Encounters
Plane of Polarization ○｜encounter｜ENC｜20260912153739-00-•
The polarization features of BH disk radiation can be affected strongly by GR effects (Connors et al. 1980). The crucial requirement for a simple interpretation is that higher energy photons come from smaller disk radii, as they are predicted to do in conventional disk models (§7). If this requirement is met, then as the photon energy increases from 1 keV to 30 keV, the plane of linear polarization swings smoothly through an angle of about 40º for a Schwarzschild BH and 70º for an extreme Kerr BH (Connors et al. 1980). The effect is due to the strong gravitational bending of light rays. In the Newtonian approximation, on the other hand, the polarization angle does not vary with energy, except for the possibility of a sudden 90º jump (Lightman & Shapiro 1976). Thus, a gradual change of the plane of polarization with energy is a purely relativistic effect, and the magnitude of the change can give a direct measure of .
Source: Remillard & McClintock 2006 ┃ X-Ray Properties… ⚬𓂃
(echo:: @ ᯤ)
Link to original