Polarized Light from Accreting Low Mass X-Ray Binaries

Abstract

Thanks to IXPE, the X-ray spectro-polarimeter launched at the end of 2021, X-ray polarimetry has finally become an extraordinary tool in investigating the physics of accretion in low mass X-ray binaries. Similarly to what happened with gravitational waves, X-ray polarimetry would play a new complementary but at the same time fundamental role in the high-energy astrophysical domain. We summarize here the first 1.5 yr results on accreting low-mass X-ray binaries obtained by a huge IXPE observation campaign coordinated with the principal X-ray and \(\gamma \)-ray telescopes. Then we compare these results with the theoretical prediction highlighting the unexpected results.