Weakly Magnetized Accreting Neutron Stars as Seen by <scp>IXPE</scp>

ABSTRACT The Imaging X‐ray Polarimetry Explorer, recently awarded by the American Astronomical Society with the Bruno Rossi prize, observed several accreting neutron stars in X‐ray binaries during the first 2 years of its prime mission. Results obtained for weakly magnetized neutron stars allow us to model the geometry and the physical status of the different emitting regions (accretion disk, boundary/spreading layer) in a completely novel way, showing a more intricate scenario with respect to the one initially anticipated based on theoretical models. In particular, polarization measurements have demonstrated variations with energy and time, which are highly intriguing. Here, a summary of the IXPE findings for these sources, in particular 4U 1820–303, and Cir X–1 are reported.