Spectro-polarimetric study of the black hole X-ray binary Swift J1727.8-1613 in the JED-SAD framework

RESUMO

Context. Swift J1727.8-1613 is an X-ray binary observed during its 2023-2024 outburst, including bright and dim hard states with similar X-ray polarimetric signatures but fluxes differing by two orders of magnitude. Aims. We aim to reproduce the spectro-polarimetric properties of these two hard states. Methods. We modelled their spectra in the JED-SAD framework and computed the X-ray polarisation properties of the best-fit configurations with the MONK general relativistic radiative transfer code. Results. Both spectra are well reproduced within the JED-SAD framework, although the dominant radiative process differs: self-Comptonised bremsstrahlung in the bright state and self-Comptonised synchrotron in the dim state. In the bright state, the simulated polarisation fraction remains below the observed value of about 4%, while the polarisation angle differs from the observations by 90 degrees because of the JED's large vertical optical depth. In contrast, the dim state's simulated polarisation fraction is about 3% and its polarisation angle is perpendicular to the disk, both broadly consistent with IXPE measurements. The dim-state results are largely insensitive to the magnetic field configuration because of Faraday depolarisation. Conclusions. The dim hard state's spectro-polarimetric properties are well reproduced, whereas those of the bright state are not. We discuss a non-thermal particle distribution and electron scattering in an accretion-disk wind as possible explanations for the observed bright-state polarisation.