A study of a sample of high rotation measure AGNs through multifrequency single dish observations

TL;DR

This study investigates high Rotation Measure AGNs using multifrequency single-dish radio observations to understand their physical conditions and relation to their surrounding dense, magnetized media, revealing a link with restarting AGN phases.

Contribution

It introduces a method to select and characterize high RM AGNs through multifrequency observations, identifying their SED types and correlating high RM with restarting AGN phases.

Findings

High RM sources often have mixed SEDs indicating restarting activity.

No correlation between depolarisation behavior and SED types.

High RM values are associated with dense, magnetized media around AGNs.

Abstract

We characterised and studied, in the radio band, a sample of candidates of high Rotation Measure (RM). These point-like objects show a strong depolarisation at 21cm. This feature suggests the presence of a very dense medium surrounding them in a combination of a strong magnetic field. This work aims at selecting and studying a sample of radio sources with high RM, thus to study their physical conditions and their status with respect to their surrounding medium. We want to understand if any connection is present between the AGN hosting galaxy medium with some evolutionary track and/or some restarting phase of the AGN itself. Multifrequency single-dish observations were performed with the 100-m Effelsberg telescope to define the initial sample, to characterise the SED of the final sample (30 targets) and to determine their RM in the 11 to 2 cm wavelength range. From the observations, the SED together with polarisation information, i.e. the fractional polarisation and the polarisation angle, have been determined. Three different object types were revealed from the SEDs analysis: Older, GPS-like and Mixed. For each of the targets, the rotation measure has been found and the depolarisation has been modelled. No significant correlation have been found between the depolarisation behaviours and the SEDs, while a correlation has been found between sources with mixed SED (with an old component at low frequency and compact components at high frequencies) and high values of the rotation measure (with values in the rest frame larger than 1000 rad/m^2). This work helps us to define and identify a sample of sources with high RM. From the analysis we can conclude that the sources showing a restarting phase at high frequency (with a Mixed SED), are characterised by a really dense and/or a magnetised medium that strongly rotates the polarisation angle at the different frequencies, leading to a high RM.