Probing the Parsec-scale Accretion Flow of 3C 84 with Millimeter Polarimetry

TL;DR

This study measures an extremely high and stable Faraday rotation measure in the core of 3C 84, providing insights into the magnetic environment and accretion flow structure near the supermassive black hole.

Contribution

First measurement of high Faraday rotation in 3C 84 at millimeter wavelengths, indicating a disk-like accretion flow and constraining the magnetic environment near the black hole.

Findings

RM of (8.7 +/- 2.3) x 10^5 radians/m^2 observed

RM remained stable over 2 years despite polarization angle changes

Supports a disk-like accretion flow rather than spherical

Abstract

We report the discovery of Faraday rotation toward radio source 3C 84, the active galactic nucleus in NGC1275 at the core of the Perseus Cluster. The rotation measure (RM), determined from polarization observations at wavelengths of 1.3 and 0.9 mm, is (8.7 +/- 2.3) x 10^5 radians/m^2, among the largest ever measured. The RM remained relatively constant over a 2 year period even as the intrinsic polarization position angle wrapped through a span of 300 degrees. The Faraday rotation is likely to originate either in the boundary layer of the radio jet from the nucleus, or in the accretion flow onto the central black hole. The accretion flow probably is disk-like rather than spherical on scales of less than a parsec, otherwise the RM would be even larger.