Determining the origin of the X-ray emission in blazars through multiwavelength polarization
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The origin of the high-energy emission in astrophysical jets from black holes is a highly debated issue. This is particularly true for jets from supermassive black holes, which are among the most powerful particle accelerators in the Universe. So far, the addition of new observations and new messengers have only managed to create more questions than answers. However, the newly available X-ray polarization observations promise to finally distinguish between emission models. We use extensive multiwavelength and polarization campaigns as well as state-of-the-art polarized spectral energy distribution models to attack this problem by focusing on two X-ray polarization observations of blazar BL Lacertae in flaring and quiescent γ-ray states. We find that, regardless of the jet composition and underlying emission model, inverse-Compton scattering from relativistic electrons dominates at X-ray energies.
Source: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Authors: Ioannis Liodakis, Haocheng Zhang, Stella Boula, Riccardo Middei, Jorge Otero-Santos, Dmitry Blinov, Iván Agudo, Markus Böttcher, Chien-Ting Chen, Steven R. Ehlert, Svetlana G. Jorstad, Philip Kaaret, Henric Krawczynski, Abel L. Peirson, Roger W. Romani, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Martin C. Weisskopf, Pouya M. Kouch, Elina Lindfors, Kari Nilsson, Callum McCall, Helen E. Jermak, Iain A. Steele, Ioannis Myserlis, Mark Gurwell, Garrett K. Keating, Ramprasad Rao, Sincheol Kang, Sang-Sung Lee, Sanghyun Kim, Whee Yeon Cheong, Hyeon-Woo Jeong, Emmanouil Angelakis, Alexander Kraus, Francisco José Aceituno, Giacomo Bonnoli, Víctor Casanova, Juan Escudero, Beatriz Agís-González, Daniel Morcuende, Alfredo Sota, Rumen Bachev, Tatiana S. Grishina, Evgenia N. Kopatskaya, Elena G. Larionova, Daria A. Morozova, Sergey S. Savchenko, Ekaterina V. Shishkina, Ivan S. Troitskiy, Yulia V. Troitskaya, Andrey A. Vasilyev
Institutions: Marshall Space Flight Center, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Brera Astronomical Observatory, National Institute for Astrophysics, Astronomical Observatory of Rome, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, University of Crete, North-West University, Universities Space Research Association, Boston University, St Petersburg University, Washington University in St. Louis, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, University of Turku, Aalto University, Liverpool John Moores University, Instituto de Radioastronomía Milimétrica, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Korea University of Science and Technology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory, Pulkovo Observatory
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,865
Funders: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Research Foundation, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, National Research Foundation of Korea, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Turun Yliopisto, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Marshall Space Flight Center, European Research Council, H2020 European Research Council, HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council
Awards: G1044000631, A New Probe of the Magnetic Interstellar Medium, G1608964008, G1967586197, G236304463, G273979858, Overcoming the Dominant Foreground of Inflationary B-modes: Tomography of Galactic Magnetic Dust via Measurements of Starlight Polarization, G3528041363, G3993203323, G4096230270, G4103929414, G4353231016, Search for Milli-lenses to discriminate between dark matter models, G5968124160, G6008122062, G754392931, G99987262
OpenAlex ID: W4410613713