ABSTRACT
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) opens a new window to map magnetic fields in regions of freshly accelerated high-energy particles. By capturing the first spatially resolved X-ray polarization images of supernova remnants—including Cassiopeia A, Tycho, SN 1006, Vela Jr., RX J1713.7−3946, and RCW 86—IXPE probes the turbulent magnetic fields shaped by the Galaxy’s fastest shocks. I will present IXPE’s findings on magnetic geometry and turbulence immediately behind the shocks, emphasizing its unique role in understanding amplified magnetic fields compared to radio polarimetry.
BIO
Ping Zhou is an associate professor at Nanjing University. She obtained her PhD at Nanjing University in 2014 and worked as a postdoc at Anton Pannekoek Institute at the University of Amsterdam during 2016 and 2020. In 2021, she joined the faculty at the School of Astronomy and Space Science at Nanjing University. Her research focuses on supernova remnants, interstellar medium, and isolated neutron stars. She has participated in the IXPE supernova remnant topical working group and joined the science groups of LHAASO (the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory, X-ray coordinator), EP (Einstein Probe), and future X-ray missions eXTP (the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry, coordinator of the observatory science) and HUBS (the Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor, co-chair of the Galactic Science working group).
Host: Junjie Mao
Slides:
