Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Scientific paper
2012-04-04
SF2A-2011: Proceedings of the Annual meeting of the French Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics, pp.597-600
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Appears in the proceedings of "Journees de la SF2A 2011" held in Paris (France) from June 20th to June 23rd 2011
Scientific paper
A thermal active galactic nucleus (AGN) consist of a powerful, broad-band continuum source that is surrounded by several reprocessing media with different geometries and compositions. Here we investigate the expected spectropolarimetric signatures in the optical/UV and X-ray wavebands as they arise from the complex radiative coupling between different, axis-symmetric AGN media. Using the latest version of the Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code STOKES, we obtain spectral fluxes, polarization percentages, and polarization position angles. In the optical/UV, we assume unpolarized photons coming from a compact source that are reprocessed by an optically-thick, dusty torus and by equatorial and polar electron-scattering regions. In the X-ray band, we additionally assume a lamp-post geometry with an X-ray source irradiating the accretion disk from above. We compare our results for the two wavebands and thereby provide predictions for future X-ray polarimetric missions. These predictions can be based on present-day optical/UV spectropolarimetric observations. In particular, we conclude that the observed polarization dichotomy in the optical/UV band should extend into the X-ray range.
Goosmann Rene W.
Marin Frederic
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