Linearly and Circularly Polarized Emission in Sagittarius A*

Abstract

We perform general relativistic ray-tracing calculations of the transfer of polarized synchrotron radiation through the relativistic accretion flow in Sagittarius (Sgr) A*. Based on a two-temperature magneto-rotational-instability (MRI) induced accretion mode, the birefringence effects are treated self-consistently. By fitting the spectrum and polarization of Sgr A* from millimeter to near-infrared bands, we are able to not only constrain the basic parameters related to the MRI and the electron heating rate, but also limit the orientation of the accretion torus. These constraints lead to unique polarimetric images, which may be compared with future millimeter and sub-millimeter VLBI observations. In combination with general relativistic MHD simulations, the model has the potential to test the MRI with observations of Sgr A*.

12 pages, 2 figures, ApJL accepted

References in corpus (32)

• Closest Star Seen Orbiting the Supermassive Black Hole at the Centre of the Milky Way
• Stellar Orbits Around the Galactic Center Black Hole
• Rapid X-ray flaring from the direction of the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Centre
• Accretion disc viscosity: how big is alpha?
• The Supermassive Black Hole at the Galactic Center
• Primitive Variable Solvers for Conservative General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamics
• An Unambiguous Detection of Faraday Rotation in Sagittarius A*
• A size of ~1 AU for the radio source Sgr A* at the centre of the Milky Way
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• Interferometric Measurements of Variable 340 GHz Linear Polarization in Sagittarius A*
• Detection of the Intrinsic Size of Sagittarius A* through Closure Amplitude Imaging (includes Online Supporting Material)
• Polarimetry of near-infrared flares from Sagittarius A*
• Constraining the Accretion Rate Onto Sagittarius A* Using Linear Polarization
• The simultaneous spectrum of Sgr A* from 20cm to 1mm and the nature of the mm-excess
• A Constant Spectral Index for Sagittarius A* During Infrared/X-ray Intensity Variations
• The Spectrum and Variability of Circular Polarization in Sagittarius A* from 1.4 to 15 GHz
• Polarimetric Imaging of the Massive Black Hole at the Galactic Center
• Circular Polarization of Radio Emission from Relativistic Jets
• Variations in the spectral slope of Sgr A* during a NIR flare
• Variable Linear Polarization from Sagittarius A*: Evidence for a Hot Turbulent Accretion Flow
• The Rotation Measure and 3.5mm Polarization of Sgr A*
• Covariant Magnetoionic Theory I: Ray Propagation
• Black Hole Shadow Image and Visibility Analysis of Sagittarius A*
• Covariant Magnetoionic Theory II: Radiative Transfer
• Polarized mm And sub-mm Emission From Sgr A* At The Galactic Center
• On the orientation of the Sagittarius A* system
• A Local Model for Angular Momentum Transport in Accretion Disks Driven by the Magnetorotational Instability
• A Magnetic Dynamo Origin For The Sub-mm Excess In Sgr A*
• The Ribbon-Like Hard X-Ray Emission in a Sigmoidal Solar Active Region
• Sub-milliarcsecond Imaging of SgrA* and M87
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Cited by in corpus (16)

• Sagittarius A* Accretion Flow and Black Hole Parameters from General Relativistic Dynamical and Polarized Radiative Modeling
• Towards the event horizon -- the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Center
• Synchrotron radiation of self-collimating relativistic MHD jets
• Parsec-scale Faraday Rotation Measures from General Relativistic MHD Simulations of Active Galactic Nuclei Jets
• ALMA Polarimetry of Sgr A*: Probing the Accretion Flow from the Event Horizon to the Bondi Radius
• Polarized Image of Equatorial Emission in the Kerr Geometry
• The Circular Polarization of Sagittarius A* at Submillimeter Wavelengths
• Detecting Changing Polarization Structures in Sagittarius A* with High Frequency VLBI
• Propagation Effects in Magnetized Transrelativistic Plasmas
• Images of the radiatively inefficient accretion flow surrounding a Kerr black hole: application in Sgr A*
• Testing the Accretion Flow with Plasma Wave Heating Mechanism for Sagittarius a* by the 1.3MM Vlbi Measurements
• Polarized Emission of Sagittarius A*
• Circular polarization of the CMB: Foregrounds and detection prospects
• Relative Astrometry of Compact Flaring Structures in Sgr A* with Polarimetric VLBI
• The variability of Sagittarius A* at 3 millimeter
• Near-infrared Polarimetry of flares from Sgr A* with Subaru/CIAO