Kavli Affiliate: Roger W. Romani
| First 5 Authors: Kuan Liu, Fei Xie, Yi-Han Liu, Chi-Yung Ng, Niccolo’ Bucciantini
| Summary:
In this paper, we present a full spatially resolved polarization map for the
Vela Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) observed by IXPE. By employing effective
background discrimination techniques, our results show a remarkably high degree
of local polarization in the outskirt region, exceeding 60% (55%) with a
probability of 95% (99%), which approaches the upper limit predicted by the
synchrotron emission mechanism. The high degree of polarization suggests that
the turbulent magnetic energy is at most 33% of the ordered one. In addition,
the X-ray polarization map exhibits a toroidal magnetic field pattern that is
consistent with the field revealed by radio observations across the entire
nebula. This consistency reveals that the observed X-ray and radio emissions
are radiated by electrons from the same magnetic field. Different from the Crab
PWN, the consistency observed in the Vela PWN may be attributed to the
interaction between the reverse shock of supernova blast wave and the PWN,
which leads to a displacement between the synchrotron-cooled nebula and the
fresh nebula close to the pulsar. These findings deepen our understanding of
the structure and evolution of the Vela PWN, and the magnetohydrodynamic
interaction in PWNe.
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