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Astrophysics > High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Title: Polarization Perspectives on Hercules X-1: Further Constraining the Geometry

Abstract: We conduct a comprehensive analysis of the accreting X-ray pulsar, Hercules X-1, utilizing data from IXPE and NuSTAR. IXPE performed five observations of Her X-1, consisting of three in the Main-on state and two in the Short-on state. Our time-resolved analysis uncovers the linear correlations between the flux and polarization degree as well as the pulse fraction and polarization degree. Geometry parameters are rigorously constrained by fitting the phase-resolved modulations of Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature and polarization angle with a simple dipole model and Rotating Vector Model respectively, yielding roughly consistent results. The changes of $\chi_{\rm p}$ (the position angle of the pulsar's spin axis on the plane of the sky) between different Main-on observations suggest the possible forced precession of the neutron star crust. Furthermore, a linear association between the energy of Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature and polarization angle implies the prevalence of a dominant dipole magnetic field, and their phase-resolved modulations likely arise from viewing angle effects.
Comments: Accepted for MNRAS
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
Cite as: arXiv:2405.00509 [astro-ph.HE]
  (or arXiv:2405.00509v1 [astro-ph.HE] for this version)

Submission history

From: QingChang Zhao [view email]
[v1] Wed, 1 May 2024 13:41:02 GMT (10094kb,D)

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