An observational method for fast stochastic X-ray polarimetry-timing

Abstract

The upcoming launch of the first space based X-ray polarimeter in $\sim 40$ years will provide powerful new diagnostic information to study accreting compact objects. In particular, analysis of rapid variability of the polarisation degree and angle will provide the opportunity to probe the relativistic motions of material in the strong gravitational fields close to the compact objects, and enable new methods to measure black hole and neutron star parameters. However, polarisation properties are measured in a statistical sense, and a statistically significant polarisation detection requires a fairly long exposure, even for the brightest objects. Therefore, the sub-minute timescales of interest are not accessible using a direct time-resolved analysis of polarisation degree and angle. Phase-folding can be used for coherent pulsations, but not for stochastic variability such as quasi-periodic oscillations. Here, we introduce a Fourier method that enables statistically robust detection of stochastic polarisation variability for arbitrarily short variability timescales. Our method is analogous to commonly used spectral-timing techniques. We find that it should be possible in the near future to detect the quasi-periodic swings in polarisation angle predicted by Lense-Thirring precession of the inner accretion flow. This is contingent on the mean polarisation degree of the source being greater than $\sim 4-5\%$, which is consistent with the best current constraints on Cygnus X-1 from the late 1970s.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (45)

• On characterising the variability properties of X-ray light curves from active galaxies
• Lense-Thirring Precession and QPOs in Low Mass X-Ray Binaries
• Going with the flow: can the base of jets subsume the role of compact accretion disk coronae?
• Correlated X-ray Spectral and Timing Behavior of the Black Hole Candidate XTE J1550-564: A New Interpretation of Black Hole States
• RXTE Observation of Cygnus X-1: II. Timing Analysis
• X-ray reverberation around accreting black holes
• Low frequency QPO spectra and Lense-Thirring precession
• Correlations in the QPO Frequencies of Low Mass X-Ray Binaries and the Relativistic Precession Model
• The ABC of low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in Black-Hole Candidates: analogies with Z-sources
• The Mass of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1
• States and transitions in black-hole binaries
• Precise mass and spin measurements for a stellar-mass black hole through X-ray timing: the case of GRO J1655-40
• Polarized Gamma-ray Emission from the Galactic Black Hole Cygnus X-1
• Discovery of Sub-Millisecond Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in the X-Ray Flux of Scorpius X-1
• The Complex Phase Lag Behavior of the 3-12 Hz Quasi-Periodic Oscillations during the Very High State of XTE J1550-564
• A quasi-periodic modulation of the iron line centroid energy in the black hole binary H 1743-322
• X-ray Polarization from Accreting Black Holes: Coronal Emission
• Geometrical constraints on the origin of timing signals from black holes
• eXTP -- enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry Mission
• Accretion disc variability in the hard state of black hole X-ray binaries
• An exact analytic treatment of propagating mass accretion rate fluctuations in X-ray binaries
• Modelling variability in black hole binaries: linking simulations to observations
• On understanding the figures of merit for detection and measurement of x-ray polarization
• A Precessing Ring Model for Low-Frequency Quasi-periodic Oscillations
• Discovery of a second kHz QPO peak in 4U 1608-52
• Tomographic reflection modelling of quasi-periodic oscillations in the black hole binary H 1743-322
• Light bending scenario for accreting black holes in X-ray polarimetry
• Phase-resolved spectroscopy of low frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in GRS 1915+105
• Inclination-dependent spectral and timing properties in transient black hole X-ray binaries
• Phase-Resolved Spectroscopy of Type B Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in GX 339-4
• Detection of the first infra-red quasi periodic oscillation in a black hole X-ray binary
• X-Ray Polarimetry with the Polarization Spectroscopic Telescope Array (PolSTAR)
• The X-ray Properties of Low-Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations from GRS 1915+105 up to 120 keV
• Links between quasi-periodic oscillations and accretion states in neutron star low mass X-ray binaries
• Energetics of a black hole: constraints on the jet velocity and the nature of the X-ray emitting region in Cyg X-1
• Modelling the cross-spectral variability of the black hole binary MAXI J1659-152 with propagating accretion rate fluctuations
• Constraints on jet X-ray emission in low/hard state X-ray binaries
• Optimization of the Design of the Hard X-ray Polarimeter X-Calibur
• Coupling between QPOs and broadband noise components in GRS 1915+105
• Fast variability as a probe of the smallest regions around accreting black holes
• Cross-spectral modelling of the black hole X-ray binary XTEJ1550-564: challenges to the propagating fluctuations paradigm
• Very fast X-ray spectral variability in Cygnus X-1: Origin of the hard and soft-state emission components
• A global study of Type B quasi-periodic oscillation in black hole X-ray binaries
• Studies of the Origin of High-Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations of Mass Accreting Black Holes in X-ray Binaries with Next-Generation X-ray Telescopes
• Short Timescale Correlations Between Line and Continuum Fluxes in Cygnus X-1

Cited by in corpus (9)

• A review of quasi-periodic oscillations from black hole X-ray binaries: observation and theory
• Phase-resolved spectroscopy of a quasi-periodic oscillation in the black hole X-ray binary GRS 1915+105 with NICER and NuSTAR
• Accretion in Strong Field Gravity with eXTP
• Difficulties of Quantitative Tests of the Kerr-Hypothesis with X-Ray Observations of Mass Accreting Black Holes
• Error formulae for the energy-dependent cross-spectrum
• Are Low-Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations seen in accretion flows the disk response to a jet instability?
• Black holes: Timing and spectral properties and evolution
• On measuring the Hubble constant with X-ray reverberation mapping of active galactic nuclei
• X-ray polarimetry-timing