X-ray spectropolarimetric signature of a warped disk around a stellar-mass black hole

TL;DR

This paper proposes that X-ray spectropolarimetric observations can detect warped accretion disks around stellar-mass black holes, offering insights into disk structure and viscosity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel observational signature in polarization spectra that indicates the presence of a warped accretion disk around black holes.

Findings

Warped disks produce distinct polarization signatures.

Potential to measure warp radius and disk viscosity.

Provides a new method for probing disk geometry.

Abstract

Black holes in X-ray binaries are often assumed to be rotating perpendicular to the plane of the accretion disk and parallel to the orbital plane of the binary. While the Bardeen-Petterson effect forces the inner part of the accretion disk to be aligned with the equatorial plane of a spinning black hole, the disk may be warped such that the inclination angle of the outer part is different from that of the inner part. In this paper, we identify a possible observational signature of a warped accretion disk in the spectrum of the polarization degree of the continuum. Such a signature would provide direct evidence for the presence of a warped disk and, potentially, even a measure of the warp radius, which, in turn, could be used to infer the viscosity parameter of the disk.