«A Microquasar Odyssey: Unveiling the Complexities»

X-ray Polarimetry of Neutron Star Low-Mass X-ray Binaries throughout the Z-track with IXPE

Not scheduled

15m

Palazzo Municipale - Sala delle Capriate (Cefalù (Palermo))

Talk Talk Polarimetry (X-ray, Optical, Radio…)

Speaker

Andrea Gnarini (Università degli Studi Roma Tre)

Description

Accreting, weakly magnetized Neutron Stars in Low-mass X-ray binaries (NS-LMXBs) are a fundamental laboratory to study radiation processes in the strong gravity regime. Z-sources are NS-LMXBs characterized by a wide Z-like three branches track in the Color-Color Diagram, typically accreting close to the Eddington limit.

In this talk, we discuss the spectro-polarimetric results obtained by IXPE (most often in coordination with other facilities) on NS-LMXBs in Z-state. Most of the known Z-sources were observed by IXPE during its two-year baseline phase, being the most polarized NS-LMXBs in the full 2-8 keV band and with a strong correlation between the observed polarization and the position along the Z-track. We will also provide an in-depth interpretation of these results, including also numerical simulations.