Constraining the Physical Conditions in the Jets of Gamma-ray Flaring Blazars using Centimeter-Band Polarimetry and Radiative Transfer Simulations. II. Exploring Parameter Space and Implications

TL;DR

This study uses polarimetry and radiative transfer simulations to analyze jet conditions in gamma-ray flaring blazars, revealing insights into magnetic fields, shock interactions, and jet energization.

Contribution

It extends previous shock-in-jet modeling by exploring parameter space and linking polarization data to jet physical conditions and shock complexity.

Findings

Few low-energy particles in jets suggest no entrainment.

Magnetic fields are near energy equipartition, indicating dynamo action or jet instabilities.

Complex shock interactions differentiate orphan and non-orphan flares.

Abstract

We analyze the shock-in-jet models for the gamma-ray flaring blazars 0420-014, OJ 287, and 1156+295 presented in Aller et al. (2014, Paper I), quantifying how well the modeling constrains internal properties of the flow (low energy spectral cutoff, partition between random and ordered magnetic field), the flow dynamics (quiescent flow speed and orientation), and the number and strength of the shocks responsible for radio-band flaring. We conclude that well-sampled, multifrequency polarized flux light curves are crucial for defining source properties. We argue for few, if any, low energy particles in these flows, suggesting no entrainment and efficient energization of jet material, and for approximate energy equipartition between the random and ordered magnetic field components, suggesting that ordered field is built by non-trivial dynamo action from the random component, or that the latter arises from a jet instability that preserves the larger-scale, ordered flow. We present evidence that the difference between orphan radio-band (no gamma-ray counterpart) and non-orphan flares is due to more complex shock interactions in the latter case.