Constraining the Physical Conditions in the Jets of Gamma-ray Flaring Blazars using Centimeter-Band Polarimetry and Radiative Transfer Simulations. II. Exploring Parameter Space and Implications

Abstract

We analyze the shock-in-jet models for the gamma-ray flaring blazars 0420-014, OJ 287, and 1156+295 presented in Aller et al. (2014, Paper I), quantifying how well the modeling constrains internal properties of the flow (low energy spectral cutoff, partition between random and ordered magnetic field), the flow dynamics (quiescent flow speed and orientation), and the number and strength of the shocks responsible for radio-band flaring. We conclude that well-sampled, multifrequency polarized flux light curves are crucial for defining source properties. We argue for few, if any, low energy particles in these flows, suggesting no entrainment and efficient energization of jet material, and for approximate energy equipartition between the random and ordered magnetic field components, suggesting that ordered field is built by non-trivial dynamo action from the random component, or that the latter arises from a jet instability that preserves the larger-scale, ordered flow. We present evidence that the difference between orphan radio-band (no gamma-ray counterpart) and non-orphan flares is due to more complex shock interactions in the latter case.

arXiv comment15 pages, 10 figures; accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal

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• The University of Michigan Centimeter-Band All Stokes Blazar Monitoring Program: Single-Dish Polarimetry as a Probe of Parsec-Scale Magnetic Fields
• On the Injection of Relativistic Electrons in the Jet of 3C 279
• Observational View of Magnetic Fields in Active Galactic Nuclei Jets