X-ray polarization evidence for a 200-year-old flare of Sgr A.

The centre of the Milky Way Galaxy hosts a black hole with a solar mass of about 4 million (Sagittarius A* (Sgr A)) that is very quiescent at present with a luminosity many orders of magnitude below those of active galactic nuclei1. Reflection of X-rays from Sgr A* by dense gas in the Galactic Centre region offers a means to study its past flaring activity on timescales of hundreds and thousands of years2. The shape of the X-ray continuum and the strong fluorescent iron line observed from giant molecular clouds in the vicinity of Sgr A* are consistent with the reflection scenario3-5. If this interpretation is correct, the reflected continuum emission should be polarized6. Here we report observations of polarized X-ray emission in the direction of the molecular clouds in the Galactic Centre using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. We measure a polarization degree of 31% ± 11%, and a polarization angle of -48° ± 11°. The polarization angle is consistent with Sgr A* being the primary source of the emission, and the polarization degree implies that some 200 years ago, the X-ray luminosity of Sgr A* was briefly comparable to that of a Seyfert galaxy.

A new technique for tokamak edge density measurement based on microwave interferometer.

A novel approach for density measurements at the edge of a hot plasma device is presented-Microwave Interferometer in the Limiter Shadow (MILS). The diagnostic technique is based on measuring the change in phase and power of a microwave beam passing tangentially through the edge plasma, perpendicular to the background magnetic field. The wave propagation involves varying combinations of refraction, phase change, and further interference of the beam fractions. A 3D model is constructed as a synthetic diagnostic for MILS and allows exploring this broad range of wave propagation regimes. The diagnostic parameters, such as its dimensions, frequency, and configuration of the emitter and receiver antennas, should be balanced to meet the target range and location of measurements. It can be therefore adjusted for various conditions, and here, the diagnostic concept is evaluated on a chosen example, which was taken as suitable to cover densities of ∼1015 to 1019 m-3 on the edge of the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak. Based on a density profile with a fixed radial shape, appropriate for experimental density approximation, a database of synthetic diagnostic measurements is built. The developed genetic algorithm genMILS of density profile reconstruction using the constructed database has quite low errors. It is estimated as ∼5% to 15% for density ≥1017 m-3. Therefore, the new diagnostic technique (with a dedicated data processing algorithm) has a large potential in practical applications in a wide range of densities, with low errors in the numerical model and in the method of density reconstruction, so the total error and the density estimation accuracy are expected to be defined mostly by experimental uncertainties.