Insights on Jet Physics & High Energy Emission Processes from Optical Polarimetry
Eric Perlman (Florida Institute of Technology) , C. A. Padgett, M. Georganopoulos (JCA/UMBC), F. Dulwich, D. M. Worrall, M. Birkinshaw (U. Bristol), W. B. Sparks, J. A. Biretta (STScI), C. P. O'Dea, S. Baum (RIT), A. S. Wilson
Because of their direct tie with the magnetic field in the emitting region, polarimetry can be a powerful tool in disentangling the physics of extragalactic jets. Polarimetry in multiple emission bands can prove particularly helpful, as they can help disentangle cases where emission in multiple bands might originate in physically different regions. A total of nine jets have now been observed polarimetrically with HST, with the results on all but two having been published during the last 18 months. I will discuss the relationship between optical and radio polarization for extragalactic jets, its implications for jet energetic and magnetic field structure, and its importance for understanding the X-ray emission properties seen by Chandra. We are finding that there is not a general pattern in these properties, with each source having somewhat different polarization properties and relationship to X-ray emission. This strongly reinforces the idea that the jets of radio galaxies are not homogeneous flows.