J/ApJ/880/29 X-ray polarization predictions in blazars (Liodakis+, 2019) ================================================================================ Prospects for detecting X-ray polarization in blazar jets. Liodakis I., Peirson A.L., Romani R.W. =2019ApJ...880...29L ================================================================================ ADC_Keywords: BL Lac objects; QSOs; X-ray sources; Polarization; Optical; Models; Redshifts Keywords: galaxies: active ; galaxies: jets ; relativistic processes Abstract: X-ray polarization should provide new probes of magnetic field geometry and acceleration physics near the base of blazar jets, but near-future missions will have limited sensitivity. We thus use existing lower energy data and X-ray variability measurements in the context of a basic synchro-Compton model to predict the X-ray polarization level and the probability of detection success for individual sources, listing the most attractive candidates for an Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer campaign. We find that, as expected, several high-peak blazars such as Mrk 421 can be easily measured in 100ks exposures. Most low-peak sources should only be accessible to triggered campaigns during bright flares. Surprisingly, a few intermediate peak sources can have anomalously high X-ray polarization and thus are attractive targets. Description: We have used the archival spectral energy distributions of bright blazars along with observed optical polarization levels, to predict the expected 1-10keV X-ray polarization in a basic synchro-self-Compton model. We use 2-10keV flux measurements from 2005 to 2017 measured by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory's LAT source monitoring program (Stroh & Falcone 2013ApJS..207...28S) supplemented by 2-10keV fluxes (from 1995 to 2012) from the RXTE AGN timing and spectral database (Rivers et al. 2013ApJ...772..114R). File Summary: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FileName Lrecl Records Explanations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ReadMe 80 . This file table2.dat 73 88 *X-ray flux and polarization -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note on table2.dat: The table lists sources with >0.5% X-ray polarization and X-ray flux>5x10^-13^erg/cm^2^/s. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See also: B/swift : Swift Master Catalog (HEASARC, 2004-) VII/274 : The Roma BZCAT - 5th edition (Massaro+, 2015) J/AJ/144/105 : MOJAVE. VIII. Faraday rotation in AGN jets. (Hovatta+, 2012) J/MNRAS/442/1693 : Gamma-ray-loud blazars opt. polarization (Pavlidou+, 2014) J/ApJS/218/23 : Fermi LAT third source catalog (3FGL) (Acero+, 2015) J/MNRAS/467/4565 : Bimodal radio variability in OVRO blazars (Liodakis+, 2017) J/ApJ/866/137 : Blazars variability brightness temp. (Liodakis+, 2018) http://www.swift.psu.edu/monitoring/ : Swift-XRT Monitoring of LAT Sources http://cass.ucsd.edu/~rxteagn/ : RXTE AGN Timing & Spectral Database Byte-by-byte Description of file: table2.dat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bytes Format Units Label Explanations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1- 10 A10 --- Name Name (JHHMM+DDMM) 12- 27 A16 --- OName Alternative name 29- 33 F5.3 --- z [0.018/2.1]? Redshift 35- 37 A3 --- SED Spectral energy distribution class (1) 39- 43 F5.2 [Hz] lognuPk [12.29/17.27] log of synchrotron peak frequency 45- 50 F6.2 [mW/m2] logS [-12.3/-9.2] log 2-10keV X-ray flux; in erg/cm^2^/s 52- 55 F4.2 [mW/m2] e_logS [0/0.9]? Uncertainty in X-ray flux 57- 61 F5.2 % Pi-O [0.9/23.1] Optical polarization degree 63- 67 F5.2 % e_Pi-O [0.01/16] Uncertainty in Pi-O 69- 73 F5.2 % Pi-X [0.69/35] X-ray polarization degree -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note (1): Spectral energy distribution class as follows: LSP = Low Synchrotron Peaked blazar (43 occurrences); ISP = Intermediate Synchrotron Peaked blazar (18 occurrences); HSP = High Synchrotron Peaked blazar (27 occurrences). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- History: From electronic version of the journal ================================================================================ (End) Prepared by [AAS], Emmanuelle Perret [CDS] 04-Jan-2021