Polarization Swings Reveal Magnetic Energy Dissipation in Blazars

Abstract

The polarization signatures of the blazar emissions are known to be highly variable. In addition to small fluctuations of the polarization angle around a mean value, sometimes large (> 180^o) polarization angle swings are observed. We suggest that such p henomena can be interpreted as arising from light-travel-time effects within an underlying axisymmetric emission region. We present the first simultaneous fitting of the multi-wavelength spectrum, variability and time-dependent polarization features of a correlated optical and gamma-ray flaring event of the prominent blazar 3C279, which was accompanied by a drastic change of its polarization signatures. This unprecedented combination of spectral, variability, and polarization information in a coherent physical model allows us to place stringent constraints on the particle acceleration and magnetic-field topology in the relativistic jet of a blazar, strongly favoring a scenario in which magnetic energy dissipation is the primary driver of the flare event.

arXiv commentAccepted for Publication in The Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (24)

• An Exceptional VHE Gamma-Ray Flare of PKS 2155-304
• Leptonic and Hadronic Modeling of Fermi-Detected Blazars
• Turbulent, Extreme Multi-Zone Model for Simulating Flux and Polarization Variability in Blazars
• Probing the Inner Jet of the Quasar PKS 1510-089 with Multi-waveband Monitoring during Strong Gamma-ray Activity
• Very-High-Energy Gamma Rays from a Distant Quasar: How Transparent Is the Universe?
• A Proton Synchrotron Blazar Model for Flaring in Markarian~501
• Internal shocks in the jets of radio-loud quasars
• A change in the optical polarization associated with a gamma-ray flare in the blazar 3C 279
• Polarization and structure of relativistic parsec-scale AGN jets
• Multiwavelength Observations of a Dramatic High Energy Flare in the Blazar 3C 279
• The structure and emission model of the relativistic jet in the quasar 3C 279 inferred from radio to high-energy gamma-ray observations in 2008-2010
• A Tight Connection between Gamma-Ray Outbursts and Parsec-Scale Jet Activity in the Quasar 3C 454.3
• Photopolarimetric Monitoring of Blazars in the Optical and Near-Infrared Bands with the Kanata Telescope. I. Correlations between Flux, Color, and Polarization
• X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Polarization in Leptonic and Hadronic Jet Models of Blazars
• The Outburst of the Blazar S5 0716+71 in 2011 October: Shock in a Helical Jet
• Timing Signatures of the Internal-Shock Model for Blazars
• Fermi Large Area Telescope and multi-wavelength observations of the flaring activity of PKS 1510-089 between 2008 September and 2009 June
• MAGIC gamma-ray and multifrequency observations of flat spectrum radio quasar PKS 1510-089 in early 2012
• Synchrotron Polarization in Blazars
• AGILE detection of extreme gamma-ray activity from the blazar PKS 1510-089 during March 2009. Multifrequency analysis
• The Outburst of the Blazar S40954+658 in March-April 2011
• Time-dependent simulations of emission from FSRQ PKS1510-089: multiwavelength variability of external Compton and SSC models
• Modeling the Spectral Energy Distribution and Variability of 3C 66A during the WEBT campaign of 2003 -- 2004
• Magnetic Field Amplification and Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars

Cited by in corpus (50)

• Rapid Variability of Blazar 3C 279 during Flaring States in 2013-2014 with Joint Fermi-LAT, NuSTAR, Swift, and Ground-Based Multi-wavelength Observations
• Relativistic Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei und Microquasars
• Efficient Production of High-energy Nonthermal Particles during Magnetic Reconnection in a Magnetically-dominated Ion-Electron Plasma
• RoboPol: The optical polarization of gamma-ray--loud and gamma-ray--quiet blazars
• The extreme HBL behaviour of Markarian 501 during 2012
• Recent Progress on Particle Acceleration and Reconnection Physics during Magnetic Reconnectionin the Magnetically-dominated Relativistic Regime
• Determining the Dominant Acceleration Mechanism during Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection in Large-scale Systems
• Large-Amplitude Blazar Polarization Angle Swing as a Signature of Magnetic Reconnection
• Magnetic Energy Release, Plasma Dynamics, and Particle Acceleration during Relativistic Turbulent Magnetic Reconnection
• Kink Instabilities In Relativistic Jets Can Drive Quasi-Periodic Radiation Signatures
• X-Ray Polarimetry with the Polarization Spectroscopic Telescope Array (PolSTAR)
• Probing dissipation mechanisms in BL Lac jets through X-ray polarimetry
• Multiwavelength observations of a VHE gamma-ray flare from PKS 1510-089 in 2015
• Optical EVPA rotations in blazars: testing a stochastic variability model with RoboPol data
• Polarization Signatures of Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Shocks in the Blazar Emission Region - I. Force-free Helical Magnetic Fields
• Leptonic and Hadronic Modeling of Fermi-LAT Hard Spectrum Quasars and Predictions for High-Energy Polarization
• A Consolidated Framework of the Color Variability in Blazars: Long-Term Optical/Near-Infrared Observations of 3C 279
• A peculiar multi-wavelength flare in the Blazar 3C 454.3
• Multi-wavelength study of flaring activity in BL Lac object S5 0716+714 during 2015 outburst
• Radiation and Polarization Signatures from Magnetic Reconnection in Relativistic Jets--I. A Systematic Study
• Polarization Signatures of Kink Instabilities in the Blazar Emission Region from Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations
• Particle Acceleration during Magnetic Reconnection in a Low-beta Pair Plasma
• Collision-induced magnetic reconnection and a unified interpretation of polarization properties of GRBs and blazars
• Radiation and Polarization Signatures of 3D Multi-zone Time-dependent Hadronic Blazar Model
• Time-Dependent Electron Acceleration in Blazar Transients: X-Ray Time Lags and Spectral Formation
• Short Timescale Photometric and Polarimetric Behavior of two BL Lacertae Type Objects
• Radiation Signatures From Striped Blazar Jet
• Particle diffusion and localized acceleration in inhomogeneous AGN jets - Part II: stochastic variation
• The Polarization Behavior of Relativistic Synchrotron Jets
• Broadband variability and correlation study of 3C 279 during flare of 2017-2018
• First-Principle-Integrated Study of Blazar Synchrotron Radiation and Polarization Signatures from Magnetic Turbulence
• Intra-night optical flux and polarization variability of BL~Lacertae during its 2020 $-$ 2021 high state
• A Model of Polarisation Rotations in Blazars from Kink Instabilities in Relativistic Jets
• A Model for Nonthermal Particle Acceleration in Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection
• Multiwavelength Analysis of the Variability of the Blazar 3C 273
• First-Principle Prediction of X-ray Polarization from Magnetic Reconnection in High-Frequency BL Lacs
• 180${}^{\circ }$ Rotations in the Polarization Angle for Blazars
• A time-dependent particle acceleration and emission model: Understanding the particle spectral evolution and blazar flares
• Optical polarisation variability of radio loud narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies. Search for long rotations of the polarisation plane
• Deterministic Aspect of the $\gamma$-ray Variability in Blazars
• Microscopic Processes in Global Relativistic Jets Containing Helical Magnetic Fields
• On the Origin of Gamma-ray Flares from Bright Fermi Blazars
• Optical polarimetric and multiwavelength flaring activity of blazar 3C279
• Role of Parallel Solenoidal Electric Field on Energy Conversion in 2.5D Decaying Turbulence with a Guide Magnetic Field
• ALMA full polarization observations of PKS1830-211 during its record-breaking flare of 2019
• The polarisation behaviour of OJ 287 viewed through radio, millimetre and optical observations between 2015 and 2017
• Progress in Multiwavelength and Multi-Messenger Observations of Blazars and Theoretical Challenges
• Testing X-ray Periodicity and Long-Term Trend in PG 1553+113 via Targeted Swift-XRT Monitoring
• Probing Magnetic Fields and Acceleration Mechanisms in Blazar Jets with X-ray Polarimetry
• Observational View of Magnetic Fields in Active Galactic Nuclei Jets