Linearly and Circularly Polarized Emission in Sagittarius A*

Lei Huang(1,3), Siming Liu(4), Zhi-Qiang Shen(1,2), Mike J. Cai(5), Hui Li,(4) and Christopher L. Fryer(4)


(1) Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, China
(2) Joint Institute for Galaxy and Cosmology (JOINGC) of ShAO and USTC, Shanghai 200030, China
(3) Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
(4) Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545
(5) Academia Sinica, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Taipei 106, Taiwan

Paper: ApJL, accepted Feb 2008

Weblink: http://arxiv.org/pdf/0802.3561

EPrint Server: 0802.3561


Abstract:

We perform general relativistic ray-tracing calculations of the transfer of polarized synchrotron radiation through the relativistic accretion flow in Sagittarius (Sgr) A*. Based on a two-temperature magneto-rotational-instability (MRI) induced accretion mode, the birefringence effects are treated self-consistently. By fitting the spectrum and polarization of Sgr A* from millimeter to near-infrared bands, we are able to not only constrain the basic parameters related to the MRI and the electron heating rate, but also limit the orientation of the accretion torus. These constraints lead to unique polarimetric images, which may be compared with future millimeter and sub-millimeter VLBI observations. In combination with general relativistic MHD simulations, the model has the potential to test the MRI with observations of Sgr A*.


Preprints available from the authors at muduri@shao.ac.cn , or the raw TeX (no figures) if you click here.

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