2001/07/13 by Roger Blandford, R. D. Blandford, Eric Agol +12
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #Calibration and Measurement Techniques #FOS: Physical sciences #Planetary Science and Exploration #Radiative Heat Transfer Studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0107228
To be published in the proceedings of the XII Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics. Contains 47 pages with 10 figures
arxiv created 2001/07/13 · openalex publication_date 2001/07/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Recent developments in the spectropolarimetric study of compact objects, specifically black holes (stellar and massive) and neutron stars are reviewed. The lectures are organized around five topics: disks, jets, outflows, neutron stars and black holes. They emphasize physical mechanisms and are intended to bridge the gap between the fundamentals of polarimetry and the phenomenology of observed cosmic sources of polarized radiation, as covered by the other lecturers. There has been considerable recent progress in spectropolarimetry from radio through optical frequencies and this is producing some unique diagnostics of the physical conditions around compact objects. It is argued that there is a great need to develop a correspondingly sensitive polarimetric capability at ultraviolet through gamma-ray energies.