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2019 (English)In: Astroparticle physics, ISSN 0927-6505, E-ISSN 1873-2852, Vol. 104, p. 54-63Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are exceptionally bright electromagnetic events occurring daily on the sky. The prompt emission is dominated by X-/gamma-rays. Since their discovery over 50 years ago, GRBs are primarily studied through spectral and temporal measurements. The properties of the emission jets and underlying processes are not well understood. A promising way forward is the development of missions capable of characterising the linear polarisation of the high-energy emission. For this reason, the SPHiNX mission has been developed for a small-satellite platform. The polarisation properties of incident high-energy radiation (50-600 keV) are determined by reconstructing Compton scattering interactions in a segmented array of plastic and Gd3Al2Ga3O12(Ce) (GAGG(Ce)) scintillators. During a two-year mission, similar to 200 GRBs will be observed, with similar to 50 yielding measurements where the polarisation fraction is determined with a relative error <= 10%. This is a significant improvement compared to contemporary missions. This performance, combined with the ability to reconstruct GRB localisation and spectral properties, will allow discrimination between leading classes of emission models.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, 2019
Keywords
Polarimetry, X-ray, Gamma-ray burst, Small satellite
National Category
Subatomic Physics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-238104 (URN)10.1016/j.astropartphys.2018.08.007 (DOI)000447479300004 ()2-s2.0-85052499332 (Scopus ID)
Note
QC 20190111
2019-01-112019-01-112019-01-11Bibliographically approved