Modeling the polarization of high-energy radiation from accreting black holes : a case study of XTE J1118+480

F. L. Vieyro, G. E. Romero and S. Chaty.

Serie: Trabajos publicados del IAR ; no. 1355

Resumen: Context. The high-energy emission (400 keV-2 MeV) of Cygnus X-1, which is the best-studied Galactic black hole, was recently found to be strongly polarized. The origin of this radiation is still unknown. Aims: We suggest that the emission is the result of non-thermal processes in the hot corona around the accreting compact object and study the polarization of high-energy radiation that is expected for black hole binaries. Methods: Two contributions to the total magnetic field were taken into account in our study: a small-scale random component related to the corona, and an ordered magnetic field associated with the accretion disk. The degree of polarization of gamma-ray emission for this particular geometry was estimated together with the angle of the polarization vector. Results: We obtain that the configuration of corona plus disk can account for the high degree of polarization of gamma-rays that are detected in galactic black holes and does not need to invoke a relativistic jet. We make specific predictions for sources in a low-hard state. In particular, the model is applied to the transient source XTE J1118+480. We show that if a new outburst of XTE J1118+480 is observed, then its gamma-ray polarization should be measurable by future instruments, such as ASTRO-H or the proposed ASTROGAM.