Aims. We study the actual origin of these two observed flares by constraining the properties of the observed photo-polarimetric variability, those of the broad-band spectral energy-distribution and the observed time-evolution behavior of the source as seen by ultra-high resolution total-flux and polarimetric Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) imaging. Methods. The analysis of VLBI images allows us to constrain kinematic and geometrical parameters of the 7 mm jet. We use the Discrete Correlation Function to compute the statistical correlation and the delays between emission at different spectral ranges. Multi-epoch modeling of the spectral energy distributions allows us to propose specific models of emission; in particular for the unusual spectral features observed in this source in the X-ray region of the spectrum during strong multi spectral-range flares. Results. We find that these X-ray spectral features can be explained by an emission component originating in a separate particle distribution than the one responsible for the two standard blazar bumps. This is in agreement with the results of our correlation analysis that do not find a strong correlation between the X-rays and the remaining spectral ranges. We find that both external Compton dominated and synchrotron self-Compton dominated models can explain the observed spectral energy distributions. However, synchrotron self-Compton models are strongly favored by the delays and geometrical parameters inferred from the observations.
Published: 2023
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37. Observations of Low and Intermediate Spectral Peak Blazars with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

Author: Marshall, Herman L., Liodakis, Ioannis, Marscher, Alan P., Di Lalla, Niccolo, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Kim, Dawoon E., Middei, Riccardo, Negro, Michela, Omodei, Nicola, Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Puccetti, Simonetta, Agudo, Ivan, Bonnoli, Giacomo, Berdyugin, Andrei V., Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Cavero, Nicole Rodriguez, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Di Gesu, Laura, Jormanainen, Jenni, Krawczynski, Henric, Lindfors, Elina, Marin, Frederic, Massaro, Francesco, Pacciani, Luigi, Poutanen, Juri, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Kouch, Pouya M., Aceituno, Francisco Jose, Bernardos, Maria I., Casanova, Victor, Garcia-Comas, Maya, Agis-Gonzalez, Beatriz, Husillos, Cesar, Marchini, Alessandro, Sota, Alfredo, Blinov, Dmitry, Bourbah, Ioakeim G., Kielhmann, Sebastian, Kontopodis, Evangelos, Mandarakas, Nikos, Romanopoulos, Stylianos, Skalidis, Raphael, Vervelaki, Anna, Borman, George A., Kopatskaya, Evgenia N., Larionova, Elena G., Morozova, Daria A., Savchenko, Sergey S., Vasilyev, Andrey A., Zhovtan, Alexey V., Casadio, Carolina, Escudero, Juan, Kramer, Joana, Myserlis, Ioannis, Trainou, Efthalia, Imazawa, Ryo, Sasada, Mahito, Fukazawa, Yasushi, Kawabata, Koji S., Uemura, Makoto, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Nakaoka, Tatsuya, Akitaya, Hiroshi, Masiero, Joseph R., Mawet, Dimitri, Millar-Blanchaer, Maxwell A., Panopoulou, Georgia V., Tinyanont, Samaporn, Kagitani, Masato, Kravtsov, Vadim, Sakanoi, Takeshi, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Chen, Chen-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Marco, Alessandro, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovvciak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marinucci, Andrea, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Muleri, Fabio, Ng, C. -Y., ODell, Stephen L., Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgro, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We present X-ray polarimetry observations from the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) of three low spectral peak and one intermediate spectral peak blazars, namely 3C 273, 3C 279, 3C 454.3, and S5 0716+714. For none of these objects was IXPE able to detect X-ray polarization at the 3$\sigma$ level. However, we placed upper limits on the polarization degree at $\sim$10-30\%. The undetected polarizations favor models where the X-ray band is dominated by unpolarized photons upscattered by relativistic electrons in the jets of blazars, although hadronic models are not completely eliminated. We discuss the X-ray polarization upper limits in the context of our contemporaneous multiwavelength polarization campaigns., Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, 6 tables; submitted to the Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2023

38. IXPE observation confirms a high spin in the accreting black hole 4U 1957+115

Author: Marra, L., Brigitte, M., Cavero, N. Rodriguez, Chun, S., Steiner, J. F., Dovčiak, M., Nowak, M., Bianchi, S., Capitanio, F., Ingram, A., Matt, G., Muleri, F., Podgorný, J., Poutanen, J., Svoboda, J., Taverna, R., Ursini, F., Veledina, A., De Rosa, A., Garcia, J. A., Lutovinov, A. A., Mereminskiy, I. A., Farinelli, R., Gunji, S., Kaaret, P., Kallman, T., Krawczynski, H., Kan, Y., Hu, K., Marinucci, A., Mastroserio, G., Mikušincová, R., Parra, M., Petrucci, P. O., Ratheesh, A., Soffitta, P., Tombesi, F., Zane, S., Agudo, I., Antonelli, L. A., Bachetti, M., Baldini, L., Baumgartner, W. H., Bellazzini, R., Bongiorno, S. D., Bonino, R., Brez, A., Bucciantini, N., Castellano, S., Cavazzuti, E., Chen, C., Ciprini, S., Costa, E., Del Monte, E., Di Gesu, L., Di Lalla, N., Di Marco, A., Donnarumma, I., Doroshenko, V., Ehlert, S. R., Enoto, T., Evangelista, Y., Fabiani, S., Ferrazzoli, R., Hayashida, K., Heyl, J., Iwakiri, W., Jorstad, S. G., Karas, V., Kislat, F., Kitaguchi, T., Kolodziejczak, J. J., La Monaca, F., Latronico, L., Liodakis, I., Maldera, S., Manfreda, A., Marin, F., Marscher, A. P., Marshall, H. L., Massaro, F., Mitsuishi, I., Mizuno, T., Negro, M., Ng, C. Y., O'Dell, S. L., Omodei, N., Oppedisano, C., Papitto, A., Pavlov, G. G., Peirson, A. L., Perri, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Pilia, M., Possenti, A., Puccetti, S., Ramsey, B. D., Rankin, J., Roberts, O. J., Romani, R. W., Sgro, C., Slane, P., Spandre, G., Swartz, D. A., Tamagawa, T., Tavecchio, F., Tawara, Y., Tennant, A. F., Thomas, N. E., Trois, A., Tsygankov, S. S., Turolla, R., Vink, J., Weisskopf, M. C., Wu, K., and Xie, F.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We present the results of the first X-ray polarimetric observation of the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1957+115, performed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer in May 2023. The binary system has been in a high-soft spectral state since its discovery and is thought to host a black hole. The $\sim$571 ks observation reveals a linear polarisation degree of $1.9\% \pm 0.6\%$ and a polarisation angle of $-41^\circ.8 \pm 7^\circ.9$ in the 2-8 keV energy range. Spectral modelling is consistent with the dominant contribution coming from the standard accretion disc, while polarimetric data suggest a significant role of returning radiation: photons that are bent by strong gravity effects and forced to return to the disc surface, where they can be reflected before eventually reaching the observer. In this setting, we find that models with a black hole spin lower than 0.96 and an inclination lower than $50^\circ$ are disfavoured., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in A&A
Published: 2023

39. Discovery of a variable energy-dependent X-ray polarization in the accreting neutron star GX 5-1

Author: Fabiani, Sergio, Capitanio, Fiamma, Iaria, Rosario, Poutanen, Juri, Gnarini, Andrea, Ursini, Francesco, Farinelli, Ruben, Bobrikova, Anna, Steiner, James F., Svoboda, Jiri, Anitra, Alessio, Baglio, Maria C., Carotenuto, Francesco, Del Santo, Melania, Ferrigno, Carlo, Lewis, Fraser, Russell, David M., Russell, Thomas D., Eijnden, Jakob van den, Cocchi, Massimo, Di Marco, Alessandro, La Monaca, Fabio, Liu, Kuan, Rankin, John, Weisskopf, Martin C., Xie, Fei, Bianchi, Stefano, Burderi, Luciano, Di Salvo, Tiziana, Egron, Elise, Illiano, Giulia, Kaaret, Philip, Matt, Giorgio, Mikušincová, Romana, Muleri, Fabio, Papitto, Alessandro, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Negro, Michela, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Wu, Kinwah, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We report on the coordinated observations of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (NS-LMXB) \gx in X-rays (IXPE, NICER, Nustar and INTEGRAL), optical (REM and LCO), near-infrared (REM), mid-infrared (VLT VISIR), and radio (ATCA). This Z-source was observed by \IXPE twice in March-April 2023 (Obs. 1 and 2). In the radio band, the source was detected, but only upper-limits to the linear polarization were obtained at a $3\sigma$ level of $6.1\%$ at 5.5 GHz and $5.9\%$ at 9 GHz in Obs.~1 and $12.5\%$ at 5.5~GHz and $20\%$ at 9~GHz in Obs.~2. The mid-IR, near-IR and optical observations suggest the presence of a compact jet which peaks in the mid- or far-IR. The X-ray polarization degree was found to be $3.7\% \pm 0.4 \%$ (at $90\%$ confidence level) during Obs.~1 when the source was in the horizontal branch of the Z-track and $1.8\% \pm 0.4 \%$ during Obs.~2 when the source was in the normal-flaring branch. These results confirm the variation of polarization degree as a function of the position of the source in the color-color diagram as for previously observed Z-track sources (Cyg~X-2 and XTE~1701$-$462). Evidence for a variation of the polarization angle $\sim 20^\circ$ with energy is found in both observations, likely related to the different, non-orthogonal polarization angles of the disk and Comptonization components which peak at different energies., Comment: Submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics on 06 July 2023. Accepted on 21 November 2023
Published: 2023

40. Magnetic Field Properties inside the Jet of Mrk 421: Multiwavelength Polarimetry Including the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

Author: Kim, Dawoon E., Di Gesu, Laura, Liodakis, Ioannis, Marscher, Alan P., Jorstad, Svetlana G., Midde, Riccardo, Marshall, Herman L., Pacciani, Luigi, Agudo, Iván, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Cibrario, Nicolò, Tugliani, Stefano, Bonino, Raffaella, Negro, Michela, Puccetti, Simonetta, Tombesi, Francesco, Costa, Enrico, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Soffitta, Paolo, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Fukazawa, Yasushi, Kawabata, Koji S., Nakaoka, Tatsuya, Uemura, Makoto, Imazawa, Ryo, Sasada, Mahito, Akitaya, Hiroshi, Aceituno, Francisco Josè, Bonnoli, Giacomo, Casanova, Vìctor, Myserlis, Ioannis, Sievers, Albrecht, Angelakis, Emmanouil, Kraus, Alexander, Cheong, Whee Yeon, Jeong, Hyeon-Woo, Kang, Sincheol, Kim, Sang-Hyun, Lee, Sang-Sung, Agìs-Gonzàlez, Beatriz, Sota, Alfredo, Escudero, Juan, Gurwell, Mark, Keating, Garrett K., Rao, Ramprasad, Kouch, Pouya M., Lindfors, Elina, Bourbah, Ioakeim G., Kiehlmann, Sebastian, Kontopodis, Evangelos, Mandarakas, Nikos, Romanopoulos, Stylianos, Skalidis, Raphael, Vervelaki, Anna, Savchenko, Sergey S., Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Di Marco, Alessandro, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Muleri, Fabio, Ng, C. -Y., O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver, Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Doug, Tamagawa, Toru, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We conducted a polarimetry campaign from radio to X-ray wavelengths of the high-synchrotron-peak (HSP) blazar Mrk 421, including Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) measurements on 2022 December 6-8. We detected X-ray polarization of Mrk 421 with a degree of $\Pi_{\rm X}$=14$\pm$1$\%$ and an electric-vector position angle $\psi_{\rm X}$=107$\pm$3$^{\circ}$ in the 2-8 keV band. From the time variability analysis, we find a significant episodic variation in $\psi_{\rm X}$. During 7 months from the first IXPE pointing of Mrk 421 in 2022 May, $\psi_{\rm X}$ varied across the range of 0$^{\circ}$ to 180$^{\circ}$, while $\Pi_{\rm X}$ maintained similar values within $\sim$10-15$\%$. Furthermore, a swing in $\psi_{\rm X}$ in 2022 June was accompanied by simultaneous spectral variations. The results of the multiwavelength polarimetry show that the X-ray polarization degree was generally $\sim$2-3 times greater than that at longer wavelengths, while the polarization angle fluctuated. Additionally, based on radio, infrared, and optical polarimetry, we find that rotation of $\psi$ occurred in the opposite direction with respect to the rotation of $\psi_{\rm X}$ over longer timescales at similar epochs. The polarization behavior observed across multiple wavelengths is consistent with previous IXPE findings for HSP blazars. This result favors the energy-stratified shock model developed to explain variable emission in relativistic jets. The accompanying spectral variation during the $\psi_{\rm X}$ rotation can be explained by a fluctuation in the physical conditions, e.g., in the energy distribution of relativistic electrons. The opposite rotation direction of $\psi$ between the X-ray and longer-wavelength polarization accentuates the conclusion that the X-ray emitting region is spatially separated from that at longer wavelengths., Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables; Accepted for publication in A&A
Published: 2023
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41. X-ray Polarization of the BL Lac Type Blazar 1ES 0229+200

Author: Ehlert, Steven R., Liodakis, Ioannis, Middei, Riccardo, Marscher, Alan P., Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Agudo, Iván, Kouch, Pouya M., Lindfors, Elina, Nilsson, Kari, Myserlis, Ioannis, Gurwell, Mark, Rao, Ramprasad, Aceituno, Francisco Jose, Bonnoli, Giacomo, Casanova, Victor, Agiz-Gonzalez, Beatriz, Escudero, Juan, Santos, Jorge Otero, Sota, Alfredo, Angelakis, Emmanouil, Kraus, Alexander, Keating, Garrett K., Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Di Marco, Alessandro, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, Ng, C. -Y., O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgro, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We present polarization measurements in the $2-8 \thinspace \mathrm{keV}$ band from blazar 1ES 0229+200, the first extreme high synchrotron peaked source to be observed by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). Combining two exposures separated by about two weeks, we find the degree of polarization to be $\Pi_{X} = 17.9 \pm 2.8 \%$ at an electric-vector position angle $\psi_X = 25.0 \pm 4.6^{\circ}$ using a spectropolarimetric fit from joint IXPE and XMM-Newton observations. There is no evidence for the polarization degree or angle varying significantly with energy or time on both short time scales (hours) or longer time scales (days). The contemporaneous polarization degree at optical wavelengths was $>$7$\times$ lower, making 1ES 0229+200 the most strongly chromatic blazar yet observed. This high X-ray polarization compared to the optical provides further support that X-ray emission in high-peaked blazars originates in shock-accelerated, energy-stratified electron populations, but is in tension with many recent modeling efforts attempting to reproduce the spectral energy distribution of 1ES 0229+200 which attribute the extremely high energy synchrotron and Compton peaks to Fermi acceleration in the vicinity of strongly turbulent magnetic fields., Comment: 17 Pages, 6 Figures, Resubmitted to ApJ after addressing referee comments
Published: 2023

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

Author: Romani, Roger W., Wong, Josephine, Di Lalla, Niccolo, Omodei, Nicola, Xie, Fei, Ng, C. -Y., Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Di Marco, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Pilia, Maura, Slane, Patrick, Weisskopf, Martin C., Johnston, Simon, Burgay, Marta, Wei, Deng, Yang, Yi-Jung, Zhang, Shumeng, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Cibrario, Nicolo, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Liodakis, Ioannis, Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kim, Dawoon E., Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Madejski, Grzegorz, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frederic, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Middei, Riccardo, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, O'Dell, Stephen L., Oppedisano, Chiara, Pacciani, Luigi, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Sgro, Carmelo, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey, Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Wu, Kinwah, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: 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., Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2023

43. Discovery of X-ray Polarization from the Black Hole Transient Swift J1727.8-1613

Author: Veledina, Alexandra, Muleri, Fabio, Dovciak, Michal, Poutanen, Juri, Ratheesh, Ajay, Capitanio, Fiamma, Matt, Giorgio, Soffitta, Paolo, Tennant, Allyn F., Negro, Michela, Kaaret, Philip, Costa, Enrico, Ingram, Adam, Svoboda, Jiri, Krawczynski, Henric, Bianchi, Stefano, Steiner, James F., Garcia, Javier A., Kravtsov, Vadim, Nitindala, Anagha P., Ewing, Melissa, Mastroserio, Guglielmo, Marinucci, Andrea, Ursini, Francesco, Tombesi, Francesco, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Yang, Yi-Jung, Weisskopf, Martin C., Trushkin, Sergei A., Egron, Elise, Iacolina, Maria Noemi, Pilia, Maura, Marra, Lorenzo, Mikusincova, Romana, Nathan, Edward, Parra, Maxime, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Podgorny, Jakub, Tugliani, Stefano, Zane, Silvia, Zhang, Wenda, Agudo, Ivan, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolo, Di Marco, Alessandro, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frederic, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgro, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Thomas, Nicholas E., Trois, Alessio, Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Wu, Kinwah, and Xie, Fei
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Abstract: We report the first detection of the X-ray polarization of the bright transient Swift J1727.8-1613 with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. The observation was performed at the beginning of the 2023 discovery outburst, when the source resided in the bright hard state. We find a time- and energy-averaged polarization degree of 4.1%+/-0.2% and a polarization angle of 2.2+/-1.3 degrees (errors at 68% confidence level; this translates to about 20-sigma significance of the polarization detection). This finding suggests that the hot corona emitting the bulk of the detected X-rays is elongated, rather than spherical. The X-ray polarization angle is consistent with that found in sub-mm wavelengths. Since the sub-mm polarization was found to be aligned with the jet direction in other X-ray binaries, this indicates that the corona is elongated orthogonal to the jet., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, submitted
Published: 2023

44. First X-ray polarization measurement confirms the low black-hole spin in LMC X-3

Author: Svoboda, Jiří, Dovčiak, Michal, Steiner, James F., Muleri, Fabio, Ingram, Adam, Yilmaz, Anastasiya, Cavero, Nicole Rodriguez, Marra, Lorenzo, Poutanen, Juri, Veledina, Alexandra, Mojaver, Mehrnoosh Rahbardar, Bianchi, Stefano, Garcia, Javier, Kaaret, Philip, Krawczynski, Henric, Matt, Giorgio, Podgorný, Jakub, Weisskopf, Martin C., Kislat, Fabian, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Brigitte, Maimouna, Bursa, Michal, Fabiani, Sergio, Hu, Kun, Chun, Sohee, Mastroserio, Guglielmo, Mikušincová, Romana, Ratheesh, Ajay, Romani, Roger W., Soffitta, Paolo, Ursini, Francesco, Zane, Silvia, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolo, Di Marco, Alessandro, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Ehlert, Steven, Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimír, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Negro, Michela, Ng, C. -Y., O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George, Peirson, Abel, Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Roberts, Oliver, Sgro, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Wu, Kinwah, and Xie, Fei
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: X-ray polarization is a powerful tool to investigate the geometry of accreting material around black holes, allowing independent measurements of the black hole spin and orientation of the innermost parts of the accretion disk. We perform the X-ray spectro-polarimetric analysis of an X-ray binary system in the Large Magellanic Cloud, LMC X-3, that hosts a stellar-mass black hole, known to be persistently accreting since its discovery. We report the first detection of the X-ray polarization in LMC X-3 with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, and find the average polarization degree of 3.2% +- 0.6% and a constant polarization angle -42 deg +- 6 deg over the 2-8 keV range. Using accompanying spectroscopic observations by NICER, NuSTAR, and the Neil Gehrels Swift observatories, we confirm previous measurements of the black hole spin via the X-ray continuum method, a ~ 0.2. From polarization analysis only, we found consistent results with low black-hole spin, with an upper limit of a < 0.7 at a 90% confidence level. A slight increase of the polarization degree with energy, similar to other black-hole X-ray binaries in the soft state, is suggested from the data but with a low statistical significance., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, submitted to ApJ
Published: 2023
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45. Magnetic structures and turbulence in SN 1006 revealed with imaging X-ray polarimetry

Author: Zhou, Ping, Prokhorov, Dmitry, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Yang, Yi-Jung, Slane, Patrick, Vink, Jacco, Silvestri, Stefano, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Reynoso, Estela, Moffett, David, Soffitta, Paolo, Swartz, Doug, Kaaret, Philip, Baldini, Luca, Costa, Enrico, Ng, C. -Y., Kim, Dawoon E., Doroshenko, Victor, Ehlert, Steven R., Heyl, Jeremy, Marin, Frédéric, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Sgrò, Carmelo, Tamagawa, Toru, Weisskopf, Martin C., Xie, Fei, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Di Marco, Alessandro, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Dovčiak, Michal, Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Kislat, Fabian, Karas, Vladimir, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver, Romani, Roger W., Spandre, Gloria, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Wu, Kinwah, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: 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., Comment: 15 pages, 4 Figures, 2 Tables; accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2023

46. A search for pulsars around Sgr A* in the first Event Horizon Telescope dataset

Author: Torne, Pablo, Liu, Kuo, Eatough, Ralph P., Wongphechauxsorn, Jompoj, Cordes, James M., Desvignes, Gregory, De Laurentis, Mariafelicia, Kramer, Michael, Ransom, Scott M., Chatterjee, Shami, Wharton, Robert, Karuppusamy, Ramesh, Blackburn, Lindy, Janssen, Michael, Chan, Chi-kwan, Crew, Geoffrey B., Matthews, Lynn D., Goddi, Ciriaco, Rottmann, Helge, Wagner, Jan, Sanchez, Salvador, Ruiz, Ignacio, Abbate, Federico, Bower, Geoffrey C., Salamanca, Juan J., Gomez-Ruiz, Arturo I., Herrera-Aguilar, Alfredo, Jiang, Wu, Lu, Ru-Sen, Pen, Ue-Li, Raymond, Alexander W., Shao, Lijing, Shen, Zhiqiang, Paubert, Gabriel, Sanchez-Portal, Miguel, Kramer, Carsten, Castillo, Manuel, Navarro, Santiago, John, David, Schuster, Karl-Friedrich, Johnson, Michael D., Rygl, Kazi L. J., Akiyama, Kazunori, Alberdi, Antxon, Alef, Walter, Algaba, Juan Carlos, Anantua, Richard, Asada, Keiichi, Azulay, Rebecca, Bach, Uwe, Baczko, Anne-Kathrin, Ball, David, Balokovic, Mislav, Barrett, John, Bauboeck, Michi, Benson, Bradford A., Bintley, Dan, Blundell, Raymond, Bouman, Katherine L., Boyce, Hope, Bremer, Michael, Brinkerink, Christiaan D., Brissenden, Roger, Britzen, Silke, Broderick, Avery E., Broguiere, Dominique, Bronzwaer, Thomas, Bustamante, Sandra, Byun, Do-Young, Carlstrom, John E., Ceccobello, Chiara, Chael, Andrew, Chang, Dominic O., Chatterjee, Koushik, Chen, Ming-Tang, Chen, Yongjun, Cheng, Xiaopeng, Cho, Ilje, Christian, Pierre, Conroy, Nicholas S., Conway, John E., Crawford, Thomas M., Cruz-Osorio, Alejandro, Cui, Yuzhu, Dahale, Rohan, Davelaar, Jordy, Deane, Roger, Dempsey, Jessica, Dexter, Jason, Dhruv, Vedant, Doeleman, Sheperd S., Dougal, Sean, Dzib, Sergio A., Emami, Razieh, Falcke, Heino, Farah, Joseph, Fish, Vincent L., Fomalont, Ed, Ford, H. Alyson, Foschi, Marianna, Fraga-Encinas, Raquel, Freeman, William T., Friberg, Per, Fromm, Christian M., Fuentes, Antonio, Galison, Peter, Gammie, Charles F., Garcia, Roberto, Gentaz, Olivier, Georgiev, Boris, Gold, Roman, Gomez, Jose L., Gu, Minfeng, Gurwell, Mark, Hada, Kazuhiro, Haggard, Daryl, Haworth, Kari, Hecht, Michael H., Hesper, Ronald, Heumann, Dirk, Ho, Luis C., Ho, Paul, Honma, Mareki, Huang, Chih-Wei L., Huang, Lei, Hughes, David H., Ikeda, Shiro, Impellizzeri, C. M. Violette, Inoue, Makoto, Issaoun, Sara, James, David J., Jannuzi, Buell T., Jeter, Britton, Jimenez-Rosales, Alejandra, Jorstad, Svetlana, Joshi, Abhishek V., Jung, Taehyun, Karami, Mansour, Kawashima, Tomohisa, Keating, Garrett K., Kettenis, Mark, Kim, Dong-Jin, Kim, Jae-Young, Kim, Jongsoo, Kim, Junhan, Kino, Motoki, Koay, Jun Yi, Kocherlakota, Prashant, Kofuji, Yutaro, Koyama, Shoko, Krichbaum, Thomas P., Kuo, Cheng-Yu, La Bella, Noemi, Lauer, Tod R., Lee, Daeyoung, Lee, Sang-Sung, Leung, Po Kin, Levis, Aviad, Li, Zhiyuan, Lico, Rocco, Lindahl, Greg, Lindqvist, Michael, Lisakov, Mikhail, Liu, Jun, Liuzzo, Elisabetta, Lo, Wen-Ping, Lobanov, Andrei P., Loinard, Laurent, Lonsdale, Colin J., MacDonald, Nicholas R., Mao, Jirong, Marchili, Nicola, Markoff, Sera, Marrone, Daniel P., Marscher, Alan P., Marti-Vidal, Ivan, Matsushita, Satoki, Medeiros, Lia, Menten, Karl M., Michalik, Daniel, Mizuno, Izumi, Mizuno, Yosuke, Moran, James M., Moriyama, Kotaro, Moscibrodzka, Monika, Muller, Cornelia, Muller, Hendrik, Mus, Alejandro, Musoke, Gibwa, Myserlis, Ioannis, Nadolski, Andrew, Nagai, Hiroshi, Nagar, Neil M., Nakamura, Masanori, Narayan, Ramesh, Narayanan, Gopal, Natarajan, Iniyan, Nathanail, Antonios, Neilsen, Joey, Neri, Roberto, Ni, Chunchong, Noutsos, Aristeidis, Nowak, Michael A., Oh, Junghwan, Okino, Hiroki, Olivares, Hector, Ortiz-Leon, Gisela N., Oyama, Tomoaki, Ozel, Feryal, Palumbo, Daniel C. M., Paraschos, Georgios Filippos, Park, Jongho, Parsons, Harriet, Patel, Nimesh, Pesce, Dominic W., Pietu, Vincent, Plambeck, Richard, PopStefanija, Aleksandar, Porth, Oliver, Potzl, Felix M., Prather, Ben, Preciado-Lopez, Jorge A., Psaltis, Dimitrios, Pu, Hung-Yi, Ramakrishnan, Venkatessh, Rao, Ramprasad, Rawlings, Mark G., Rezzolla, Luciano, Ricarte, Angelo, Ripperda, Bart, Roelofs, Freek, Rogers, Alan, Ros, Eduardo, Romero-Cañizales, Cristina, Roshanineshat, Arash, Roy, Alan L., Ruszczyk, Chet, Sanchez-Arguelles, David, Sasada, Mahito, Satapathy, Kaushik, Savolainen, Tuomas, Schloerb, F. Peter, Schonfeld, Jonathan, Small, Des, Sohn, Bong Won, SooHoo, Jason, Souccar, Kamal, Sun, He, Tetarenko, Alexandra J., Tiede, Paul, Tilanus, Remo P. J., Titus, Michael, Toscano, Teresa, Traianou, Efthalia, Trent, Tyler, Trippe, Sascha, Turk, Matthew, van Bemmel, Ilse, van Langevelde, Huib Jan, van Rossum, Daniel R., Vos, Jesse, Ward-Thompson, Derek, Wardle, John, Weintroub, Jonathan, Wex, Norbert, Wielgus, Maciek, Wiik, Kaj, Witzel, Gunther, Wondrak, Michael F., Wong, George N., Wu, Qingwen, Yadlapalli, Nitika, Yamaguchi, Paul, Yfantis, Aristomenis, Yoon, Doosoo, Young, Andre, Young, Ken, Younsi, Ziri, Yu, Wei, Yuan, Feng, Yuan, Ye-Fei, Zensus, J. Anton, Zhang, Shuo, Zhao, Guang-Yao, and Zhao, Shan-Shan
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract: The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observed in 2017 the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), at a frequency of 228.1 GHz ($\lambda$=1.3 mm). The fundamental physics tests that even a single pulsar orbiting Sgr A* would enable motivate searching for pulsars in EHT datasets. The high observing frequency means that pulsars - which typically exhibit steep emission spectra - are expected to be very faint. However, it also negates pulse scattering, an effect that could hinder pulsar detections in the Galactic Center. Additionally, magnetars or a secondary inverse Compton emission could be stronger at millimeter wavelengths than at lower frequencies. We present a search for pulsars close to Sgr A* using the data from the three most-sensitive stations in the EHT 2017 campaign: the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, the Large Millimeter Telescope and the IRAM 30 m Telescope. We apply three detection methods based on Fourier-domain analysis, the Fast-Folding-Algorithm and single pulse search targeting both pulsars and burst-like transient emission; using the simultaneity of the observations to confirm potential candidates. No new pulsars or significant bursts were found. Being the first pulsar search ever carried out at such high radio frequencies, we detail our analysis methods and give a detailed estimation of the sensitivity of the search. We conclude that the EHT 2017 observations are only sensitive to a small fraction ($\lesssim$2.2%) of the pulsars that may exist close to Sgr A*, motivating further searches for fainter pulsars in the region., Comment: 33 pages, 7 figures, 6 Tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Published: 2023

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

Author: Turolla, Roberto, Taverna, Roberto, Israel, Gian Luca, Muleri, Fabio, Zane, Silvia, Bachetti, Matteo, Heyl, Jeremy, Di Marco, Alessandro, Gau, Ephraim, Krawczynski, Henric, Ng, Mason, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Baldini, Luca, Matt, Giorgio, Negro, Michela, Agudo, Ivan, Antonelli, Lucio Angelo, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo', Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting J., Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolo', Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Doviak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffrey, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frederic, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Ng, Stephen Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian, Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgro', Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, N., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, and Xie, Fei
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract: 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 {\gamma}-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., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Published: 2023

48. IXPE and multi-wavelength observations of blazar PG 1553+113 reveal an orphan optical polarization swing

Author: Middei, Riccardo, Perri, Matteo, Puccetti, Simonetta, Liodakis, Ioannis, Di Gesu, Laura, Marscher, Alan P., Cavero, Nicole Rodriguez, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Laurenti, Marco, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Agudo, Iván, Marshall, Herman L., Pacciani, Luigi, Kim, Dawoon E., Aceituno, Francisco José, Bonnoli, Giacomo, Casanova, Víctor, Agís-González, Beatriz, Sota, Alfredo, Casadio, Carolina, Escudero, Juan, Myserlis, Ioannis, Sievers, Albrecht, Kouch, Pouya M., Lindfors, Elina, Gurwell, Mark, Keating, Garrett K., Rao, Ramprasad, Kang, Sincheol, Lee, Sang-Sung, Kim, Sang-Hyun, Cheong, Whee Yeon, Jeong, Hyeon-Woo, Angelakis, Emmanouil, Kraus, Alexander, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Capitanio, Fiamma, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Di Marco, Alessandro, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Fabiani, Sergio, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, García, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, La Monaca, Fabio, Latronico, Luca, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Massaro, Francesco, Matt, Giorgio, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Poutanen, Juri, Ramsey, Brian D., Rankin, John, Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, Xie, Fei, and Zane, Silvia
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: The lower energy peak of the spectral energy distribution of blazars has commonly been ascribed to synchrotron radiation from relativistic particles in the jets. Despite the consensus regarding jet emission processes, the particle acceleration mechanism is still debated. Here, we present the first X-ray polarization observations of PG 1553+113, a high-synchrotron-peak blazar observed by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). We detect an X-ray polarization degree of $(10\pm2)\%$ along an electric-vector position angle of $\psi_X=86^{\circ}\pm8^{\circ}$. At the same time, the radio and optical polarization degrees are lower by a factor of $\sim$3. During our IXPE pointing, we observed the first orphan optical polarization swing of the IXPE era, as the optical angle of PG 1553+113 underwent a smooth monotonic rotation by about 125$^\circ$, with a rate of $\sim$17 degrees per day. We do not find evidence of a similar rotation in either radio or X-rays, which suggests that the X-ray and optically emitting regions are separate or, at most, partially co-spatial. Our spectro-polarimetric results provide further evidence that the steady-state X-ray emission in blazars originates in a shock-accelerated and energy-stratified electron population., Comment: Accepted for pubblication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 3 Figures, 13 pages
Published: 2023

49. Discovery of strongly variable X-ray polarization in the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary transient XTE J1701$-$462

Author: Cocchi, Massimo, Gnarini, Andrea, Fabiani, Sergio, Ursini, Francesco, Poutanen, Juri, Capitanio, Fiamma, Bobrikova, Anna, Farinelli, Ruben, Paizis, Adamantia, Sidoli, Lara, Veledina, Alexandra, Bianchi, Stefano, Di Marco, Alessandro, Ingram, Adam, Kajava, Jari J. E., La Monaca, Fabio, Matt, Giorgio, Malacaria, Christian, Mikušincová, Romana, Rankin, John, Zane, Silvia, Agudo, Iván, Antonelli, Lucio A., Bachetti, Matteo, Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolò, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, Costa, Enrico, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monta, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolò, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Dovčiak, Michal, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Kaaret, Philip, Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frédéric, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Marshall, Herman L., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Muleri, Fabio, Negro, Michela, Ng, Chi-Yung, O'Dell, Stephen L., Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Papitto, Alessandro, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Pilia, Maura, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Soffitta, Paolo, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, Weisskopf, Martin C., Wu, Kinwah, and Xie, Fei
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Abstract: After about 16 years since its first outburst, the transient neutron star low-mass X-ray binary XTE J1701$-$462 turned on again in September 2022, allowing for the first study of its X-ray polarimetric characteristics by a dedicated observing program with the Imaging X-ray Polarimeter Explorer (IXPE). Polarimetric studies of XTE J1701$-$462 have been expected to improve our understanding of accreting weakly magnetized neutron stars, in particular, the physics and the geometry of the hot inner regions close to the compact object. The IXPE data of two triggered observations were analyzed using time-resolved spectroscopic and polarimetric techniques, following the source along its Z-track of the color-color diagram. During the first pointing on 2022 September 29, an average 2-8 keV polarization degree of 4.6$\pm$ 0.4\% was measured, the highest value found up to now for this class of sources. Conversely, only a $\sim$0.6\% average degree was obtained during the second pointing ten days later. The polarimetric signal appears to be strictly related to the higher energy blackbody component associated with the boundary layer (BL) emission and its reflection from the inner accretion disk, and it is as strong as 6.1\% and 1.2\% ($>95\%$ significant) above 3-4 keV for the two measurements, respectively. The variable polarimetric signal is apparently related to the spectral characteristics of XTE J1701$-$462, which is the strongest when the source was in the horizontal branch of its Z-track and the weakest in the normal branch. These IXPE results provide new important observational constraints on the physical models and geometry of the Z-sources. Here, we discuss the possible reasons for the presence of strong and variable polarization among these sources., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures; published in A&A 674, L10 (2023)
Published: 2023
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50. First detection of X-ray polarization from the accreting neutron star 4U 1820-303

Author: Di Marco, Alessandro, La Monaca, Fabio, Poutanen, Juri, Russell, Thomas D., Anitra, Alessio, Farinelli, Ruben, Mastroserio, Guglielmo, Muleri, Fabio, Xie, Fei, Bachetti, Matteo, Burderi, Luciano, Carotenuto, Francesco, Del Santo, Melania, Di Salvo, Tiziana, Dovciak, Michal, Gnarini, Andrea, Iaria, Rosario, Kajava, Jari J. E., Liu, Kuan, Middei, Riccardo, O'Dell, Stephen L., Pilia, Maura, Rankin, John, Sanna, Andrea, Eijnden, Jakob van den, Weisskopf, Martin C., Bobrikova, Anna, Capitanio, Fiamma, Costa, Enrico, Kaaret, Philip, Marino, Alessio, Soffitta, Paolo, Ursini, Francesco, Ambrosino, Filippo, Cocchi, Massimo, Fabiani, Sergio, Marshall, Herman L., Matt, Giorgio, Motta, Sara Elisa, Papitto, Alessandro, Stella, Luigi, Tarana, Antonella, Zane, Silvia, Agudo, Ivan, Antonelli, Lucio A., Baldini, Luca, Baumgartner, Wayne H., Bellazzini, Ronaldo, Bianchi, Stefano, Bongiorno, Stephen D., Bonino, Raffaella, Brez, Alessandro, Bucciantini, Niccolo, Castellano, Simone, Cavazzuti, Elisabetta, Chen, Chien-Ting, Ciprini, Stefano, De Rosa, Alessandra, Del Monte, Ettore, Di Gesu, Laura, Di Lalla, Niccolo, Donnarumma, Immacolata, Doroshenko, Victor, Ehlert, Steven R., Enoto, Teruaki, Evangelista, Yuri, Ferrazzoli, Riccardo, Garcia, Javier A., Gunji, Shuichi, Hayashida, Kiyoshi, Heyl, Jeremy, Iwakiri, Wataru, Jorstad, Svetlana G., Karas, Vladimir, Kislat, Fabian, Kitaguchi, Takao, Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Krawczynski, Henric, Latronico, Luca, Liodakis, Ioannis, Maldera, Simone, Manfreda, Alberto, Marin, Frederic, Marinucci, Andrea, Marscher, Alan P., Massaro, Francesco, Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki, Mizuno, Tsunefumi, Negro, Michela, Ng, Chi-Yung, Omodei, Nicola, Oppedisano, Chiara, Pavlov, George G., Peirson, Abel L., Perri, Matteo, Pesce-Rollins, Melissa, Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier, Possenti, Andrea, Puccetti, Simonetta, Ramsey, Brian D., Ratheesh, Ajay, Roberts, Oliver J., Romani, Roger W., Sgrò, Carmelo, Slane, Patrick, Spandre, Gloria, Swartz, Douglas A., Tamagawa, Toru, Tavecchio, Fabrizio, Taverna, Roberto, Tawara, Yuzuru, Tennant, Allyn F., Thomas, Nicholas E., Tombesi, Francesco, Trois, Alessio, Tsygankov, Sergey S., Turolla, Roberto, Vink, Jacco, and Wu, Kinwah
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: This paper reports the first detection of polarization in the X-rays for atoll-source 4U 1820-303, obtained with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) at 99.999% confidence level (CL). Simultaneous polarimetric measurements were also performed in the radio with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). The IXPE observations of 4U 1820-303 were coordinated with Swift-XRT, NICER, and NuSTAR aiming to obtain an accurate X-ray spectral model covering a broad energy interval. The source shows a significant polarization above 4 keV, with a polarization degree of 2.0(0.5)% and a polarization angle of -55(7) deg in the 4-7 keV energy range, and a polarization degree of 10(2)% and a polarization angle of -67(7) deg in the 7-8 keV energy bin. This polarization also shows a clear energy trend with polarization degree increasing with energy and a hint for a position-angle change of about 90 deg at 96% CL around 4 keV. The spectro-polarimetric fit indicates that the accretion disk is polarized orthogonally to the hard spectral component, which is presumably produced in the boundary/spreading layer. We do not detect linear polarization from the radio counterpart, with a 99.97% upper limit of 50% at 7.25 GHz.
Published: 2023
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