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Register a new userPolarization of AGN Jets
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Daniel C. Homan
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The sensitivity, stability, and uniformity of calibration of the VLBA has revolutionized parsec-scale polarization studies of AGN jets. Not only does polarization probe the magnetic field structures of jets, serving as a hydrodynamic tracer of shocks, bends, and shear, but polarization also probes the medium through which it propagates by encoding the signature of Faraday effects along the line of sight. I review advances made by the VLBA in studying the polarization of jets to probe their magnetic field structures, properties of the jet plasma, and properties of the external environment. This review covers both linear and circular polarization and is set in the context of outstanding questions in the field.
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We used 15 GHz multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) polarization sensitive observations of 484 sources within a time interval 1996--2016 from the MOJAVE program, and also from the NRAO data archive. We have analyzed the linear polarization characteristics of the compact core features and regions downstream, and their changes along and across the parsec-scale active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets. We detected a significant increase of fractional polarization with distance from the radio core along the jet as well as towards the jet edges. Compared to quasars, BL Lacs have a higher degree of polarization and exhibit more stable electric vector position angles (EVPAs) in their core features and a better alignment of the EVPAs with the local jet direction. The latter is accompanied by a higher degree of linear polarization, suggesting that compact bright jet features might be strong transverse shocks, which enhance magnetic field regularity by compression.
We investigate the polarization of Compton scattered X-rays from relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei using Monte Carlo simulations. We consider three scenarios: scattering of photons from an accretion disk, scattering of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons, and synchrotron self-Comptonization (SSC) within the jet. For Comptonization of thermal disk photons or CMB photons the maximum linear polarization attained is slightly over 20% at viewing angles close to 90 degrees. The value decreases with the viewing inclination. For SSC, the maximum value may exceed 80%. The angle dependence is complicated, and it varies with the photon injection sites. Our study demonstrates that X-ray polarization, in addition to multi-wavelength spectra, can distinguish certain models for emission and particle acceleration in relativistic jets.
(Abridged) We consider the polarization properties of optically thin synchrotron radiation emitted by relativistically moving electron--positron jets carrying large-scale helical magnetic fields. In our model, the jet is cylindrical, and the emitting plasma moves parallel to the jet axis with a characteristic Lorentz factor $Gamma$. We draw attention to the strong influence that the bulk relativistic motion of the emitting relativistic particles has on the observed polarization. We conclude that large-scale magnetic fields can explain the salient polarization properties of parsec-scale AGN jets. Since the typical degrees of polarization are $leq 15%$, the emitting parts of the jets must have comparable rest-frame toroidal and poloidal fields. In this case, most relativistic jets are strongly dominated by the toroidal magnetic field component in the observers frame, $B_phi/B_z sim Gamma$. We also discuss the possibility that relativistic AGN jets may be electromagnetically (Poynting flux) dominated. In this case, dissipation of the toroidal magnetic field (and not fluid shocks) may be responsible for particle acceleration.
A number of works reported on the existence of a large scale alignment of the polarization plane of extragalactic sources as well as the alignment of radio-sources structural axes. However, both claims and their interpretation remain controversial. For the first time we explore the parsec-scale jets alignments. Additionally, we use archival polarimetric data at different wavelengths in order to compare relative orientations of the jets and the polarization planes of their emission. Using the flux density distribution in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) radio maps from the Astrogeo database, we determine the parsec-scale jet orientation for the largest sample of active galactic nuclei (AGN) to date. Employing the method of parallel transport and a sample statistics characterizing the jet orientation dispersion among neighbors, we test whether the identified jets are significantly aligned. We show that the parsec-scale jets in our sample do not demonstrate any significant global alignments. Moreover, the jet direction is found to be weakly correlated with the polarization plane direction at different frequencies.
The fine-scale structure and the kinematics of relativistic active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets have been studied by very-long-baseline interferometry at very high resolutions since 1998 at 2 cm wavelength for a sample of over a hundred radio sources (VLBA 2cm Survey and MOJAVE programs). Since 2007, this is being complemented by the TANAMI project, based on southern observations with the Australian LBA at 3.6 cm and 1.1 cm wavelengths. From our observation campaign, we find that most of the radio jets show linear morphologies at parsec-scales, but some of show curvature and non-radial motions. Features are observed to move at highly relativistic speeds, with Lorentz factors extending above values of 30. We also provide a brief description of the relationship of our radio findings with the AGN observations by the new Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
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