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.
<Astrophys. J., 880, 29 (2019)>
=2019ApJ...880...29L 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 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 2013ApJ...772..114R).
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
table2.dat 73 88 *X-ray flux and polarization
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Note on table2.dat: The table lists sources with >0.5% X-ray polarization and
X-ray flux>5x10-13erg/cm2/s.
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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
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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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/cm2/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
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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).
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History:
From electronic version of the journal
(End) Prepared by [AAS], Emmanuelle Perret [CDS] 04-Jan-2021