Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Time-variable polarization is an extremely valuable observational tool to probe the dynamical physical conditions of blazar jets. Since 2008, we have been monitoring the flux and linear polarization of a sample of gamma-ray bright blazars at optical frequencies. Some of the observations were performed on nightly or intra-night time-scales in four optical bands, providing information on the frequency and time dependence of the polarization. The observed behavior is similar to that found in simulations of turbulent plasma in a relativistic jet that contains a standing shock and/or a helical background magnetic field. Similar simulations predict the characteristics of X-ray syn-chrotron polarization of blazars that will be measured in the future by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE).
Original language | English |
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Article number | 27 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Galaxies |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2021 |
ID: 86508392