A Comparison of the X-Ray Polarimetric Properties of Stellar and Supermassive Black Holes

Abstract

X-ray polarization provides a new way to probe accretion geometry in black hole systems. If the accretion geometry of black holes is similar regardless of mass, we should expect the same to be true of their polarization properties. We compare the polarimetric properties of all nonblazar black holes observed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. We find that their polarization properties are very similar, particularly in the hard state, where the corona dominates. This tentatively supports the idea that stellar and supermassive black holes share a common coronal geometry.

Keywords

• Stellar mass black holes
• Supermassive black holes
• X-ray astronomy
• Polarimetry
• Accretion
• Active galactic nuclei