Linear polarization and composition of VLBI jets

Abstract

It is shown that linear polarization data can be used to constrain the composition (normal or pair plasma) of pc-scale extragalactic jets. A simple criterion, based on synchrotron and Faraday depolarization properties, is established. It does not depend on the particle density and the length of the emitting region along the line of sight, thus eliminating two physical unknowns.

4 pages, 1 figure

References in corpus (1)

• Intrinsic Differences in the Inner Jets of High- and Low-Optically Polarized Radio Quasars

Cited by in corpus (2)

• A survey of polarization in the JVAS/CLASS flat-spectrum radio source surveys: I. The data and catalogue production
• A possible feature of thermal matter in relativistic jets of radio-loud quasars