Polarized Radiation from X-Ray Pulsars

Event Date:
2024-09-19T16:00:00
2024-09-19T17:00:00
Event Location:
HENN 201
Speaker:
Dr. Jeremy Heyl, University of British Columbia
Related Upcoming Events:
Department Colloquia
Intended Audience:
Undergraduate
Local Contact:

Georg Rieger (rieger@phas.ubc.ca) 

Brett Gladman (gladman@astro.ubc.ca)

All are welcome to this event!

Event Information:

Abstract:

With the launch of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) at the end of 2021, we have entered the era of X-ray polarization. IXPE is more than one thousand times more sensitive that previous observatories giving us "first (polarized) light" images of hundreds of X-ray sources. Looking as these objects in an essentially new way for the very first time has been exhilarating. After highlighting many of the key observations of IXPE, I will focus in particular on the observations of accreting X-ray pulsars which despite complicated magnetic field and emission geometries exhibit very simple changes in the polarization direction as the stars rotate. This straightforward evolution with spin results from the first (yet still unverified) prediction of QED that a magnetic field even in vacuum induces an index of refraction: vacuum birefringence.

Bio:

I am currently acting PHAS Department Head, professor at the University of British Columbia and a Canada Research Chair in Neutron Stars and Black Holes. My recent research has focused on compact objects: white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. These are the most extreme objects in the universe since the Big Bang. Astrophysicists think that they provide the power behind quasars and gamma-ray bursts, the brightest objects in the recent universe.

To put it concisely I study stars, white dwarfs neutron stars and black holes from an astrophysical perspective. Because I am a theorist I focus what these objects can tell us about fundamental physics and how our current knowledge or speculation about fundamental physics can help us understand these phenomena.

The areas of physics that my research sometimes covers include:

* High-energy astrophysics
* Nuclear physics
* High-energy physics (particle physics)
* General relativity
* Cosmology
* Condensed matter physics
* Atomic physics
* Classical dynamics

Education

Doctoral Degree University of California at Santa Cruz, 1998
Employment HistoryHead, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, January 2024-
Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, July 2013-
Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, July 2008-June 2013
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, July 2003-June 2008
Chandra Fellow, Theoretical Astrophysics Division, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, September 2000-July 2003
Lee A. DuBridge Postdoctoral Fellow in Theoretical Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, January 1998-August 2000
Visiting Researcher, The Central Astronomical Observatory at Pulkovo, Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 1992-September 1992
Research Assistant, National Astronomical and Ionospheric Center, Arecibo, Puerto Rico, June 1991-August 1991
Research Assistant, Princeton University Observatory, Princeton, New Jersey, June 1989-September 1989

 

Learn More:

Add to Calendar 2024-09-19T16:00:00 2024-09-19T17:00:00 Polarized Radiation from X-Ray Pulsars Event Information: Abstract: With the launch of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) at the end of 2021, we have entered the era of X-ray polarization. IXPE is more than one thousand times more sensitive that previous observatories giving us "first (polarized) light" images of hundreds of X-ray sources. Looking as these objects in an essentially new way for the very first time has been exhilarating. After highlighting many of the key observations of IXPE, I will focus in particular on the observations of accreting X-ray pulsars which despite complicated magnetic field and emission geometries exhibit very simple changes in the polarization direction as the stars rotate. This straightforward evolution with spin results from the first (yet still unverified) prediction of QED that a magnetic field even in vacuum induces an index of refraction: vacuum birefringence. Bio: I am currently acting PHAS Department Head, professor at the University of British Columbia and a Canada Research Chair in Neutron Stars and Black Holes. My recent research has focused on compact objects: white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. These are the most extreme objects in the universe since the Big Bang. Astrophysicists think that they provide the power behind quasars and gamma-ray bursts, the brightest objects in the recent universe. To put it concisely I study stars, white dwarfs neutron stars and black holes from an astrophysical perspective. Because I am a theorist I focus what these objects can tell us about fundamental physics and how our current knowledge or speculation about fundamental physics can help us understand these phenomena. The areas of physics that my research sometimes covers include: * High-energy astrophysics* Nuclear physics* High-energy physics (particle physics)* General relativity* Cosmology* Condensed matter physics* Atomic physics* Classical dynamics Education Doctoral Degree University of California at Santa Cruz, 1998Employment HistoryHead, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, January 2024-Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, July 2013-Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, July 2008-June 2013Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, July 2003-June 2008Chandra Fellow, Theoretical Astrophysics Division, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, September 2000-July 2003Lee A. DuBridge Postdoctoral Fellow in Theoretical Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, January 1998-August 2000Visiting Researcher, The Central Astronomical Observatory at Pulkovo, Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 1992-September 1992Research Assistant, National Astronomical and Ionospheric Center, Arecibo, Puerto Rico, June 1991-August 1991Research Assistant, Princeton University Observatory, Princeton, New Jersey, June 1989-September 1989   Learn More: See Jeremy's homepage on the Stellar and High-Energy Astrophysics at UBC website: Jeremy Heyl (coolpulsars.org) See Jeremy's faculty homepage: heyl | UBC Physics & Astronomy UBC News: Dr. Jeremy Heyl appointed head, Physics and Astronomy | UBC Science UBC Expert profiles: Jeremy Heyl, AB (Princeton), MSc (Cambridge), PhD (UCSC) (ubc.ca) See NASA's webpage on the Imagining X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE): Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) - NASA Find NASA articles on pulsars here: 428 Search Results for "pulsar" (nasa.gov) Event Location: HENN 201