Circular polarization and the structure of compact extragalactic radio sources

Details Circular polarization and the structure of compact extragalactic radio sources Circular polarization and the structure of compact extragalactic radio sources

Mar 1984

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1984ap%26ss.100..227v&link_type=abstract

Astrophysics and Space Science (ISSN 0004-640X), vol. 100, no. 1-2, March 1984, p. 227-241.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

8

Circular Polarization, Extragalactic Radio Sources, Radio Galaxies, Luminosity, Magnetic Fields, Quasars, Synchrotron Radiation, Very Long Base Interferometry

Scientific paper

The origin of the circularly polarized (CP) component of the synchrotron radiation in compact extragalactic radio sources is investigated. A convenient quantity, the CP excess, is defined as the ratio of the observed to the expected degree of CP in a source, with the latter calculated from synchrotron theory for transparent sources, using magnetic field strengths from VLBI measurements, and the degree of inhomogeneity estimated from the observed degree of linear polarization. For almost all sources, the CP excess is much larger than unity, and in addition appears to depend on the absolute luminosity of the source for both the radio galaxy and the quasar populations. Explanations for the amount and the luminosity dependence of the CP excess are considered, and the origin of the excess is suggested to lie in a special magnetic field geometry of the compact sources. A simple model with helical magnetic field and relativistic beaming, consistent with the quasar data, is presented. The importance of considering the CP component of radiation in the context of different physical source models is emphasized.

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