Linear and Circular Polarization from Sagittarius A* and M81*

Abstract

We describe recent results for Sgr A*, M81* and other low luminosity active galactic nuclei. We have conducted linear and circular polarimetry over a frequency range of 1.4 to 230 GHz and detected a variety of phenomena. The polarization properties of the studied sources are substantially different from higher powered AGN. In the case of Sgr A*, we are able to eliminate ADAFs and Bondi-Hoyle flows as possible models based on mm $\lambda$ polarimetry. Our success with Sgr A* demonstrates that we can learn about the nature of accretion and outflow in these sources with unprecedented detail. We may also develop probes of general relativity in the strong-field limit.

arXiv commentto appear in Circular Polarization Workshop Proceedings, Fender & Macquardt, eds., 10 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (7)

• 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
• Detection of Circular Polarization in the Galactic Center Black Hole Candidate Sagittarius A*
• The Linear Polarization of Sagittarius A* I. VLA Spectro-polarimetry at 4.8 and 8.4 GHz
• The Linear Polarization of Sagittarius A* II. VLA and BIMA Polarimetry at 22, 43 and 86 GHz
• BIMA Observations of Linear Polarization in Sagittarius A* at 112 GHz
• Detection of Circular Polarization in M81*

Cited by in corpus (5)

• A polarised infrared flare from Sagittarius A* and the signatures of orbiting plasma hotspots
• Properties of the Radio-Emitting Gas Around SgrA*
• CHANG-ES XI: Circular Polarization in the Cores of Nearby Galaxies
• Flare emission from Sagittarius A*
• The Galactic Center Black Hole Laboratory