Radiation and Polarization Signatures of the 3D Multizone Time-dependent Hadronic Blazar Model
Abstract
We present a newly developed time-dependent three-dimensional multizone hadronic blazar emission model. By coupling a Fokker-Planck-based lepto-hadronic particle evolution code, 3DHad, with a polarization-dependent radiation transfer code, 3DPol, we are able to study the time-dependent radiation and polarization signatures of a hadronic blazar model for the first time. Our current code is limited to parameter regimes in which the hadronic γ-ray output is dominated by proton synchrotron emission, neglecting pion production. Our results demonstrate that the time-dependent flux and polarization signatures are generally dominated by the relation between the synchrotron cooling and the light-crossing timescale, which is largely independent of the exact model parameters. We find that unlike the low-energy polarization signatures, which can vary rapidly in time, the high-energy polarization signatures appear stable. As a result, future high-energy polarimeters may be able to distinguish such signatures from the lower and more rapidly variable polarization signatures expected in leptonic models.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- October 2016
- DOI:
- 10.3847/0004-637X/829/2/69
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1607.06491
- Bibcode:
- 2016ApJ...829...69Z
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: active;
- galaxies: jets;
- gamma rays: galaxies;
- polarization;
- radiation mechanisms: nonthermal;
- relativistic processes;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- Accepted for Publication in The Astrophysical Journal