Polarization Signatures of Kink Instabilities in the Blazar Emission Region from Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations

Zhang, Haocheng; Li, Hui; Guo, Fan; Taylor, Greg

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/835/2/125

Title: Polarization Signatures of Kink Instabilities in the Blazar Emission Region from Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations

Journal Article · 22 January 2017 · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/835/2/125 · OSTI ID:1356137

Zhang, Haocheng ^[1];

^[2];

^[3]

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Kink instabilities are likely to occur in the current-carrying magnetized plasma jets. Recent observations of the blazar radiation and polarization signatures suggest that the blazar emission region may be considerably magnetized. While the kink instability has been studied with first-principle magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, the corresponding time-dependent radiation and polarization signatures have not been investigated. Here, in this paper, we perform comprehensive polarization-dependent radiation modeling of the kink instability in the blazar emission region based on relativistic MHD (RMHD) simulations. We find that the kink instability may give rise to strong flares with polarization angle (PA) swings or weak flares with polarization fluctuations, depending on the initial magnetic topology and magnetization. These findings are consistent with observations. In addition, compared with the shock model, the kink model generates polarization signatures that are in better agreement with the general polarization observations. Therefore, we suggest that kink instabilities may widely exist in the jet environment and provide an efficient way to convert the magnetic energy and produce multiwavelength flares and polarization variations.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) (SC-24)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1356137

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--16-27859

Journal Information:: The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal (Online) Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 835; ISSN 1538-4357

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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