The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)

Martin C. Weisskopf; Brian Ramsey; Stephen O'Dell; Allyn Tennant; Ronald Elsner; Paolo Soffitta; Ronaldo Bellazzini; Enrico Costa; Jeffrey Kolodziejczak; Victoria Kaspi; Fabio Muleri; Herman Marshall; Giorgio Matt; Roger Romani

doi:10.1117/12.2235240

11 July 2016 The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)

Martin C. Weisskopf, Brian Ramsey, Stephen O'Dell, Allyn Tennant, Ronald Elsner, Paolo Soffitta, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Enrico Costa, Jeffrey Kolodziejczak, Victoria Kaspi, Fabio Muleri, Herman Marshall, Giorgio Matt, Roger Romani

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 990517 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2235240
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) expands observation space by simultaneously adding polarization measurements to the array of source properties currently measured (energy, time, and location). IXPE will thus open new dimensions for understanding how X-ray emission is produced in astrophysical objects, especially systems under extreme physical conditions—such as neutron stars and black holes. Polarization singularly probes physical anisotropies—ordered magnetic fields, aspheric matter distributions, or general relativistic coupling to black-hole spin—that are not otherwise measurable. Hence, IXPE complements all other investigations in high-energy astrophysics by adding important and relatively unexplored information to the parameter space for studying cosmic X-ray sources and processes, as well as for using extreme astrophysical environments as laboratories for fundamental physics.

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Martin C. Weisskopf, Brian Ramsey, Stephen O'Dell, Allyn Tennant, Ronald Elsner, Paolo Soffitta, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Enrico Costa, Jeffrey Kolodziejczak, Victoria Kaspi, Fabio Muleri, Herman Marshall, Giorgio Matt, and Roger Romani "The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)", Proc. SPIE 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 990517 (11 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2235240

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