3mm POLARIZATION PROPERTIES OF OPTICAL AND γ-RAY CLASSES OF BLAZARS

Abstract

We have performed the first 3.5 mm polarimetric survey of radio loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) with the IRAM 30 m Telescope. Unlike radio wavelengths, millimeter observations allow us to measure the intrinsic linearly polarized emission from AGN, thanks to the marginal effect of Faraday rotation and depolarization at mm wavelengths. The sample contains 145 sources, and it essentially consists of all flat-spectrum AGN with declinations accessible to the 30 m Telescope (Dec. ( J 2000.0) > -30°), and with 3 mm flux density ≳ 1 Jy, as measured from 1978 to 1994. LBAS quasars in our sample show larger luminosity than non-LBAS ones, which is consistent with previous work claiming larger Doppler factors for brighter γ-ray blazars. This effect cannot be claimed for BL Lacertae objects in our sample, which suggests that only quasars contribute to distribute LBAS blazars towards larger luminosities. We find a systematic 3.5 mm linear polarization degree excess by a factor of ~ 2 with regard to the one at 2 cm for all optical and γ-ray classes of sources considered here. Our sample shows a significant trend to increase the luminosity of their jets for decreasing linear polarization fraction. Unlike previous studies in the radio spectral range, we do not find a clear relation between the linear polarization angle and the jet structural position angle of any source class in our sample. This is interpreted as a markedly non-axisymmetric character of the 3 mm emitting region of radio loud AGN jets.