A search for the presence of magnetic fields in the two Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients IGR J08408-4503 and IGR J11215-5952

Abstract

A significant fraction of high-mass X-ray binaries are supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs). The prime model for the physics governing their X-ray behaviour suggests that the winds of donor OB supergiants are magnetized. To investigate if magnetic fields are indeed present in the optical counterparts of such systems, we acquired low-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of the two optically brightest SFXTs, IGR J08408-4503 and IGR J11215-5952 with the ESO FORS2 instrument during two different observing runs. No field detection at a significance level of 3sigma was achieved for IGR J08408-4503. For IGR J11215-5952, we obtain 3.2sigma and 3.8sigma detections (<B_z>_hydr = -978+-308G and <B_z>_hydr = 416+-110G) on two different nights in 2016. These results indicate that the model involving the interaction of a magnetized stellar wind with the neutron star magnetosphere can indeed be considered to characterize the behaviour of SFXTs. We detected long-term spectral variability in IGR J11215-5952, while for IGR J08408-4503 we find an indication of the presence of short-term variability on a time scale of minutes.

5 pages, 1 table, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• XMM-Newton and Swift observations of supergiant high mass X-ray binaries
• NuSTAR observation of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient IGR J11215-5952 during its 2017 outburst
• The 100-month Swift catalogue of supergiant fast X-ray transients II. SFXT diagnostics from outburst properties
• Detecting the intrinsic X-ray emission from the O-type donor star and the residual accretion in a Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient during its faintest state