X-ray polarimetry of radiation from Z-pinch plasmas with application to astrophysics

X-ray polarimetry attracted a great interest in astrophysics for more than 50 years because it can provide very valuable information about the anisotropy of universe. However, after the measurement of x-ray polarization of the Crab Nebula in the 70s, no more observations were performed in the classical x-ray band until very recently. The NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer is providing for the first time imaging x-ray polarimetry of various astrophysical objects in the 2–8 keV band^1,2. Despite the growing interest in astrophysics, x-ray polarimetry still does not attract the befitting attention of researchers in High-Energy-Density (HED) laboratory plasmas. In this talk, we briefly overview our previous work on x-ray line polarization of multi-charged ions excited by an electron beam under well-controlled conditions³ as well as from HED plasmas on the university-scale Z-pinch generator⁴ and on polarization of x-ray continuum radiation. Then, we demonstrate how this research can develop physical insight in x-ray polarimetry for astrophysics.

¹M. C. Weisskopf, “A detailed description of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer emphasizing its unique capabilities”, APS April Meeting 2023

²J. Vink et al, ApJ, 938: 400 (2022)

³E.E. Petkov et al, J. Phys. B, 52, 195002 (2019)

⁴R.R. Childers et al, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., 46, 3820 (2018)