Pearson-Readhead Survey Sources II: The Longterm Centimeter-band Total Flux and Linear Polarization Properties of a Complete Radio Sample

Abstract

Using UMRAO centimeter-band total flux density and linear polarization monitoring observations of the complete Pearson-Readhead extragalactic source sample obtained between August 1984 and March 2001, we identify the range of variability in extragalactic objects as functions of optical and radio morphological classification, and relate total flux density variations to structural changes in published coeval VLBI maps in selected objects. We have identified preferred orientations of the electric vector of the polarized emission at 14.5 and 4.8 GHz in roughly half of the objects, and compared these with orientations of the flow direction indicated by VLBI morphology. When comparing the distributions of the orientation offsets for the BL Lacs and for the QSOs, we find differences in both range and mean value, in support of intrinsic class differences. In the shock-in-jet scenario, we attribute this to the allowed range of obliquities of shocks developing in the flow relative to the flow direction. The fact that we find longterm stability in EVPA over many events implies that a dominant magnetic field orientation persists; in the core-dominated objects, with small contribution from the underlying quiescent jet, this plausibly suggests that the magnetic field has a longterm memory, with subsequent shock events exhibiting similar EVPA orientation, or, alternatively, the presence of a standing shock in the core. We have looked for systematic, monotonic changes in EVPA which might be expected in the emission from a precessing jet, a model currently invoked for some AGNs; none were identified. Further, we carried out a Scargle periodogram analysis of the total flux density observations, but found no strong evidence for periodicity in any of the sample sources.

submitted to The Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (1)

• Analysis of 6cm VLBI polarization observations of a complete sample of northern BL Lacertae Objects

Cited by in corpus (59)

• A relativistic jetted outburst from a massive black hole fed by a tidally disrupted star
• Blazars in the Fermi Era: The OVRO 40-m Telescope Monitoring Program
• MOJAVE: Monitoring of Jets in AGN with VLBA Experiments - I. First-Epoch 15 GHz Linear Polarization Images
• On the relation between AGN gamma-ray emission and parsec-scale radio jets
• Multiwaveband Polarimetric Observations of 15 Active Galactic Nuclei at High Frequencies: Correlated Polarization Behavior
• MOJAVE: Monitoring of Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei with VLBA Experiments. XI. Spectral distributions
• Long-term optical monitoring of TeV emitting Blazars
• Gamma-Ray and Parsec-Scale Jet Properties of a Complete Sample of Blazars From the MOJAVE Program
• A supermassive binary black hole in the quasar 3C345
• Statistical analyses of long-term variability of AGN at high radio frequencies
• Magnetic Fields in the Center of the Perseus Cluster
• MOJAVE: XVIII. Kinematics and Inner Jet Evolution of Bright Radio-Loud Active Galaxies
• H.E.S.S. discovery of VHE gamma-rays from the quasar PKS 1510-089
• A multifrequency analysis of radio variability of blazars
• Multiwavelength observations of a TeV-Flare from W Comae
• Long-term radio variability of AGN: flare characteristics
• Radio variability properties for radio sources
• POLAMI: Polarimetric Monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei at Millimetre Wavelengths. I. The program, calibration, and calibrators data products
• Variable and Transient Radio Sources in the FIRST Survey
• A 3.5mm Polarimetric Survey of Radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• A survey of polarization in the JVAS/CLASS flat-spectrum radio source surveys: I. The data and catalogue production
• A new method for estimating frequency-dependent core shifts in active galactic nucleus jets
• High redshift FRII radio galaxies: X-ray properties of the cores
• Radio spectra and polarisation properties of radio-loud Broad Absorption Line Quasars
• The kinematics in the pc-scale jets of AGN The case of S5 1803+784
• Monitoring observations of 6.7 GHz methanol masers
• Intra-night optical variability of core dominated radio quasars: the role of optical polarization
• Polarimetry of the transient relativistic jet of GRB 110328 / Swift J164449.3+573451
• Optical Properties of faint FIRST Variable Radio Sources
• Effelsberg 100-m polarimetric observations of a sample of Compact Steep-Spectrum sources
• MOJAVE XVI: Multi-Epoch Linear Polarization Properties of Parsec-Scale AGN Jet Cores
• A possible jet precession in the periodic quasar B0605-085
• The Cross-Wavelet Transform and Analysis of Quasiperiodic Behavior in the Pearson-Readhead VLBI Survey Sources
• MOJAVE. XX. Persistent Linear Polarization Structure in Parsec-scale AGN Jets
• TXS 0128+554: A Young Gamma-Ray Emitting AGN With Episodic Jet Activity
• Multi-band optical-NIR variability of blazars on diverse timescales
• Radio Variability and Random Walk Noise Properties of Four Blazars
• Confronting X-ray Emission Models with the Highest-Redshift Kiloparsec-scale Jets: the z=3.89 Jet in Quasar 1745+624
• Jet Properties of Compact Steep-Spectrum Sources and an Eddington-Ratio-Driven Unification Scheme of Jet Radiation in Active Galactic Nuclei
• VLBA polarimetric monitoring of 3C 111
• Detection of 21 Centimeter HI Absorption at z = 0.78 in a Survey of Radio Continuum Sources
• The long-term centimeter variability of active galactic nuclei: A new relation between variability timescale and accretion rate
• Constraints on the photon charge based on observations of extragalactic sources
• Millijansky Radio Variability in SDSS Stripe 82
• The University of Michigan Centimeter-Band All Stokes Blazar Monitoring Program: Single-Dish Polarimetry as a Probe of Parsec-Scale Magnetic Fields
• The Relation between Radio Polarization and Gamma-ray Emission in AGN Jets
• A search for periodicity in the light curves of selected blazars
• A highly variable methanol maser in G111.256-0.770
• The jets-accretion relation, mass-luminosity relation in Fermi blazars
• Active Galactic Nuclei at the Crossroads of Astrophysics
• Interactions between the jet and disk wind in a nearby radio intermediate quasar III Zw 2
• Identification of blazar candidates behind Small and Large Magellanic Clouds
• On Possibility of Detection of Variable Sources Using the Data of "Cold" Surveys Carried Out on RATAN-600
• VLBA polarimetric observations of the CSS quasar 3C147
• 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
• Kinematic study of the parsec-scale jet of the quasar PKS 1741--03
• Milliarcsecond structure and variability of methanol maser emission in three high-mass protostars
• Intra-night optical variability and radio characteristics of extremely radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies
• Observational View of Magnetic Fields in Active Galactic Nuclei Jets