High hard X-ray polarization in Cygnus X-1 confined to the intermediate hard state: evidence for a variable jet component

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chattopadhyay, Tanmoy, Kumar, Abhay, Rao, A. R., Bhargava, Yash, Vadawale, Santosh V., Ratheesh, Ajay, Dewangan, Gulab, Bhattacharyay, Dipankar, S., Mithun N. P., Bhalerao, Varun
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866910284178784256
author Chattopadhyay, Tanmoy
Kumar, Abhay
Rao, A. R.
Bhargava, Yash
Vadawale, Santosh V.
Ratheesh, Ajay
Dewangan, Gulab
Bhattacharyay, Dipankar
S., Mithun N. P.
Bhalerao, Varun
author_facet Chattopadhyay, Tanmoy
Kumar, Abhay
Rao, A. R.
Bhargava, Yash
Vadawale, Santosh V.
Ratheesh, Ajay
Dewangan, Gulab
Bhattacharyay, Dipankar
S., Mithun N. P.
Bhalerao, Varun
contents Cygnus X-1, the well-known accreting black hole system, exhibits several observational features hinting at an intricate interplay between the accretion disk, its atmosphere known as the corona and the putative relativistic jet. It has been extensively studied using all available observational methods, including using the newly available technique of sensitive X-ray polarimetry. X-ray polarization characteristics are distinct for coronal and jet emissions. The low X-ray polarization measured below $\sim$100 keV is understood as arising from the corona. In contrast, the high polarization measurements reported above $\sim$400 keV required a separate jet-dominated spectral component, which spectroscopy does not demonstrate conclusively. Here we report precise polarization measurements in the 100-380 keV region made during three different sub-classes of spectral states of the source using the CZTI instrument onboard {\em AstroSat}. A high polarization (23$\pm$4 \%) is found mainly in the Intermediate Hard State of the source, and the energy-resolved measurements smoothly connect the coronal and the jet regimes. When high polarization is observed, the simultaneous spectral data hints at a separate power law component above 100 keV. We examine the possible sources of this energy-dependent high polarization in Cygnus X-1.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_04057
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle High hard X-ray polarization in Cygnus X-1 confined to the intermediate hard state: evidence for a variable jet component
Chattopadhyay, Tanmoy
Kumar, Abhay
Rao, A. R.
Bhargava, Yash
Vadawale, Santosh V.
Ratheesh, Ajay
Dewangan, Gulab
Bhattacharyay, Dipankar
S., Mithun N. P.
Bhalerao, Varun
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Cygnus X-1, the well-known accreting black hole system, exhibits several observational features hinting at an intricate interplay between the accretion disk, its atmosphere known as the corona and the putative relativistic jet. It has been extensively studied using all available observational methods, including using the newly available technique of sensitive X-ray polarimetry. X-ray polarization characteristics are distinct for coronal and jet emissions. The low X-ray polarization measured below $\sim$100 keV is understood as arising from the corona. In contrast, the high polarization measurements reported above $\sim$400 keV required a separate jet-dominated spectral component, which spectroscopy does not demonstrate conclusively. Here we report precise polarization measurements in the 100-380 keV region made during three different sub-classes of spectral states of the source using the CZTI instrument onboard {\em AstroSat}. A high polarization (23$\pm$4 \%) is found mainly in the Intermediate Hard State of the source, and the energy-resolved measurements smoothly connect the coronal and the jet regimes. When high polarization is observed, the simultaneous spectral data hints at a separate power law component above 100 keV. We examine the possible sources of this energy-dependent high polarization in Cygnus X-1.
title High hard X-ray polarization in Cygnus X-1 confined to the intermediate hard state: evidence for a variable jet component
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.04057