Correlated spectro-polarimetric study along the Z track in XTE J1701–462 puts constraints on its coronal geometry

Context. In September 2022, the transient neutron star low-mass X-ray binary XTE J1701–462 went into a new outburst. Aims. The objective of this work is to examine the evolution of the accretion geometry of XTE J1701–462 by studying the spectro-polarimetric properties along the Z track of this source. The simultaneous observations archived by the Insight -Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) and the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer ( IXPE ) give us the opportunity to do this. Methods. We present a comprehensive X-ray spectro-polarimetric analysis of XTE J1701–462, using simultaneous observations from IXPE , Insight -HXMT, and NuSTAR . For IXPE observations, two methods were employed to measure the polarization: a model-independent measurement with PCUBE and a model-dependent polarization-spectral analysis with XSPEC . The corresponding spectra from Insight -HXMT and NuSTAR were studied with two configurations that correspond to the eastern model and western model, respectively. Results. Significant polarization characteristics are detected in XTE J1701–462. The polarization degree shows a decreasing trend along the Z track, reducing from (4.84 ± 0.37)% to (3.76 ± 0.43)% on the horizontal branch and dropping to ≤1% on the normal branch. The simultaneous spectral analysis from Insight -HXMT and NuSTAR suggests that the evolution of the PD is closely linked to changes in the covering factor of the Comptonized corona along the Z track.

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Publication Details

Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Published
2025-02-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202349041
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.62

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article

Correlated spectro-polarimetric study along the Z track in XTE J1701–462 puts constraints on its coronal geometry

Wei Yu, M. Y. Ge, Victor Doroshenko, Shuang‐Nan Zhang et al.
4 citations
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
4.62
article

Correlated spectro-polarimetric study along the Z track in XTE J1701–462 puts constraints on its coronal geometry

Wei Yu, M. Y. Ge, Victor Doroshenko, Shuang‐Nan Zhang, Lian Tao, Jin‐Lu Qu, Liang Zhang, Qingcui Bu, Anand Waghmare, L. Ducci, Zi-Xu Yang, Long Ji, A. Santangelo, Hexin Liu, Wenda Zhang, Yue Huang
article en
4 citations

Abstract

Context. In September 2022, the transient neutron star low-mass X-ray binary XTE J1701–462 went into a new outburst. Aims. The objective of this work is to examine the evolution of the accretion geometry of XTE J1701–462 by studying the spectro-polarimetric properties along the Z track of this source. The simultaneous observations archived by the Insight -Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) and the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer ( IXPE ) give us the opportunity to do this. Methods. We present a comprehensive X-ray spectro-polarimetric analysis of XTE J1701–462, using simultaneous observations from IXPE , Insight -HXMT, and NuSTAR . For IXPE observations, two methods were employed to measure the polarization: a model-independent measurement with PCUBE and a model-dependent polarization-spectral analysis with XSPEC . The corresponding spectra from Insight -HXMT and NuSTAR were studied with two configurations that correspond to the eastern model and western model, respectively. Results. Significant polarization characteristics are detected in XTE J1701–462. The polarization degree shows a decreasing trend along the Z track, reducing from (4.84 ± 0.37)% to (3.76 ± 0.43)% on the horizontal branch and dropping to ≤1% on the normal branch. The simultaneous spectral analysis from Insight -HXMT and NuSTAR suggests that the evolution of the PD is closely linked to changes in the covering factor of the Comptonized corona along the Z track.

Astronomy and AstrophysicsVol. 695
University of Geneva (CH), Shandong University of Technology (CN), Sun Yat-sen University (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Central China Normal University (CN), Institute of High Energy Physics (CN), Swiss Institute of Comparative Law (CH), National Astronomical Observatories (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, China National Space Administration, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Goddard Space Flight Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Astrophysics Science Division
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
4.62
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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