Polarimetry with POLAR

Abstract

In the first half year of operation the satellite borne POLAR instrument detected a total of 55 Gamma-Ray Bursts about 10 of which were bright enough to allow for detailed polarization studies, thereby forming the start of the first Gamma-Ray Burst polarization catalog. In this paper a brief overview of the previous GRB polarization studies will be presented followed by an overview of the POLAR detector along with the first result of the in-flight performance. The detected Gamma-Ray bursts will be presented and finally prospects for polarization measurements of these events will be discussed.

Refereed review paper accepted for publication in the proceedings of the XII Multifrequency Behaviour of High Energy Cosmic Sources Workshop, held 17 June, 2017 in Palermo, Italy