Synchrotron radiation and absence of linear polarization in the colliding wind binary WR 146

TL;DR

This study investigates the lack of observed linear polarization in the radio emission of WR 146, suggesting turbulence and magnetic reconnection as possible causes, and constrains magnetic field strength in the wind-collision region.

Contribution

It provides the first observational constraint on polarization in WR 146 and explores the implications for magnetic field structure and particle acceleration mechanisms.

Findings

No linear polarization detected, with an upper limit of 0.6%.

Magnetic field in the WCR likely dominated by turbulence and randomness.

Magnetic reconnection could produce relativistic particles if magnetic fields are sufficiently strong.

Abstract

Several massive early-type binaries exhibit non-thermal emission which has been attributed to synchrotron radiation from particles accelerated by diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) in the wind-collision region (WCR). If the magnetic field in the strong shocks is ordered, its component parallel to the shock front should be enhanced, and the resultant synchrotron radiation would be polarized. However, such polarization has never been measured. We performed spatially-unresolved radio continuum observations of WR 146, a well known a WC6+O8 system, at 5 cm and 20 cm with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. No linearly polarized radio emission was detected. The data constrain the fractional linear polarization to less than 0.6% between 1 to 8 GHz. This is compatible with a high level of turbulence and a dominant random component in the magnetic field. In this case the relativistic particles could be produced by turbulent magnetic reconnection (MR). In order for this scenario to satisfy the required non-thermal energy budget, we find through numerical modeling that the strength of the magnetic field in the WCR must be as high as ~150 mG. However, if the magnetic field is ordered and DSA is ongoing, then a combination of internal and external Faraday rotation could equally account for the depolarization of the emission. It is not clear whether it is possible to develop the high level of turbulence and strong magnetic fields required for efficient MR in a long-period binary such as WR 146. This scenario might also have trouble explaining the low-frequency cutoff in the spectrum. We therefore favor a scenario where particles are accelerated through DSA and the depolarization is produced by mechanisms other than a large ratio between random to regular magnetic fields.