A very rapid polarization position angle swing of -180° （with a time scale of ,-6 hours） observed at 2 cm in QSO 1150＋812 （z = 1.25） was reported by Kochenov ＆ Gabuzda. This very rare event is difficult to ...A very rapid polarization position angle swing of -180° （with a time scale of ,-6 hours） observed at 2 cm in QSO 1150＋812 （z = 1.25） was reported by Kochenov ＆ Gabuzda. This very rare event is difficult to explain. We found a possible interpretation in the framework of a source model consisting of three polarized components, in which two compact polarized components are nearly simultaneously occulted by an interstellar cloud, with consequent focusing-defocusing effects. A specific plasma-lens model is proposed which can reasonably fit the polarized flux density curve with results derived for the two lensed components. Some physical parameters of the plasma-lens and the source components are estimated. The two compact polarized components are estimated to have brightness temperatures of -6 ×10^12 K. Thus a bulk relativistic motion with a Lorentz factor less than 10 is required to meet the inverse-Compton limit.展开更多
The multi-frequency light curves of BL Lacertae during 1997.5 - 1999.5 have been modeled by four outbursts, each having a 3-stage evolution in the （Sm, vm） plane with distinct rising-plateau-decaying phases. It is s...The multi-frequency light curves of BL Lacertae during 1997.5 - 1999.5 have been modeled by four outbursts, each having a 3-stage evolution in the （Sm, vm） plane with distinct rising-plateau-decaying phases. It is shown that the observed light curves can be well fitted for the eight frequencies from 350 GHz to 4.8 GHz. The main characteristics of the model-fitting are; （1） the outbursts are found to have very flat spectra with an optically thin spectral index α （defined as Sv α u^-α） of about 0.15. This is consistent with the results previously obtained by Valtaoja et al. （1992）; （2） it is found that there is no spectral flattening between the rising-plateau phase and the decay phase. In other words, the optically thin spectral index does not change from the rising-plateau phase to the decay phase. These features are in contrast to the 3-stage shocked-in-jet model proposed by Marscher ＆ Gear （1985） for submm- IR-optical flares, in which a spectral flattening of △α = 0.5 is predicted when a transition occurs from the Compton/synchrotron phase （or rising-plateau phase） to the adiabatic phase （or decay phase） with α≥ 0.5 for the shock being non-radiative. We propose a new model to interpret the fitting results, suggesting that the 3-stage evolution of the mm-cm outbursts in BL Lacertae may be related to the process of shock formation and propagation in a highly collimated jet （for example, a ＇parabolic＇ jet）. In particular, during the rising phase, the thickness of the synchrotron-radiating region created by the shock may rapidly increase with time （relative to the jet width） due to the rapid injection of relativistic electrons and a magnetic field, and this leads to the observed behavior that the turnover flux density Sm rapidly increases while the turnover frequency um decreases. In the decay phase, the emitting plasma enters into a free expansion regime without further injection of relativistic electrons and a magnetic field （for example, when a transition from a collimated regime into a conical regime occurs）. The plateau phase is a short period between the two regimes with no distinct features determined.展开更多
文摘A very rapid polarization position angle swing of -180° （with a time scale of ,-6 hours） observed at 2 cm in QSO 1150＋812 （z = 1.25） was reported by Kochenov ＆ Gabuzda. This very rare event is difficult to explain. We found a possible interpretation in the framework of a source model consisting of three polarized components, in which two compact polarized components are nearly simultaneously occulted by an interstellar cloud, with consequent focusing-defocusing effects. A specific plasma-lens model is proposed which can reasonably fit the polarized flux density curve with results derived for the two lensed components. Some physical parameters of the plasma-lens and the source components are estimated. The two compact polarized components are estimated to have brightness temperatures of -6 ×10^12 K. Thus a bulk relativistic motion with a Lorentz factor less than 10 is required to meet the inverse-Compton limit.
基金This research has made use of data from the University of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory which is supported by funds from the University of Michigan and by a series of grants from the NSF.This paper is partly based on observations carried out at the 30 m telescope of IRAM,which is supported by INSU/CNRS (France),MPG (Germany) and IGN (Spain)
文摘The multi-frequency light curves of BL Lacertae during 1997.5 - 1999.5 have been modeled by four outbursts, each having a 3-stage evolution in the （Sm, vm） plane with distinct rising-plateau-decaying phases. It is shown that the observed light curves can be well fitted for the eight frequencies from 350 GHz to 4.8 GHz. The main characteristics of the model-fitting are; （1） the outbursts are found to have very flat spectra with an optically thin spectral index α （defined as Sv α u^-α） of about 0.15. This is consistent with the results previously obtained by Valtaoja et al. （1992）; （2） it is found that there is no spectral flattening between the rising-plateau phase and the decay phase. In other words, the optically thin spectral index does not change from the rising-plateau phase to the decay phase. These features are in contrast to the 3-stage shocked-in-jet model proposed by Marscher ＆ Gear （1985） for submm- IR-optical flares, in which a spectral flattening of △α = 0.5 is predicted when a transition occurs from the Compton/synchrotron phase （or rising-plateau phase） to the adiabatic phase （or decay phase） with α≥ 0.5 for the shock being non-radiative. We propose a new model to interpret the fitting results, suggesting that the 3-stage evolution of the mm-cm outbursts in BL Lacertae may be related to the process of shock formation and propagation in a highly collimated jet （for example, a ＇parabolic＇ jet）. In particular, during the rising phase, the thickness of the synchrotron-radiating region created by the shock may rapidly increase with time （relative to the jet width） due to the rapid injection of relativistic electrons and a magnetic field, and this leads to the observed behavior that the turnover flux density Sm rapidly increases while the turnover frequency um decreases. In the decay phase, the emitting plasma enters into a free expansion regime without further injection of relativistic electrons and a magnetic field （for example, when a transition from a collimated regime into a conical regime occurs）. The plateau phase is a short period between the two regimes with no distinct features determined.
