The Discovery of Rapid Polarization Angle Variation during the 2022 Outburst of XTE J1701-462
The geometry of the Comptonization corona in neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries is still unclear. We conducted time-resolved polarimetric analysis of the archival observations of XTE J1701–462 obtained with the Imaging X-ray Polarimeter Explorer during its 2022 outburst and found that the polariza...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb8cf |
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| author | Qing-Chang Zhao Hong Li Lian Tao Hua Feng |
| author_facet | Qing-Chang Zhao Hong Li Lian Tao Hua Feng |
| author_sort | Qing-Chang Zhao |
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| description | The geometry of the Comptonization corona in neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries is still unclear. We conducted time-resolved polarimetric analysis of the archival observations of XTE J1701–462 obtained with the Imaging X-ray Polarimeter Explorer during its 2022 outburst and found that the polarization angle (PA) varied significantly with time when the source was in the normal branch, with 67 ^∘ ± 8 ^∘ in the first epoch, −34 ^∘ ± 8 ^∘ in the second, and −58 ^∘ ± 8 ^∘ in the third, last epoch. Meanwhile, the polarization degree remained constant at around 2%, above the minimum detectable polarization at the 99% confidence level (MDP _99 ). The rapid PA variation causes depolarization in the time-averaged data, resulting in a nondetection as reported in the literature. The rapid (intraday) PA variation may suggest that there is a fast transformation of the corona geometry, likely switching from a slab geometry with enhanced disk emission and reflection, to a more vertically extended spreading layer geometry. |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-faf0aac9c8664bcf9d39e4181c4301ac2025-08-20T03:41:51ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01982210510.3847/1538-4357/adb8cfThe Discovery of Rapid Polarization Angle Variation during the 2022 Outburst of XTE J1701-462Qing-Chang Zhao0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9893-8248Hong Li1Lian Tao2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2705-4338Hua Feng3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7584-6236Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of China ; lihong02@ihep.ac.cn, taolian@ihep.ac.cn, hfeng@ihep.ac.cn; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of China ; lihong02@ihep.ac.cn, taolian@ihep.ac.cn, hfeng@ihep.ac.cnKey Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of China ; lihong02@ihep.ac.cn, taolian@ihep.ac.cn, hfeng@ihep.ac.cnKey Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of China ; lihong02@ihep.ac.cn, taolian@ihep.ac.cn, hfeng@ihep.ac.cnThe geometry of the Comptonization corona in neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries is still unclear. We conducted time-resolved polarimetric analysis of the archival observations of XTE J1701–462 obtained with the Imaging X-ray Polarimeter Explorer during its 2022 outburst and found that the polarization angle (PA) varied significantly with time when the source was in the normal branch, with 67 ^∘ ± 8 ^∘ in the first epoch, −34 ^∘ ± 8 ^∘ in the second, and −58 ^∘ ± 8 ^∘ in the third, last epoch. Meanwhile, the polarization degree remained constant at around 2%, above the minimum detectable polarization at the 99% confidence level (MDP _99 ). The rapid PA variation causes depolarization in the time-averaged data, resulting in a nondetection as reported in the literature. The rapid (intraday) PA variation may suggest that there is a fast transformation of the corona geometry, likely switching from a slab geometry with enhanced disk emission and reflection, to a more vertically extended spreading layer geometry.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb8cfPolarimetryAccretionX-ray transient sources |
| spellingShingle | Qing-Chang Zhao Hong Li Lian Tao Hua Feng The Discovery of Rapid Polarization Angle Variation during the 2022 Outburst of XTE J1701-462 The Astrophysical Journal Polarimetry Accretion X-ray transient sources |
| title | The Discovery of Rapid Polarization Angle Variation during the 2022 Outburst of XTE J1701-462 |
| title_full | The Discovery of Rapid Polarization Angle Variation during the 2022 Outburst of XTE J1701-462 |
| title_fullStr | The Discovery of Rapid Polarization Angle Variation during the 2022 Outburst of XTE J1701-462 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Discovery of Rapid Polarization Angle Variation during the 2022 Outburst of XTE J1701-462 |
| title_short | The Discovery of Rapid Polarization Angle Variation during the 2022 Outburst of XTE J1701-462 |
| title_sort | discovery of rapid polarization angle variation during the 2022 outburst of xte j1701 462 |
| topic | Polarimetry Accretion X-ray transient sources |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb8cf |
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