NS in Low-Mass X-ray Binaries, in the New Era of X-ray Polarimetry

In this brief informal seminar, Massimo Cocchi, who joined the OACa staff last April, summarizes for the Observatory colleagues his scientific journey in the field of High Energy Astronomy, with a particular focus on recent activities: modeling and spectro-polarimetric observation of weakly magnetized neutron stars in low-mass binaries.

Brief CV of Massimo Cocchi:

Graduated in Physics in 1991 from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” with an experimental thesis in high-energy Astrophysics: spectroscopy and timing of Galactic sources in the Hard-X band, data collected from observational campaigns with stratospheric balloons.
From 1993 to 1996, scientific consultant at the data center (SOC and SDC) of the BeppoSAX space mission, as an expert on WFC X-ray monitors.
Subsequently, within the BeppoSax and Integral programs of IAS-Rome (CNR), expert on X-ray binaries with NS, with particular interest in the study of accretion and transient phenomena (especially X-ray bursts).
Became a CNR researcher in 2001, and later in INAF, he led a theoretical-observational PRIN project (2008-2010) to test accretion models.
Since 2011, he has largely abandoned observational work to focus on modeling: X-ray radiative transport near compact objects with low magnetic fields, using Monte Carlo codes designed and implemented ad hoc.
Since 2020, he has been a member of several working groups of the IXPE polarimetric mission, always related to weakly magnetized binary sources.
He officially (and happily) “transferred” to OACa in April 2022